History scholars Margaret Conrad and James Hiller bring a wide range of expertise to Atlantic Canada, the third volume in Oxford’s Illustrated History of Canada series. Atlantic Canada looks at Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland as a regional unit, focusing on the area’s long history of European colonization.

For almost 300 years, the settlements in Atlantic Canada were pawns in the power struggles of distant European nations. Conrad and Hiller vividly portray the many conflicts between the Acadians and the English and the native allies of both sides. However, the focus on imperialism means that a strictly Atlantic Canadian history must be diluted to take account of such European concerns as the War of the Spanish Succession. The long history of settlement in the area also means that the rise and decline of whole communities takes precedence over the stories of individuals such as the explorer John Franklin or the artist Paul Kane.

Nevertheless, Atlantic Canada is full of fascinating information. For example, readers are likely to be unaware that Shelburne, Nova Scotia, was once the largest city in British North America. Conrad and Hiller also manage to place current Maritime issues in a meaningful historical perspective, and it is interesting to see the French/English conflict from something other than an Upper/Lower Canada perspective. As with the other volumes, the illustrations in Atlantic Canada are strong, with extended captions that enhance rather than repeat the text.

This is straightforward retelling of history, giving the nuts and bolts of what happened rather than analyses of social trends. The high standards of the first two books have been maintained and the series as a whole will be welcomed by those for whom the CBC’s popular Canada: A People’s History project ignited such a spark of interest.