Gabriel Dumont (The Canadians)

Book Description
The struggle of the Métis of the Saskatchewan River against the government of Canada culminated in the Riel Rebellion of 1885 - an event of central importance in shaping almost all of the key polarities of Canadian history. If Riel provided the intellectual inspiration for the Rebellion, it was (as George Woodcock's landmark study showed) Gabriel Dumont who provided its strategy, and arguably its soul. Dumont, a leading figure in the Métis society of hunters along the South Saskatchewan, had been president of the short-lived local government, and became "Adjutant General of the Métis people" when a Provisional Government was declared in 1885. After the defeat of the Rebellion by the Canadian militia Dumont lived for several years in the United States, and was for some time a performer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. In his last years he returned to his old home near Batoche (site of the final defeat of the Métis forces in 1885), where he died in 1906.

Woodcock's biography of Dumont displays the author's remarkable gift for evocative narration and description. In the wake of its 1975 publication Canadians had a new reference point in the way they thought of the Riel Rebellion. Alongside the spirituality (and arguably the madness) of Riel was the calm determination of Dumont, whose intuitive feel for the land and for the moods of his people has now become part of the Canadian historical imagination.

For this re-issue of Woodcock's classic biography noted historian Jim Miller has written a substantial introduction setting the work in the context of Canadian historiography and biography as well as of the Riel Rebellion itself. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author
George Woodcock was for some thirty years one of the leading figures in Canadian letters. The founding editor of Canadian Literature, he was also the author of dozens of books, including the leading study of Anarchism, the Governor General's Award-winning George Orwell: The Crystal Spirit, and many books on Canadian history, literature, and geography.

J.R. (Jim) Miller, a Professor in the Department of History at the University of Saskatchewan, is the author of many books and articles on Canadian history, including Skyscrapers Hide the Heavens: A History of Indian/ White Relations in Canada (University of Toronto Press, 4th edition 2000). --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Gabriel Dumont (The Canadians),George Woodcock,Fitzhenry & Whiteside,0889022399,Dumont, Gabriel,Juvenile literature

Books:

link-web.net

Books