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Shattered City 3rd Edition
This book, the most comprehensive ever written on the Explosion, details the terrific devastation, the aftermath and the restoration. It encompasses dozens of previously unpublished stories, photographs, and documents, along with some thought-provoking coverage of the inquiry into the disaster. A best-selling book from its first printing in 1989, this new edition has an updated cover and is sure to be a must-have for readers.
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A Watch in the Night
Publisher: Nimbus PublishingA Watch in the Night chronicles the struggles of one Nova Scotia family to survive on a tiny windswept island without running water, electricity, or reliable communication with the mainland. For thirty-six years, George and Ruth Millar tended the Pomquet Island light, raised generations of livestock, brought up their six children, and lived through violent storms and other weather disasters.A Watch in the Night is not a dry account of lightkeeping life, but rather a tale in which faith, ingenuity, and tenderness triumph over adversity.
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Saga of the Mary Celeste
Publisher: Nimbus PublishingIn December, 1872, the brigantine Mary Celeste was discovered at sea with sails set and everything in order; however, no one was on board or was ever found. The Saga of the Mary Celeste details this great sea mystery.Stanley T. Spicer is the author of numerous books and articles including Glooscap Legends and Captain From Fundy. He lives in Spencer’s Island, Nova Scotia.
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Women at Sea in the Age of Sail
Publisher: Nimbus PublishingIn the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many women experienced firsthand the perils and pleasures of life at sea. These venturesome women went to sea largely to be with their captain husbands and many proved themselves useful far beyond their roles as companions. Luckily for us, many of these seafaring women kept journals. Here, these women recount, in their own words, their impressions of the exotic places they visited, the homes they made and the children they raised afloat on the seas.
Donal Baird has published various articles and books on his passions, sailing and firefighting. -
Survivors Children of the Halifax Explosion
Publisher: Nimbus PublishingOver five hundred children from Halifax and Dartmouth were killed when the munitions ship Mont Blanc, blew up in the city’s harbour on December 6, 1917. Hundreds more were injured, and many lost their families and homes. Survivors tells the story of seven children who survived the Halifax Explosion. All seven lived in Richmond, the northern part of Halifax close to the spot where Imo collided with Mont Blanc, causing the fore that ignited the tons of explosives in its hold. The book describes the children’s family, school, and social life before the explosion: their activities on that day; their experiences of the explosion itself; and the difference it has made to their lives.
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Historic Digby
Publisher: Nimbus PublishingAn exceptional collection of over 160 historical images from Digby and area reflecting the era from the late 19th century up to the Second World War.
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Tracking Treasure
Publisher: Nimbus PublishingLost, stolen, or undiscovered treasures have long been rumored to be buried throughout Atlantic Canada. Stories abound of loot squirreled away on islands and beaches by pirates and privateers, of fortunes in gold, silver and precious stones lost in the holds of ships wrecked on the jagged rocks of the rugged coast. In Tracking Treasure, Crooker investigates mysterious sites that are the subject of story, myth and song. Some are documented in historical accounts, while others belong to folklore.
William Crooker’s fascination with hidden treasures made him the foremost expert on the great Nova Scotia treasure hunt. -
Turning Points 15 Pivotal Moments in Nova Scotia’s History
Publisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.Paul Bennett tells the history of Nova Scotia through 15 key turning points. From Nova Scotia’s problems with Confederation to wartime Halifax, the Springhill Mining Disaster, Viola Desmond and Ray Ivany’s ‘Now or Never’ report, Bennett recounts these decisive moments that have shaped the province’s destiny.
With rarely seen photography, Bennett shows how these turning points helped define the Nova Scotia we live in today. Each episode helped forge the province’s identity, change its trajectory, and shape its collective sense of purpose.
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British Columbia Burning
Publisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.More of British Columbia had gone up in smoke in eight days in July 2017 than during the entire 2016 season. It was a year for the record books. By the time the flames were finally extinguished, 2017 ranked as the worst wildfire season in British Columbia history.
As early as July 7, the province declared a state of emergency as separate fires raged across the province. By the end of the summer, more than 65,000 people had been forced to leave their homes and wildfire smoke was choking the air as far away asVictoria and Saskatchewan. In British Columbia Burning, Bethany Lindsay uses words and images to follow firefighters, evacuees and those who stayed to save their communities in this unforgettable wildfire season.
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6/12/17
Publisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.On December 6, 1917, two tramp steamers, the Mont-Blanc and the Imo, collided in wartime Halifax Harbour, creating what became the largest man-made explosion of its time. More than 2,000 people died, 9,000 were injured, 6,000 people were left homeless and an additional 19,000 were left without adequate shelter. In a combination of words and images (many never seen before), John Boileau delivers a breathtaking account of the magnitude of this event.
