The Great Canadian Tapestry

The Definitive Account of Crisis, Identity, and Sovereignty.

Canada is more than just a history of peace and compromise. It is a century-spanning tapestry woven from constitutional battles, economic upheavals, and profound cultural transformation. In The Great Canadian Tapestry, historian David Leonard delivers a rigorous chronological and thematic analysis, charting the forces that have continuously tested and redefined the federation.

Inside, you will explore the moments that defined modern Canada:

• The implementation of the National Policy and the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
• The constitutional near-death experiences, from the King-Byng Affair to the 1995 Quebec Referendum.
• The dramatic pivot to fiscal orthodoxy under the "Red Book" and the subsequent management of the Great Recession.
• The generational challenge of Indigenous Reconciliation following the TRC's findings on the residential school system.
• The structural shifts in the Canadian economy caused by globalization, technological change, and rising inequality.
• Canada's evolution from the Pearson peacekeeping model to its modern role in the face of climate change and great-power competition.