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Transportation History

Car Nation

An Illustrated History of Canada's Transformation Behind the Wheel

by (author) Dimitry Anastakis

Publisher
James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers
Initial publish date
Jun 2008
Category
History, General, Automobile Industry
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781552770054
    Publish Date
    Jun 2008
    List Price
    $24.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781459409088
    Publish Date
    Jun 2008
    List Price
    $24.99

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Description

Canadians fell in love with the car at first glance. They were scared by it too, and by its potential. Canada was quick to become a car nation, as the automobile was enthusiastically adopted by Prairie grain farmers, the new modern woman, travellers to the north, and rough-and-tumble adventurers looking for a thrill by traversing the immense length of the country. The automobile was the symbol of the modern Canada of the twentieth century, and the final victory of technology over landscape.
Canadians were building cars from the beginning. Independent firms and branches of the big American manufacturers vied for the lucrative Canadian market. Automaking has been an integral part of Canada's economy since the car's introduction.
For more than a century, Canadians have lived with this automobile revolution, and all the consequences and permutations that it represents. Blending social, cultural and economic history, Dimitry Anastakis's engaging text tells the fascinating story of the car across Canada from earliest days, when cars and horses jockeyed for parking space, to the multilane freeways of the twenty-first century.

About the author

Dimitry Anastakis teaches history at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. A scholar of postwar Canada, his primary research examines Canada's role in the North American auto industry. He is the author of Auto Pact: Creating a Borderless North American Auto Industry, 1960-1971 (University of Toronto Press, 2005) and edited The Sixties: Passion, Politics and Style (McGill-Queens University Press, 2008. His work has appeared in various academic journals and magazines such as The Walrus.

Dimitry Anastakis' profile page

Editorial Reviews

"Dimitry Anastakis spins an epic, spellbinding tale that propels us through the Twentieth Century and across this great land of ours - in top gear."

The Scoop

"Blending social, cultural and economic history, Anastakis tells the fascinating story of the car across Canada from the earliest days, when cars and horses jockeyed for parking space, to multilane freeways of today."

Calgary Herald