A new two-volume set of books on the history of Montreal, from Indigenous life before contact with Europeans to its present-day bilingual and multicultural urban region, could make a good addition to a genealogist’s home library.
The books are a collection of essays, filled with hundreds of illustrations, photographs, and maps, that have been edited by Dany Fougères, a professor of history at l’Université du Québec à Montréal, and Roderick MacLeod, the author of two books on Quebec history with emphasis on its Anglo-Protestant population.
The first volume encompasses the city up to 1930, depicting the lives of First Nations prior to the arrival of Europeans, colonization by the French, and the beginning of British Rule. The crucial roles of waterways, portaging, paths, and trails as the primary means of travelling and trade are first examined before delving into the construction of canals, railways, and the first major roads. The nineteenth century was a period of near-total change in Montreal: the population grew from 20,000 to over one million and it became Canada’s leading industrial city.
The second volume treats the history of Montreal since 1930, the year that the Jacques Cartier Bridge was opened and allowed for the outward expansion of a region, which before had been confined to the island. From the Great Depression and Montreal’s role as a munitions manufacturing centre during the Second World War to major cultural events like Expo 67, the twentieth century saw Montreal grow into one of the continent’s largest cities. This volume also studies the kinds of political debate with which the region and country still grapple regarding language, nationalism, federalism, and self-determination.
The hard-cover, two-volume set will be published by McGill-Queen’s University Press and should be available in a few weeks in Montreal book stores and online. Amazon indicates the set will be available for a combined online price of $85 by the end of February, while Indigo says April 15. An e-book is also in the works.
Note: While Googling the editors’ names, I discovered Mr. MacLeod’s doctoral thesis, Salubrious settings and fortunate families: the making of Montreal’s golden square mile, 1840-1895, submitted to McGill University in 1997. (Click on the PDF image in the link to read the thesis.)
