"In author Don Gutteridge's seventh and final book set in Lambton County, How the World Began: A Parable of 1812, the reader is again brought along for a joyous adventuresome ride in a setting that for many has become a familiar and welcome place. Follow the story of friends Ti-Luc and Cal, as well as Cal's squatter family, during a very tumultuous time in Canadian history. There are certainly adventures, intrigue, warring factions, mistrust and anxiety, but more than that, there are threats to the very way people have lived their lives for ages. As everyone struggles for their very survival, as well as that of their way of life, communities realize that they just might have to band together if they are likely to have any chance at all of success. The author clearly has the mind of a historian, but the way he presents his work is so interesting that the reader won't even realize he or she is learning about times the characters live in, as the novel is written in such an engaging fashion. Like so many of Gutteridge's other works, I had a hard time setting this book aside once I started it."
- Tracey A. Fischer for Readers' Favorite