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In The Strange Demise of British Canada, C.P. Champion challenges the conventional narrative about contemporary Canada’s most revered stories of nationhood and national identity.

Centred in a well-written and well-researched retelling of the battle for a new national flag and the unification of Canada’s armed forces, the book offers an interesting exploration of the causes and effects of the rise of Canadian nationalism during the Pearson era. Strange Demise outlines a compelling case for the role of British traditions in forming a distinctive, modern identity for our young nation.

Champion concludes that the successful evolution from our colonial past was not a result of a rejection of our “Britishness,” but rather because we embraced it. British Canada, he contends, is still very much at the root of our cultural identity, and ever shall be.

Strange Demise will make you re-examine those halcyon days of the 1960s when Canada seemed to come into its own, and it will lead you to think more critically about our national culture and identity.