Assignment Paper

Write a book review of The Canadian Labour Movement: A Short History by Craig Heron.

Think carefully what the main points of the book really are and avoid everything that is not absolutely essential to the arguments presented in the book. Your review should present the major developments of the labour movement in Canada. To identify these developments, you need to consider different experiences that workers had in various jobs and under changing economic political conditions. This is the background story for workers engaging in labour movements, a story that includes both unions and political parties.

You should be critical in your review. If there’s anything you find inconsistent, claims that are not supported empirically, points made that don’t contribute to the main line of arguments, or even if you find the book repetitive or poorly written—say so. Being critical is not about denouncing the book under review or its author, it’s about getting a deeper understanding of what you read. As a rule of thumb: uncritical reading leads to superficial understandings; critical reading leads to deeper understandings and encourages further thought.

For good information on writing a book review, you may like to visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab .