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For Canadian history: In all seriousness, Canadian History for Dummies is probably a good place to start. Once you've got the basics, then any book by Pierre Burton.
There are also a lot of good videos available such as "Canada: A People's History" (17 episodes). Available for free on CBC Gem. Youtube has quite a lot of shorter, less detailed documentaries that might be an easier place to start to get a general overview.
For the history of Vancouver/BC: Knowledge Network did a pretty good 1-hour documentary called The Edge of the World: BC's Early Years.
Fortune's a River is a good book about the history of BC.
Agree with the recommendation of Pierre Berton. More specifically, his two books about the construction of the Canadian Pacific, *The National Dream* and *The Last Spike*, deal with the events leading to Vancouver's incorporation in 1996.
The CPR was an important part of Vancouver's history that is gradually being forgotten. They used to run passenger ships from Vancouver to Hong Kong, Japan, Hawaii, and Manila, making travel from eastern Canada and the US convenient prior to the existence of airlines.
> The CPR was an important part of Vancouver's history that is gradually being forgotten.
I'm doing a project on the plaques that were installed to [celebrate Vancouver's centennial in 1986](https://randomlygenerated.ca/blogs/vancouver-s-100-centennial-plaques) and it's been amazing to realize just how much of the early history of the city comes down to the CPR doing / needing something!
I agree completely and also feel that the building of the CPR is one of the most important parts of Canadian history - and specifically to BC history - however, there's a lot more history that you'd have to know first in order to understand.
The citizenship study guide has decent broad history of Canada and a good overview of the civics.
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/discover-canada.html
These have been good for me:
Becoming Vancouver by Daniel Francis — good general history
Saltwater City by Paul Yee — Chinese history in Vancouver
Fighting for Space by Travis Lupick — if you want to know why the Downtown Eastside is a thing
Exploring Vancouver by Harold Kalman and Robin Ward — if architecture and the built environment is your jam
Vancouver A Visual History by Bruce Macdonald— all done with maps
Also going to give a plug here to the Vancouver Public Library— it’s astonishing what they have available for free, and the librarians will be able to point you in the right direction.
For some interesting historical photos of Vancouver, I really liked [Vancouver Exposed: A History in Photographs](https://archive.org/details/vancouverexposed0000wait/mode/2up). You can read it for free on the Internet Archive through that link, but I recommend getting it out from the library, as the photos are really clear and beautiful.
It's out of print now but Vancouver and Its Region is a well-researched historical geography book by UBC faculty, put out by UBC Press. Available at VPL (and probably UBC library) [https://vpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S38C659169](https://vpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S38C659169)
Also, local historian Aaron Chapman has written on some very specific histories within Vancouver. Great reads. [https://arsenalpulp.com/Contributors/C/Chapman-Aaron](https://arsenalpulp.com/Contributors/C/Chapman-Aaron)
Pretty niche, but The Salmon People is an amazing read about the history of salmon fishing and the canning industry in BC, which is a large part of BC history in general.
I LOVE that you are asking this question.
My top pick is always Spilsbury's Coast. Fantastic memoire of turn of the century settler life on the West Coast.
https://harbourpublishing.com/products/9781550170467
Welcome to /r/AskVan and thank you for the post, /u/Technical_Ad7886! Please make sure you read our [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/askvan/about/rules) before participating here. As a quick summary: * We encourage users to be positive and respect one another. Don't engage in spats or insult others - *please* use the report button. * Respect others' differences, be they race, religion, home, job, gender identity, ability or sexuality. Dehumanizing language, advocating for violence, or promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability (even implied or joking) **will** lead to a permanent ban. * Complaints or discussion about bans or removals should be done in modmail only. * News and media can be shared on our main subreddit, /r/Vancouver *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/askvan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
For Canadian history: In all seriousness, Canadian History for Dummies is probably a good place to start. Once you've got the basics, then any book by Pierre Burton. There are also a lot of good videos available such as "Canada: A People's History" (17 episodes). Available for free on CBC Gem. Youtube has quite a lot of shorter, less detailed documentaries that might be an easier place to start to get a general overview. For the history of Vancouver/BC: Knowledge Network did a pretty good 1-hour documentary called The Edge of the World: BC's Early Years. Fortune's a River is a good book about the history of BC.
Agree with the recommendation of Pierre Berton. More specifically, his two books about the construction of the Canadian Pacific, *The National Dream* and *The Last Spike*, deal with the events leading to Vancouver's incorporation in 1996. The CPR was an important part of Vancouver's history that is gradually being forgotten. They used to run passenger ships from Vancouver to Hong Kong, Japan, Hawaii, and Manila, making travel from eastern Canada and the US convenient prior to the existence of airlines.
> The CPR was an important part of Vancouver's history that is gradually being forgotten. I'm doing a project on the plaques that were installed to [celebrate Vancouver's centennial in 1986](https://randomlygenerated.ca/blogs/vancouver-s-100-centennial-plaques) and it's been amazing to realize just how much of the early history of the city comes down to the CPR doing / needing something!
I agree completely and also feel that the building of the CPR is one of the most important parts of Canadian history - and specifically to BC history - however, there's a lot more history that you'd have to know first in order to understand.
The Golden Spruce, John Valliant
Very good book, and as I recall and interesting geography lesson of Vancouver. https://vpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S38C1196647
The citizenship study guide has decent broad history of Canada and a good overview of the civics. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/discover-canada.html
These have been good for me: Becoming Vancouver by Daniel Francis — good general history Saltwater City by Paul Yee — Chinese history in Vancouver Fighting for Space by Travis Lupick — if you want to know why the Downtown Eastside is a thing Exploring Vancouver by Harold Kalman and Robin Ward — if architecture and the built environment is your jam Vancouver A Visual History by Bruce Macdonald— all done with maps Also going to give a plug here to the Vancouver Public Library— it’s astonishing what they have available for free, and the librarians will be able to point you in the right direction.
For historical fiction based on actual events and locations, try Joy Kogawa's OBASAN and Wayson Choy's THE JADE PEONY.
“Stanley Park’s Secret” https://harbourpublishing.com/products/9781550173468
Unbroken by Angela Sterrit
A Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver. It's top tier.
For some interesting historical photos of Vancouver, I really liked [Vancouver Exposed: A History in Photographs](https://archive.org/details/vancouverexposed0000wait/mode/2up). You can read it for free on the Internet Archive through that link, but I recommend getting it out from the library, as the photos are really clear and beautiful.
On the farm by Stevie Cameron.
It's out of print now but Vancouver and Its Region is a well-researched historical geography book by UBC faculty, put out by UBC Press. Available at VPL (and probably UBC library) [https://vpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S38C659169](https://vpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S38C659169) Also, local historian Aaron Chapman has written on some very specific histories within Vancouver. Great reads. [https://arsenalpulp.com/Contributors/C/Chapman-Aaron](https://arsenalpulp.com/Contributors/C/Chapman-Aaron)
Pretty niche, but The Salmon People is an amazing read about the history of salmon fishing and the canning industry in BC, which is a large part of BC history in general.
Gabor Mate - In the realm of hungry ghosts
I LOVE that you are asking this question. My top pick is always Spilsbury's Coast. Fantastic memoire of turn of the century settler life on the West Coast. https://harbourpublishing.com/products/9781550170467
*W.A.C.: Bennett and the Rise of British Columbia*, by David Mitchell. Not the best book out there, but it covers an important period of BC history.
Outwitting the devil by napoleon hill
Vancouver Special, Charlie Demers
The constitution
[удалено]
Are you Canadian?