Daniel Francis

Reading the National Narrative

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June 3, 2013

If you are interested in following the latest skirmishes in the so-called history wars, Pete Anderson has compiled a list of links at his  "History Applied" blog that will tell you more than you ever wanted to know.

June 1, 2013

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Attention was paid in the press last week to a conference of orca experts taking place on Saturna Island, one of the southern Gulf Islands on the British Columbia coast. The conference was a commemoration of sorts of the first-ever live capture of a killer whale on July 16, 1964, at East Point on Saturna. (Details of the capture and the conference are...

May 30, 2013

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When I was born, in 1947, my parents engaged a housekeeper to help my mother care for me and cope with my three elder siblings. The other day I met my nanny face-to-face for the first time; or, to be exact, the first time in sixty-six years.

Her name is Naomi Miller and she tapped me on the shoulder somewhere between the main course and dessert at a banquet in...

May 29, 2013

The latest issue (#88) of Geist magazine is on the stands with my column on a new book about Vancouver's Penthouse nightclub, Liquor, Lust and the Law, by Aaron Chapman (Arsenal Pulp Press).

I go interested in the Penthouse a few years ago when I was working on my own book, Red Light Neon, a history of prostitution in the city. The origins of the club go back to before the Second World War...

May 29, 2013

Top Read This Week:

The decision by a the parliamentary heritage committee in Ottawa to commence an investigation into Canadian history, including how the subject is taught in schools, touched off a bit of a squall from people who believe the government should keep its hands off history. I’m not sure why. Lindsay Gibson has a review and an analysis of the controversy at The History Education Network website.

Meanwhile in Great Britain the...

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