In 1941, the House of Seagram – then a Canadian maker of whiskeys, and later the largest distiller of alcoholic beverages in the world – privately published Stephen Leacock’s “Canada: The Foundations of its Future,” a history of Canada’s growth and development to that time.
Samuel Bronfman, the founder of Distillers Corporation, which acquired Seagram in 1928, wrote the foreword to the book, explaining his rationale for publishing such a history when the country was at war. He was motivated by a desire to bolster public morale, but also – and...