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Critically acclaimed since its publication in 1991, the BC history of choice has now been revised. Here is the story of Canada's westernmost province, beginning at the point of contact between Native peoples and Europeans and continuing up to 1995.Jean Barman tells the story by focusing not only on the history made by leaders in government but also by including the roles of women, immigrants, and Native peoples.She interweaves political, social, economic, and demographic events into an absorbing account that reveals the roots of contemporary British Columbia in all its diversity and apparent contradictions.

The revised edition has been updated to include information from the 1991 census and revisions have been made throughout the book, including the references, to update it to 1995.

Customer Reviews (4)

Barman's book overblown
Ever since I forced myself through the pages of Barman's much-hyped history of my province I have been wanting to analyze all its many shortcomings.Unlike the other reviewers, I thought this to be one of the most poorly-written (and over-written) of all BC histories.I have given it three stars rather than two because of the amount of detail it DOES contain.However, so much of this detail is misanalyzed or misrendered that, in terms of giving an appreciation of the flavour of BC history, it does little more than trot out all the usual politically-correct latterday assumptions about BC and, in many cases, glosses over or completely ignores some of the most interesting bits.

Barman lives in BC, but her life there has been limited to Point Grey, aka the UBC campus, and it is clear she does not have any idea of the rest of the province. Aside from her annoying habit of not capitalizing "the Interior" or "the Central Interior" most of her book focusses on issues that have to do with her own area of academic interest (sociology).Her obsession with denominational analyses of society and education is completely out-of-place for a province whose history is more driven by those who had either abandoned religion, or taken up more eccentric or extreme religions.

In my own opinion, comparing it to other writing on BC, even Bowering's also-flawed book, this is not a very readable book, despite the blurb on its cover about it being "wonderful and evocative" - perhaps a reference to her many quotations from the writings of Emily Carr.Among those quotations was one that struck my eye and serves as an example of Barman's glossing-over or miscomprehension of detail.Carr describes a journey up the PGE line and Barman quotes this journey as an example of the life of desperation of the 1930s, the train being full of haggard-looking pioneers and squawling children.Carr's description of miners in the Pioneer Mine in the Bridge River Country paints a picture of misery.Actually, the area into which Carr journeyed was one in which she did not stay long and obviously did not much appreciate; that area was one of the "boom" areas in BC in the 1930s and was largely immune from the depradations afflicting the rest of the province at that time; the dirty, tired miners she saw coming up out of the lift at Pioneer were part of a dynamic and hard-working local society; the haggard-looking folks on the train were typical of teh whole Lillooet Country even into the 1970s.That Barman could even mention that area without quoting other, more relevant and accurate descriptions of it by Margaret "Ma" Murray or the dynamism of characters such as Charlie Cunningham or Ned Smith makes me doubt the value of her descriptions of other parts of the province.Another train-related error has to do with her comment on the increased contact with the Prairies in the 1950s, which she suggests had to do with the opening of the PGE line to BC's Peace River Country - which was in fact as isolated from the rest of the Prairies as it was from the rest of BC and was as unlikely a route as any for migration from the Prairies to BC, given that isolation and the fact that the southern passes are the route by which the Prairie influx came (considering her interest in denominational politics, it is curious she does not mention the mass movement of Prairie Mennonites into the Fraser Valley in this regard).Whether the PGE even had passenger service to beyond Prince George to Fort St. John I am unsure of, but doubtful.This was one of many passages that had me wondering if she'd ever been farther from Point Grey than, perhaps, Surrey.

I would have to force myself to read this book again to find more examples of the shortcomings of this work, but I found it too much of a pain from the very first pages onwards.One that comes to mind is her analysis of the reasons for anti-Oriental sentiment leading up to the Anti-Oriental Riots of 1907.She dismisses the white feeling that the Chinese were willing to work for a third of the wages of others as a "perception", following up with a "the reality was" that the low wages paid by Chinese snakehead companies to other Chinese were much higher than those they could have earned back in Kwangtung.The truth is that BOTH are realities, and of course conflicting ones at that.The deeper issue of racism here - that the railway companies and others who were willing and ready to pay lower wages to the Chinese was FAR more racist than the reaction of out-of-work non-Chinese workers (including Indians and East Indians) in response - goes unobserved.But that, of course, would be politically incorrect.

