SOURCE: "At Once Too Staid and Melodramatic: Berton's Canadian History," in Canadian Children's Literature, No. 69, 1993, pp. 40-2.

In the following review, Bérard criticizes Berton's work as too detail-oriented to serve as good historical fiction, and too melodramatic to serve as a key source for historical analysis.

These two books are the first in a series of "Adventures in Canadian History" to be written for McClelland & Stewart by Pierre Berton. A third volume devoted to the War of 1812, The Revenge of the Tribes, has also been published, as well as three additional titles, dealing with the opening of the West and the North. The publishers have, no doubt, made a prudent investment in this series. There is a dearth of well-written Canadian history aimed at young people, particularly at the twelve-to-fourteen year age group for which this series has been prepared. The clear type and the low price...