History isn't boring. It's the telling and teaching of history that can put you to sleep.
That's what happened to me Sunday night when I tried to watch the highly promoted Explosion 1812 on the History Channel.
The "documentary" is an account of an engagement in the War of 1812 when British-backed defenders of Fort York, now Toronto, detonated the fort magazine, including nearly 30,000 pounds of gun powder, 10,000 cannonballs and 30,000 cartridges. The explosion killed and maimed 250 American soldiers.
I was particularly keen to see the documentary because my interest in history was whetted by a visit to Fort York as a little boy, and part of the war was carried out across a swathe of Ontario where I was raised.
But as for Explosion 1812, by the time I had been underwhelmed by endless repeats of a few "action" shots, a modest re-enactment of the blast, and an over-abundance of talking heads, it was not worth watching to the bitter end.
To those not afflicted with an addiction to history it really would reinforce the idea that Canadian history is boring.
Larry Emrick