John Warkentin looks at the work of geographers from 1831 to 1977 through the regional descriptions of seven perceptive observers of Canada who provide very different but illuminating interpretations: Joseph Bouchette, a surveyor-general from Lower Canada; George Parkin, an educator and journalist from New Brunswick; J.D. Rogers, a British barrister and scholar; Harold Innis, the great economic historian; R.C. Wallace, a geologist with administrative experience in the North; Bruce Hutchison, a brilliant BC journalist with deep regional insights; and Thomas Berger, who presided over a Royal Commission on northern development in the 1970s. Warkentin's introduction reveals how their descriptions and interpretations of Canada's areas helped provide the perceptions that influence contemporary conceptions of the country - both its regions and as a whole.

John Warkentin is a professor emeritus of geography at York University and the author of various books on Canada, including A Regional Geography of Canada: Life, Sand, and Space.

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?There is much to enjoy in this book, especially by reading again the seminal and justifiably praised insights of Innis, Hutchison and Berger. The readings will be profitably enjoyed by a newcomer to the country, and equally by the seasoned traveller. There is always pleasure in finding one’s own prejudices confirmed, and just one example would be Hutchison’s feelings about being so much at ease in Regina. Additionally, as a university “reader’, the book will also be used by undergraduate and graduate students of historical geography.”British Journal of Canadian Studies