A subtitle in search of a title: Racism in Canada (Fifth House). Where are the marketing people with nerves of steel, when we need them? However dreary the title, though, this is a big and immensely useful book, a Canadian counter-history that should have a place on the shelves of any who pretend to think at all about the Idea of Canada. Twenty essays by as many writers make for an uneven read but an elevating think. The overall effect of this collection is uplifting and not at all dreary: as clear thought so often is. Susan Crean's essay, "The Missionary Position," is one of many pieces alone worth the price of admission.