Similarly, the now-conventional description of Gov. Douglas as "racist" is given in knee-jerk fashion without much discussion.The man had a native wife, was a mulatto himself(actually more maroon or octoroon), defending the rights of Chinese miners and the native population against the demands of Americans and newcomers from the Canada who were hostile to them, yet because he might describe the French-Canadians one way and the Hawaiians another, this is pronounced as an example of "racism".Curiously the rabid racism of Seymour and Trutch is passed over without much comment at all....

Great Reading
Up until I read this book I did not understand BC politics or Native issues.The early workings of the political parties are uncovered along with their philosophies.Barman graphically describes British Columbia over the century capturing the spirit of what it means to be a British Columbian.

Just a few points to add
I would just add a few more points to the review that was already written on this book.

Most books that attempt to portray a history of British Columbia will undoubtedly be contrasted against Margaret Ormsby's 1958"B.C.: A History". Barman's book is no different. I agree that itdoes provide an excellent regional history of this province (thus making ita staple textbook for many university classes), yet it can also be viewedin the context of the changing historiography of British Columbia. Barmanhas chosen to focus on the many social aspects of B.C.'s history that mayhave been neglected in past works. The previously mentioned work by Ormsbywould be a case in point - "B.C.: A History" spent adisproportionate ammount of time on BC's pre-confederation, colonial past.Where Ormsby's emphasis was put on individual accomplishment - usually bywhite men - to the detriment of other facets of society (such as Natives,Women, Immigrants, etc. . . ), Barman, and the new generation of historianssince the 1950s, have sought to write a more inculsive history. And this iswhat "The West Beyond The West" is. Unfortunately, I believe ithas gone to far.

This is a similar point that has been made by RobinFischer (another BC historian) on a variety of other occasions; that theemphasis on "social" history in this province has come at theexpense of a greater understanding of "political" history. If youare thus going to be reading "The West Beyond The West" to tryand find a deeper understanding of BC's political tradition you are goingto be hard pressed to find it in this book.

Brian Wayne Wells, reviews "The West Beyond the the West"
This is one of the best regional histories that this reviewer has ever read.The book imparts a real flavor of the overall history of the Province of British Columbia.

British Columbia, Canada's most western province, is part of the Pacific rim with Chile, Peru, California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Japan, China, South East Asia and Indonesia.As such, British Columbia tends to share with more history with those areas that it does with the more easterly parts of Canada and the United States.

Until recently the western regions of the United States and Canada have suffered from a lack of adequate regional histories. Barman's book neatly fills this void in regards to British Columbia and brings the reader right up to the present with the resignation of Michael Harcourt as the premier of the New Democratic Party government in 1996.The charts in the Appendix of the book add a great deal to the historian's appreciation of this book. ... Read more

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British Columbia is regularly described in superlatives both positive and negative - most spectacular scenery, strangest politics, greatest environmental sensitivity, richest Aboriginal cultures, most aggressive resource exploitation, closest ties to Asia. Jean Barman's The West beyond the West presents the history of the province in all its diversity and apparent contradictions. This critically acclaimed work is the premiere book on British Columbian history, with a narrative beginning at the point of contact between Native peoples and Europeans and continuing into the twenty-first century.

Barman tells the story by focusing not only on the history made by leaders in government but also on the roles of women, immigrants, and Aboriginal peoples in the development of the province. She incorporates new perspectives and expands discussions on important topics such as the province's relationship to Canada as a nation, its involvement in the two world wars, the perspectives of non-mainstream British Columbians, and its participation in recreation and sports including Olympics.

First published in 1991 and revised in 1996, this third edition of The West beyond the West has been supplemented by statistical tables incorporating the 2001 census, two more extensive illustration sections portraying British Columbia's history in images, and other new material bringing the book up to date. Barman's deft scholarship is readily apparent and the book demands to be on the shelf of anyone with an interest in British Columbian or Canadian history.

