Labouring Children (1980) is a study of child immigrants, based on numerous original sources, and presents new views on childhood, social work and Canadian rural communities. Between 1868 and 1925 eighty thousand British boys and girls, mostly under fourteen, were apprenticed as agricultural labourers and domestic servants in rural Canada. A surprising feature is the involvement of the Evangelicals, who considered that they were giving children from poor homes a fresh start in the...

Visions of life in the 1950s often spring from the United States: supermarkets, freeways, huge gleaming cars, bright new appliances, automated households. Historian Joy Parr looks beyond the generalizations about the indulgence of this era to find a specifically Canadian consumer culture. Focusing on the records left by consumer groups and manufacturers, and relying on interviews and letters from many Canadian women who had set up household in the decade after the war, she reveals exactly ...

The world is full of dark places that present obstacles to our joy. While people may instinctually turn to films, games, or social connections to brighten their day, Christians know they have a greater source of comfort and joy. In Joy in Dark Places, Thomas Parr reminds us that the Bible speaks of glorious realities that the darkest days cannot destroy. Readers will see how moral evil, calamity, and even bad theology steal our happiness. More importantly, they will see how the li...

Mobility - the movements of people, things, and ideas, as well as their associated cultural meanings - has been a key factor in shaping Canadians' perceptions of and interactions with their country. Approaching the burgeoning field of environmental history in Canada through the lens of mobility reveals some of the distinctive ways in which Canadians have come to terms with the country's climate and landscape. Spanning Canada's diverse regions, throughout its history, from the closing of th...