David Staines is the former Dean of the Faculty of Arts and now Professor of English at the University of Ottawa. He has authored and/or edited more than twenty books on Medieval Culture and Literature and Canadian Culture and Literature. In 1998, he received the Lorne Pierce Medal from the Royal Society of Canada for outstanding contribution to Canadian criticism, and in 2011, he was awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario for his services to Canadian literature.

'Reading this book is every bit as enjoyable as reading one of the hundreds of novels which Staines cites in this first comprehensive history of Canadian fiction in English from its beginnings to the present day. Atwood, Munro, and Ondaatje are global literary celebrities, but nothing comes out of the blue, and Staines provides an indispensable historical and cultural frame for understanding their significance in the evolution of the exceptionally diverse Canadian literary tradition. This book transforms our thinking about Canadian fiction.' Coral Ann Howells, University of London

• Introduction; 1. The beginnings; 2. From romance towards realism; 3. Emerging into realism; 4. The foundational fifties; 5. The second feminist wave; 6. The flourishing of the wests; 7. The second century; 8. Indigenous voices; 9. Naturalized Canadian writers; 10. The twenty-first century; Afterword; Endnotes; Acknowledgements.

David Staines is the former Dean of the Faculty of Arts and now Professor of English at the University of Ottawa. He has authored and/or edited more than twenty books on Medieval Culture and Literature and Canadian Culture and Literature. In 1998, he received the Lorne Pierce Medal from the Royal Society of Canada for outstanding contribution to Canadian criticism, and in 2011, he was awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario for his services to Canadian literature.

'Reading this book is every bit as enjoyable as reading one of the hundreds of novels which Staines cites in this first comprehensive history of Canadian fiction in English from its beginnings to the present day. Atwood, Munro, and Ondaatje are global literary celebrities, but nothing comes out of the blue, and Staines provides an indispensable historical and cultural frame for understanding their significance in the evolution of the exceptionally diverse Canadian literary tradition. This book transforms our thinking about Canadian fiction.' Coral Ann Howells, University of London

• Introduction; 1. The beginnings; 2. From romance towards realism; 3. Emerging into realism; 4. The foundational fifties; 5. The second feminist wave; 6. The flourishing of the wests; 7. The second century; 8. Indigenous voices; 9. Naturalized Canadian writers; 10. The twenty-first century; Afterword; Endnotes; Acknowledgements.

David Staines is the former Dean of the Faculty of Arts and now Professor of English at the University of Ottawa. He has authored and/or edited more than twenty books on Medieval Culture and Literature and Canadian Culture and Literature. In 1998, he received the Lorne Pierce Medal from the Royal Society of Canada for outstanding contribution to Canadian criticism, and in 2011, he was awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario for his services to Canadian literature.

'Reading this book is every bit as enjoyable as reading one of the hundreds of novels which Staines cites in this first comprehensive history of Canadian fiction in English from its beginnings to the present day. Atwood, Munro, and Ondaatje are global literary celebrities, but nothing comes out of the blue, and Staines provides an indispensable historical and cultural frame for understanding their significance in the evolution of the exceptionally diverse Canadian literary tradition. This book transforms our thinking about Canadian fiction.' Coral Ann Howells, University of London

• Introduction; 1. The beginnings; 2. From romance towards realism; 3. Emerging into realism; 4. The foundational fifties; 5. The second feminist wave; 6. The flourishing of the wests; 7. The second century; 8. Indigenous voices; 9. Naturalized Canadian writers; 10. The twenty-first century; Afterword; Endnotes; Acknowledgements.