Ottawa: An Illustrated History

by John H. Taylor

Bytown's early years - as military outpost and lumber town - did not presage greatness. Yet this rough little town (renamed Ottawa in 1855) did not remain insignificant, for geography and politics soon combined to place it at centrestage as Canada's national capital.
Ottawa's fascinating story is recounted with skill and wit in John H. Taylor's An Illustrated History . Taylor tells this story in all its variations - the life of the French and the English, the poor and the rich; the politics of city hall and Parliament Hill; the social lives of Ottawans. Crisp and colourful, An Illustrated History focuses on the history of the city's relationship with its landlord - the federal government - but it also does more. It weaves together, for the first time, all the complex strands that over the years have shaped Ottawa's identity.
An Illustrated History is handsomely illustrated by 150 historical photographs and by a dozen original maps depicting the city's geographical evolution.

Genres: History

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

My litmus test for nonfiction is: Do I feel my time would have better been spent reading wikipedia articles on the subject? In this case, I definitely feel that way. There's a lot of information here. The book is well-researched and it would undoubtedly be a good read for many people. For me, I felt that the information wasn't arranged in an engaging manner. It felt like each section was a themed info-dump. There was no story telling, and the pieces didn't really build on each other in a meaningful way.

I suspect that someone with a strong understanding of Canadian history would get more out of this book than I did.

[a.m. kozak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting facts but a little boring

[Pascale Dupont-Mathieu]

Learned quite abit reading this book.
Interesting read thats for sure.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a rich, engaging description of Bytown and Ottawa, up to the 1980s. Great photos. Astounding how much a place can change in a few generations.