Ramsay Cook (1931–2016) rewrote Canadian history. Distinctly uncomfortable with nationalism, like his intellectual hero George Orwell, he insisted on
pluralism. His best-known contribution to Canadian historical writing was the idea of limited identities, which he refined across the length of his career
but never abandoned. He also embraced federalism, bilingualism, multiculturalism, and minority rights as the best guarantees of difference. Herein lies the
distilled essence of Ramsay Cook the historian.