Customer Reviews (2)

Learning about the big picture of BC ecology
As a newcomer to BC I found the style and flow of this book a great help in understanding the diversity of BC landscape and ecology. The book give enough detail and titbits to interest me yet avoids being a reference text bogged down with numbers and latin names.

In tandem with another of Cannings' books, Geology of British Columbia: A journey through time, a good level of understanding of the factors contributing to how BC is today can be gained by the general reader, who may not necessarily be 'scientifically' learned.

I think that both of these books would have benefited from the addition of larger maps, perhaps as a fold out section.

Best introduction to natural history of this province
British Columbia is Canada's most biologically diverse province. If you want a great introduction then there is no better book than this award winning volume. Buy it. ... Read more

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The one constant factor in this long narrative, not only in terms of physical geography but also in cultural, ethnic and political ways, of the province on the Pacific, known as British Columbia, is its distinctiveness. ... Read more

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A strong taridtional history of British Columbia
This book by Ormsby, one of the pre-eminent historians of British Columbia in her day, serves as good general history of the province. Published in 1958 in honour of the provinces centenary celebrations, B.C.: A History isyour typical narrative account. Ormsby starts off in the 18th century andproceeds to slowly take the reader up to the present day. Like mostHistorians of this era, Ormsby betrays a strong preference for the eventsof the colonial, pre-confederation British Columbia. A lot of time is spentdetailing the effects that resource extraction (such as mining or the furtrade had on the development of the province), as well, Ormsby is a strong"traditionalist" in that she prefers to focus on the lives ofgreat men (usually politicians or administrators) to highlight hernarrative.

In the end it is nevertheless an excellent account of BritishColumbia, especially in the 19th century, and may still hold some insights42 years after it was published. ... Read more

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This interdisciplinary collection is the first to examine the history of child and family welfare from the vantage point of a single Canadian province, British Columbia. It draws from the disciplines of social history, social work, Aboriginal studies, law, criminology, women's studies, and education to explore the creation and development of welfare for children and families in the twentieth century. The fifteen chapters examine conditions for children in institutions and describe the partial deinstitutional-ization of services. The formation of a province-wide network of public social services is outlined as well as the ways in which social work practice was progressively professionalized over the century. Some of the ways in which provincial legislation and policy regulated the lives of families with disabled and mentally challenged children as well as those families adopting children is described. Finally, it analyzes campaigns to reform services and policy that led to the creation of pensions for mothers in the 1920s and family courts in the 1940s. Avenues for further research and questions for classroom discussion are provided. ... Read more

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Captain James Cook first made contact with the area now known as British Columbia in 1778. The colonists who followed soon realized they needed a written history, both to justify their dispossession of Aboriginal peoples and to formulate an identity for a new settler society. Writing British Columbia History traces how Euro-Canadian historians took up this task, and struggled with the newness of colonial society and overlapping ties to the British Empire, the United States, and Canada. This exploration of the role of history writing in colonialism and nation building will appeal to anyone interested in the history of British Columbia, the Pacific Northwest, and history writing in Canada.

Chad Reimer is an independent historian and author in Chilliwack, BC. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Reksten Brings History to Life
Reksten does a very good job of immersing the reader in all aspects of BCs history with this book.

The book is divided into 5 sections: prehistoric (well, approx 1700) to 1857, 1858 to 1865, 1866 to 1913, 1914 to 1949, and 1950 to 2000. In each section Reksten discusses cultural, social, political, and physical aspects of BCs history, and does so in a very unbiased way. The book is filled with amazing pictures, maps, direct quotes from the people of BC, and personal accounts of many events. The pictures and maps, along with their detailed citations, make it a great coffee-table picture book, and Rekstens writing abilities make it great as a full-length read.

