Books

In 1971, Canada became the first nation in the world to officially declare its bilingual and multicultural policies. This incisive collection examines what has changed over the past fifty years, highlighting the lived experiences of minoritized Canadians and offering insights into the critical work that lies ahead.

Icelandic Heritage in North America offers an in-depth examination of Icelandic immigrant identity, linguistic evolution, and legacy.

The first major oral history project dedicated to the stories of Ugandan Asian refugees in Canada, Gifts from Amin explores the historical context of their 1972 expulsion from Uganda, the multiple motivations behind Canada’s decision to admit them, and their resilience over the past fifty years.

Being German Canadian explores how multi-generational families and groups have interacted and shaped each other’s integration and adaptation in Canadian society, focusing on the experiences, histories, and memories of German immigrants and their descendants.

Arthur Ross’s study of the formation of Winnipeg’s Jewish community is not only the first history of the societies, institutions, and organizations Jewish immigrants created, it reveals how communal solidarity shaped their understanding of community life and the way decisions should be made about their collective future.

Jan Raska’s Czech Refugees in Cold War Canada explores how these newcomers joined or formed ethnocultural organizations to help in their attempts to affect developments in Czechoslovakia and Canadian foreign policy towards their homeland.

The history of the twentieth century is one of modernization, a story of old ways being left behind. Many traditionalist Mennonites rejected these changes, especially the automobile, which they regarded as a symbol of pride and individualism. They became known as a “horse-and-buggy” people.

In the decade after the Second World War, 35,000 Jewish survivors of Nazi persecution and their dependants arrived in Canada. This was a watershed moment in Canadian Jewish history. Goldberg reveals the challenges in responding to, and recovering from, genocide from the perspective of “new Canadians” themselves.

Italian anarchism emerged in the latter half of the nineteenth century, during that country’s long and bloody unification. Often facing economic hardship and political persecution, many of Italy’s anarchists migrated to North America. Transnational Radicals examines the transnational anarchist movement that existed in Canada and the United States.

Despite being one of the largest immigrant groups contributing to the development of modern Canada, the story of the English has been all but untold. In Invisible Immigrants, Barber and Watson document the experiences of English-born immigrants who chose to come to Canada during England’s last major wave of emigration.

The untold story of the founding and subsequent destruction of a Finnish socialist community in the Soviet Union.

Drawing on recent work in diaspora studies, Rewriting the Break Event offers a historicization of Mennonite literary studies in Canada, followed by close readings of five novels that rewrite the Mennonite break event through specific strains of emphasis, including a religious narrative, ethnic narrative, trauma narrative, and meta-narrative.

One man, four identities, and a son's quest to reconcile the public and private lives of his Mennonite father in WWII.

Storied Landscapes is a beautifully written, sweeping examination of the evolving identity of major ethno-religious immigrant groups in the Canadian West including Ukrainians, Mennonites, Icelanders, Doukhobors, Germans, Poles, Romanians, Jews, Finns, Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes.

Drawing connections between immigrant groups in Buffalo, New York, and Kitchener, Ontario, Barbara Lorenzkowski examines the interactions of German-language education, choral groups, and music festivals and their roles in creating both an ethnic sense of self and opportunities for cultural exchanges at the local, ethnic, and transnational levels.

In a micro-analysis of 400 private letters, Families, Lovers, and their Letters examines the experiences of Italian migrants to Canada and their loved ones left behind in Italy following the Second World War, when the largest migration of Italians to Canada took place.