Untold Tales of Old British Columbia

by Daniel Marshall

Literary Nonfiction. History.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

330 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2024

About the author

Daniel Marshall is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin University, Melbourne.

Reviews

[Matt L · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Untold Tales of Old BC, I have a greater appreciation for my home province and its history. The author did a good job making important British Columbians come to life and I now know more about the people with the famous and infamous names that many of Vancouver's streets bear (Dunsmuir, Trutch, Carnarvon, for example). I also learned what the West Coast Trail was originally for and that there was much debate over where the transnational railway would end, having massive ramifications for the province as it exists today. Despite including some tough to read passages, directly quoting statements from the 1800s, I felt the stories were generally well paced and gave the right level of detail for my level of interest. I also appreciated how the author connected BCs role in world events like the Great War with his personal family history, which was a unique perspective to an already under-served slice of history.

That said, the book does seem to take some narrative license - seemingly overplaying pre-Canada's role as a safe haven for American people of colour in the 1800s while then underplaying the role of Chinese and Indigenous labourers in the construction of the CPR. Bizarrely, when trying to equate how BC handled the Spanish Flu to how it handled the COVID pandemic, the author claims that the earlier flu also came from China (when it's widely agreed it was first recorded in Kansas). These were amongst the eyebrow raising moments that were enough to drop my rating from a 4 to a 3.

Besides that, this is a book worth reading for anyone interested in learning more about BC and its early history, just before and soon after it joined the Canadian confederation.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too dense with information, like a history text book. I did appreciate the personal touches in each chapter. One has to read a bit at a time. I did find it interesting that when the Canadian government was trying to entice BC to join confederation by promising the building of a railway that the favoured route was through Cariboo country to Bute inlet and then bridges across the Valdez Islands to Vancouver Island, north of Campbell River and then down the island to Victoria.

[Nik von Schulmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I suppose I was hoping for more 'tales' rather than a mostly historical look at the 1858 Gold Rush. The book certainly did not explore much of the rest of British Columbia beyond Victoria and the Fraser. It was enjoyable when some of the stories were character based but overall just felt like a historical text book.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written book that made history interesting. This was a fun way to learn about the history of a colony that I knew nothing about previously. Stories were great but wish the author provided more context of the "well known" history of BC. Wish the author also provided more history of indigenous people's prior to colonization. Overall great read!

[Joshua Friesen · Rating 4 out of 5]

He's no historian but a great story teller.