Collection
Publication
Description
Blood and Daring will change our views not just of Canada's relationship with the United States, but of the Civil War, Confederation and Canada itself. In Blood and Daring, lauded historian John Boyko makes a compelling argument that Confederation occurred when and as it did largely because of the pressures of the Civil War. Many readers will be shocked by Canada's deep connection to the war--Canadians fought in every major battle, supplied arms to the South, and many key Confederate meetings took place on Canadian soil. Boyko gives Americans a new understanding of the North American context of the war, and also shows how the political climate of the time created a more unified Canada, one that was able to successfully oppose American expansion. Filled with engaging stories and astonishing facts from previously unaccessed primary sources, Boyko's fascinating new interpretation of the war will appeal to all readers of history. Blood and Daring will change our views not just of Canada's relationship with the United States, but of Confederation itself.… (more)
User reviews
Mr. Boyko uses six "guides" to lead us through this history. John Anderson is an escaped slave who came to Canada via the underground railway. As slavery was a major issue in the US, how Canada dealt with escaped slaves was an important factor in Canada-US relations, with different perspectives from the Union and Confederate sides. William Henry Seward was Secretary of State to President Lincoln with a strong desire to annex Canada. Sarah Emma Edmonds was one of 40,000 Canadians and Maritimers who joined either the Union or Confederate armies. Disguised as a man, she worked as a field nurse and a spy. Jacob Thompson was one of many agitators sent by the Confederate government to raise support in Canada for their side. George Brown, a newspaper editor, entered politics and was a voice for Confederation to save Canada from the failure of the US political system. And, Sir John A. Macdonald led the new Dominion of Canada, including dealing with the aftermath of the US Civil war.
I liked Mr. Boyko's later book on Canada's role in the Vietnam war better than this one. In that book, he used his six guides more robustly and brought varying perspectives to the fore more clearly than in this one. Blood and Daring reads more like a standard history book -- and one with a limited perspective. I didn't find the book as Canadian as I expected...there weren't as many details about what was happening in the various provincial governments as there were about what was happening in the actual war. I bought this book for that Canadian perspective -- it was there, but it could have been stronger.
The Epilogue is very well done and provides lots of the kind of information I was looking for. If only the whole book could have been like that!