Opening doors into our past, present, and future with this masterful work, Charlotte Gray makes Canada’s history come alive and challenges us to envision the country we want to live in. She also highlights many other Canadians from all walks of life who have added to the ongoing debate, showing how our country has reinvented itself in every generation since Confederation, while at the same time holding to certain central beliefs.īeautifully illustrated with evocative black-and-white historical images and colorful artistic visions, and written in an engaging style, The Promise of Canada is a fresh, thoughtful, and inspiring view of our historical journey. Deliberately avoiding a top-down approach to history, Gray has chosen Canadians-some well-known, others less so-whose ideas, she argues, have become part of our collective conversation about who we are as a people. What do these people-from George-Étienne Cartier and Emily Carr to Tommy Douglas, Margaret Atwood, and Elijah Harper-have in common? Each, according to Charlotte Gray, has left an indelible mark on Canada. The book features masterful portraits of nine influential Canadians including Emily Carr, Margaret Atwood, Tommy Douglas, Elijah Harper, and Preston Manning. Now, in The Promise of Canada, she weaves together masterful portraits of nine influential Canadians, creating a unique history of our country. Readers already know Gray as an award-winning biographer, a writer who has brilliantly captured significant individuals and dramatic moments in our history. What does it mean to be a Canadian? What great ideas have changed our country? An award-winning writer casts her eye over our nation’s history, highlighting some of our most important stories.įrom the acclaimed historian Charlotte Gray comes a richly rewarding book about what it means to be Canadian.

The Promise of Canada by Charlotte Gray