The first volume, The History, is divided into three sections and, due to its length, is being published in two parts. The first section places residential schooling for Indigenous people in historical context and examines the pre-Confederation roots of the Canadian residential school system. The second section describes the history and the student experience of residential schools from Confederation to 1939. This was the period in which the system was established and expanded. It was also the period of the most intense health crisis. By the end of the 1930s, government officials had come to question the value of the residential school system.