Lord Selkirk: A Life, by J. M. Bumsted
by Elizabeth CampbellThe snail-mailed copies of the August Newsletters have been mailed, and most of you will have had a
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chance to read it by now. In it (and in the June issue) was an article concerning J. M. Bumsted’s latest book, Lord Selkirk: a Life.
It is almost a year since this massive volume was released. I’m curious to know how many people have read it and what they thought of it.
I’ve seen two other reviews of the book in addition to Mr. McKay’s: Heather Robertson’s in The Beaver, and one Shirlee Anne Smith wrote for the Manitoba Historical Society’s publication. I’ve also read the book – which took a while given that I was reading it over lunch hours! I didn’t pay much attention to Robertson’s review as she didn’t sound very knowledgeable about the period and issues dealt with in the book. I was really surprised that The Beaver asked her to review it instead of someone with more experience with Canadian/Scottish/English history of the early 1800s.
There were two things I noticed about the book that struck me as odd. First, it seemed that Bumsted didn’t form an opinion one way or the other about his subject until he began relating Selkirk’s involvement with the RRS. The second, given all the tangential material that Bumsted included in the book, it seems strange that he didn’t say a bit more on the fate of the settlers that remained loyal to the colony and fled to Jack River in 1815. This was pointed out in Smith’s review, which I read before I arrived at that point in the narrative myself.
One of the things I really appreciated about Lord Selkirk: A Life was the insight it provided to the general history of the period and how it all tied together to influence the fate of our ancestors. That fact alone makes it a valuable addition to my collection!
Tags: Book Reviews, history, J. M. Bumstead, Lord Selkirk, Lord Selkirk: A Life, RRS Politics