I only give this book 4/5 stars because of how little material there is from 1950 until 2000. The book has 230 pages for the history up until 1950, but only 40 pages for 1950 until 2000. The major events from 1950 until 2000 are covered, but not in the same level of detail that the rest of the history is covered in. But, overall this is a great book. Reksten spent 2 years researching BCs history before writing the book, and it shows! ... Read more

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This comprehensive history takes us from the birth of the novel in the 18th century through its growing pains in the 19th century to its angst-ridden maturity in the 20th century. ... Read more

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This classic of anthropology examines the effects of immigrant settlement on the population, economy, culture, government and religion of British Columbia's First People. This new edition retains Duff's original 1965 text, but contains added photographs and a new foreword updating the names of First Nations in the province. ... Read more

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The Columbia Anthology of British Poetry brings together the most remarkable verse written in the British Isles over the course of the past twelve centuries, offering the greatest diversity of poetic voices in any anthology of its kind.From Shakespeare's memorable sonnets to Keats's haunting odes to T.S. Eliot's mediations on the conditions of modern life, the collection contains many of the best-loved treasures of British poetry. Longer and much-celebrated poems that rarely find their way into anthologies-including Pope's "Rape of the Lock" and Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"-claim a place in this collection.Queen Elizabeth I, Anne Killigrew, Aphra Behn, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Felicia Hemans are among dozens of women writers renowned in their own day and now restored to their rightful prominence. Scottish, Welsh, and Irish poets often excluded from anthologies of British poetry are here as well, including such extraordinary voices as Lady Grisell Baillie, Robert Burns, Hugh MacDiarmid, and Seamus Heaney. The finest contemporary poets are fully represented also, from Thom Gunn to Eavan Boland. The result is an amazingly rich and wide-ranging conversation among British poets that transcends the boundaries of time and place.Carl Woodring and James Shapiro, the team scholars who edited The Columbia History of British Poetry, have written incisive introductions to the careers of the poets, making this the most accessible and comprehensive anthology of British verse in print. Covering the new and the ancient, the classic and the rediscovered, this generous volume reimagines the horizons of British poetry. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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In the 240 years from contact to the present, British Columbia's population has experienced transformations of a kind and magnitude witnessed nowhere else in North America. The introduction of exotic diseases changed the human landscape almost overnight, as did gold rushes, industrialization, two world wars, a baby boom, late 20th-century immigration from Asia, and a grey wave. Becoming British Columbia is the first comprehensive, demographic history of this province. Investigating critical moments in the demographic record and linking demographic patterns to larger social and political questions, it shows how biology, politics, and history conspire with sex, death, and migration to create a particular kind of society. ... Read more

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This sixth volume in the Osgoode Society's distinguished series on the history of Canadian law turns to the a central theme in the history of British Columbia and the Yukon - law and order. In the early days of British sovereignty, the frenzied activity of the fur trade and the gold rush, along with clashes between settlers and Natives, made law enforcement a difficult business. Later, although law and order were more firmly established, tensions continued between the dominant populations committed to the practice and rhetoric of British justice and those groups owing allegiance to other value systems (such as Native peoples,Asian immigrants, and Doukhobors) or those resisting authority (criminals and the criminally insane). These essays look at key social, economic, and political issues of the times and show how they influenced the developing legal system.

The essays cover a wide range of topics, and explore the human as well as the legal dimensions of their subjects, relating specific cases to broader theory. They demonstrate that English law has been flexible enough to accommodate diversity and is, therefore, pragmatic. The volume also proves that there is no single Canadian legal culture: geography, demography, politics, economics, and military considerations have had an impact on the shape of our legal culture. The introduction by John McLaren and Hamar Foster pulls together the many regional themes to provide a clear overview of the legal complexities of the period. ... Read more

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A Pacific Northwest publishing tradition since 1972, the Raincoast Chronicles series is still a perennial favourite with its funny, fiery depictions of British Columbia's past. This latest issue includes more of what made Raincoast Chronicles famous--an eclectic and entertaining mix of stories and characters.

Sheryl Salloum contributes a fascinating history of squatters in Vancouver--from the Dollarton squat that Malcolm Lowry made infamous to the Finn Slough squat on the Fraser River that still exists, 70 years later. And let's not forget Peter Fletcher, a former Saturna Island light keeper, who tells us what it's like to have a diabolical pet crow almost destroy his marriage. ... Read more