The Canadian Rangers stand sentinel in the farthest reaches of our country. For more than six decades, this dedicated group of citizen-soldiers has quietly served as Canada’s eyes, ears, and voice in isolated coastal and northern communities. Drawing on official records, interviews, and participation in Ranger exercises, Lackenbauer argues that the organization offers an inexpensive way for Canada to “show the flag” from coast to coast to coast. The Rangers have also laid the foundation for a successful partnership between the modern state and Aboriginal peoples, a partnership rooted in local knowledge and crosscultural understanding.
P. Whitney Lackenbauer is an associate professor and chair of the Department of History at St. Jerome’s University and the author of numerous books, including Battle Grounds: The Canadian Military and Aboriginal Lands (UBC Press, 2006) and co-author of Arctic Front: Defending Canadian Interests in the Far North (2008), which won the Donner Prize in 2009.
As any good historian would, Lackenbauer has researched his subject exhaustively, as evidenced by the extensive introduction, numerous maps and fascinating archival photos and a staggering 123 pages of footnotes. But this level of academic thoroughness doesn’t affect the book’s readability, and the result is an engaging history of a uniquely Canadian institution.