For fifty years Caandian historians have considered George F.G. Stanley's The Birth of Western Canada a classic work on the Riel rebellions and a seminal study of western Canadian history. Through thelens of the Metis uprisings Stanley focuses on some of the essential and perennial issues of Canadian history: the frontier, the impact of contact with Europeans on Native peoples, and the dynamic of minorities and dominant cultures. The political implications of Riel's execution continue to reverberate today. A new introduction by Thomas lanagan palces the work in its historical context.