These digital scans of the first two volumes of the Mennonites in Canada series are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Permission is granted to include URL references for non-commercial purposes, provided that proper attribution is given. These volumes were digitized by the Milton Good Library at Conrad Grebel University College in 2020, with the permission of the Mennonite Historical Society of Canada and the family of Frank H. Epp. The third volume in the series, Mennonites in Canada, 1939-1970: A People Transformed, is available digitally through the Scholars Portal Books academic ebook platform and University of Toronto Press. Information about print copies available for sale is here.
Volume I: The History of a Separate People
Mennonites in Canada, 1786-1920: The History of a Separate People, by Frank H. Epp. Toronto: Macmillan, 1974. Hardcover, 480 pp.
Volume 1 traces the long and arduous search for a Mennonite identity, from the origins of Anabaptism in the religious and social ferment of 16th-century Europe, through the pioneering days in British North America, to the crucial point in 1920 when Mennonites were legally barred from entry into Canada. The book portrays the struggles of Canadian Mennonites as they sought to maintain a separate community and way of life in the face of assimilationist pressures and voices from within demanding renewal and reform. Internal disputes resulted in fragmentation, driving some toward further withdrawal from society and others toward accommodation.
Mennonites in Canada Volume 1 (full volume )
| Contents, Acknowledgements, Foreword, Prologue | Chapter 9 : The East and West Reserves |
| Chapter 1 : The Most Separated Brethren | Chapter 10 : An Awakening at the Centre |
| Chapter 2 : On to Russia and Canada | Chapter 11 : The Stand of the Old Order |
| Chapter 3 : Pioneers in a New Land | Chapter 12 : The Church Struggle in Manitoba |
| Chapter 4 : The Nonresistors and the Militia | Chapter 13 : Settlement in Alberta and Saskatchewan |
| Chapter 5 : The Congregations and Their Leaders | Chapter 14 : Education: Church v. State |
| Chapter 6 : Mid-Century Renewal Movements | Chapter 15 : The War and Military Exemption |
| Chapter 7 : Revitalization and Separation in Russia | Chapter 16 : War's Aftermath and Mennonite Exclusion |
| Chapter 8 : Mass Migration from Russia to Manitoba | Epilogue, Bibliographies, Index |
Volume II: A People's Struggle for Survival
Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940: A People’s Struggle for Survival, by Frank H. Epp. Toronto: Macmillan, 1982. Hardcover, 640 pp.
The years covered by Volume 2 were a critical period when Mennonite survival in Canada was under a variety of external threats, and divisions continued to fragment Mennonite communities. The battle for separate schooling led to a significant emigration to Latin America, and a second wave of Mennonite immigration came from Russia. The book also covers the impact of the Depression on the Mennonites and their efforts to preserve their identity amidst pressures of assimilation. The books ends with the response of the Mennonites to the outbreak of the Second World War.
Mennonites in Canada Volume 2 (full volume)
| Contents, Acknowledgements, Foreword, Prologue | Chapter 7 : The International Connection |
| Chapter 1 : The Uncertain Future | Chapter 8 : Overcoming the Depression |
| Chapter 2 : Reaffirmation of the Fundamentals | Chapter 9 : Federation and Fragmentation |
| Chapter 3 : Emigration to Latin America | Chapter 10 : Keeping the Young People |
| Chapter 4 : Immigration from Russia | Chapter 11 : Preserving the Culture |
| Chapter 5 : Community-Building: Settlements | Chapter 12 : Facing the World |
| Chapter 6 : Community-Building: Congregations | Epilogue, Appendices, Bibliography, Index |