Organized both chronologically and thematically, this pre-Confederation reader encourages students to explore Canada's history through authentic primary documents and critical academic articles. Each chapter begins with an introduction that offers context for the documents that follow and includes an extensive list of questions for consideration and related readings. Fully revised and expanded, this fourth edition includes over 35 new primary and secondary documents, as well as an enhanced treatment of visual history with more figures, maps, photographs, and art, offering students a comprehensive view of pre-Confederation Canada. Interpreting Canada's Past: A Pre-Confederation Reader, fourth edition is the first volume of a two-volume set of readers that has been created to accompany J.M. Bumsted's two-volume text The Peoples of Canada and his single volume text A History of the Canadian Peoples. This celebrated collection is an essential resource for students and instructors of Canadian history.

J. M. Bumsted is the author of many popular and scholarly books on Canadian history, including Fur Trade Wars, The Dictionary of Manitoba Biography, and the widely used textbook The Canadian Peoples: A History. He teaches history at The University of Manitoba. 

J.M. Bumsted's profile page

Len Kuffert is associate professor of history at the University of Manitoba.

Len Kuffert's profile page

Michel Ducharme is assistant professor in the Department of History at the University of British Columbia.

Michel Ducharme's profile page

"Many of us who teach history want to introduce our students as early as possible to two essential skills of the discipline: interpreting primary sources and identifying and analyzing historiographical arguments. . . [This] reader, which would engage students with current historiographical debates and encourage them to seek their own interpretations of sources from the past, promises to be a very effective aid in helping students develop these skills." --Willeen Keough, Simon Fraser University