<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: A really good local history
Review: For 75 years the Okanagan Historical Society has been recording the history of the Valley and publishing its work in an annual journal, variously know as the Report of the O.H.S. and now under the title of Okanagan History. A Rich and Fruitful Land is thus a compilation of some of the works that have appeared in the pages of the Journal covering many different aspects of the region.In all fairness, this book does try to get away from some of the faults that are usually attributed to local history's produced by organizations such as the O.H.S. There are chapters on First Nations and community along with staples such as a chapter on "Military Matters" along with those of the fur trade, colonial era and resource extraction. The book is also a little light in content, due in part to its structure - being more of a coffee table book with an equal emphasis given to pictures as to the written material. Also, despite the title of a "Fruitful" place the book only devotes a single chapter to the fruit growers! Not that this is a big deal but they were/are one of the more important aspects of any history of the Okanagan (mind you, I am a bit biased because my family owned an orchard in the south end of the Valley and my M.A. thesis is dealing with the fruit industry). Nevertheless, this book does offer an excellent survey of the history of the Valley over the past 100 years.
<< 1 >>
| 
