The Debt of a Nation: Land and the Financing of the Canadian Settler State, 1820–73. By Angela C. Tozer. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2025. 276 pp. Paperback, 41. 95. ISBN: 978-0-7748-7155-6.

Key Points

• The central aim is to explore the relationship between land financing and the economic debt of the Canadian settler state in the 19th century.
• Historical analysis of land policies between 1820 and 1873.
• Examination of governmental financing strategies and their implications.
• Comparative analysis with other colonial settler states.
• Identified significant financial debts incurred by the settler state due to land acquisition policies.
• Revealed how these debts shaped economic and social structures in early Canada.
• Highlighted lasting impacts of colonial land financing on contemporary Canadian policies.