Early Life in Upper Canada

Book excerpt: Although there were abundant hardships, early life in Upper Canada was romantic and colourful in many ways. However, despite important contributions to the social and economic history of Canada, few good, comprehensive accounts have been generally available. Early Life in Upper Canada, originally published in 1933, is by far the finest history yet compiled, and it is now being reprinted in order to make available to a new generation an important and engrossing description of this area of Canadian history. The author, a distinguished Canadian historian, has drawn on contemporary letters, diaries, newspapers, and periodicals, as well as consulting all the existing histories, and he has supplemented these researches with interviews with persons who had personal contacts with early life in the Province. Mr. Guillet has compiled a thorough, accurate and delightfully readable history, that brings vividly to life the early settlers and their experiences. This is in accordance with the author's profound desire to make the study of Canadian history a delight rather than a chore. He has not concealed the unpleasant aspects of pioneer life, nor does he attempt to glamorize its difficulties. There is a tendency at times to forget that the founders of Upper Canada include hundreds of thousands of men and women of many nationalities, and fur traders, lumbermen, and voyageurs, as well as settlers. Their contributions, too, are acknowledged and recorded here. This book is profusely illustrated, with drawings made, in many cases, by army cartographers, who were skilled creative artists as well. Their paintings, fortunately, have been better preserved than were written accounts of the times, and are accurate depictions of pioneer life. The extensive bibliography and carefully prepared index will make this work invaluable for historians as well as for general readers.