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Saskatoon A History in Words and Pictures
Publisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.In 1899, Saskatoon was little more than a few wooden houses and false-fronted shops. There were no bridges, no railways, not even an elevator rising above the rooftops. There was no reason to think Saskatoon would be more successful in the long run than any other prairie town. Saskatoon not only survived, it thrived. Saskatoon tells the story of the dreams and determination of the people who built a dynamic City of Bridges on the South Saskatchewan.
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Moose Jaw A History in Words and Pictures
Publisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.The Turn—the spot on the Moose Jaw River that was the easiest to cross—was a place the Cree and Assiniboine peoples gathered. It was also here that Chief Sitting Bull sought refuge after the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Into this already busy and thriving place, surveyors came to lay out the land for future homesteads. The Canadian Pacific Railway was built and Moose Jaw was chosen as its divisional point, establishing it as one of the most important cities on the Prairies. Moose Jaw tells the story of this crazy named town that soon became a city of more than 33,000 people and is now known as “Canada’s Friendliest City.”
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Strange Saskatchewan
Publisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.Strange Saskatchewan is as much history as a fascinating walk through what makes this great province and its people so compelling. Strange Saskatchewan weaves our province’s history into an often eclectic tapestry of farming, football and passions. Who knew that this land-locked province was named after a body of water, or that the offence and defense of the 1945 Roughriders had so few jerseys that they had to share. Come on along with us, it will be a wonderful ride.
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Red Coat Brigade
Publisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.On a warm, beautiful sunny day in June 1782, the women and young children of the village of Chester come together to defend their still-fledgling settlement against the invading and much more well-armed Americans. Armed only with their cunning and imagination, this rag-tag group of settlers pushed back the marauding intruders without the loss of a single life. In this fictional account of those events, veteran author Vernon Oickle weaves facts and legend to tell a story that has become part of Nova Scotia’s heritage and folklore.
GRIPPING
“Vernon Oickle brings to life the treacherous privateering and divided loyalties that marked America’s Revolutionary War as it spilled over onto Nova Scotia’s shores. Red Coat is a gripping tale from start to finish, a must read.”
—Glenna Jenkins, author of Somewhere I BelongÂ
THRILLER
“This is an historical thriller of the first order. It is a page turner . . . a book you simply won’t be able to put down.”
Robert Hirtle, journalist -
Remembrance Road A Canadian photographer’s journey through European battlefields
Publisher: SSP PublicationsNova Scotian photographer Justine MacDonald’s poignant impressions from her 2001 and 2017 tours of western European battlefields are indelible reminders of the horror and utter futility of war. While they inform and memorialize, they do not take sides. One cannot read this book and not be profoundly moved.
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Fairy Dells and Rustic Bowers The Creation of Victoria Park, Truro NS
Publisher: SSP PublicationsThe development of Truro’s magnificent Victoria Park is a very compelling read. Full of romance, little known facts (the Olmsteds, of New York’s Central Park fame were involved) and vintage Notman photographs, Joe Ballard’s study is an eye-opener.
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Called to Serve Georgina Pope, Canadian Military Nursing Heroine
Publisher: Island Studies PressGeorgina Pope is one of the 14 Valiants whose bronze bust at Confederation Square, Ottawa, is viewed by thousands of people every day. The Canadian Mint issued a $5 coin bearing her image. How does a young woman, born in 1862 into privileged circumstances in Prince Edward Island, rise to the top echelons of Canadian military nursing leadership and become a national hero?
Called to Serve details Pope’s path to power through the second half of the 19th century and into the 20th. It addresses the significance of her privileged and powerful lineage, the influence of her parents on her world view, and the inspiration of Florence Nightingale.
Featuring photos from Georgina Pope’s personal photo album with handwritten notes illustrating her wartime experiences PLUS biographies of the Pope family.
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Those Splendid Girls The Heroic Service of Prince Edward Island Nurses in the Great War
Publisher: Island Studies PressOver 115 women from Prince Edward Island women served as nurses in the First World War. They were fullblooded, complex women living in a tumultuous time in our history, doing their duty on distant battlefields. Their courage, and the courage of all Canadian nurses, is saluted in a powerful new book about wartime nursing called Those Splendid Girls. It features many wartime nursing photos from private albums, a 35-page biography section, an index, and bibliography.
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Short History of Moncton
Publisher: Maritime LinesA Short History of Moncton is the story of the city’s remarkable past from early times to the end of the 20th century. As a historic aboriginal campsite, Moncton began its European settlement period as a small Acadian agricultural village until the expulsion of the Acadians banished the French-speaking settlers. New settlers arrived and the little village eventually grew into a sizeable town with a bustling shipyard and a thriving waterfront.Despite an economic recession in the mid1800s, Moncton’s impressive growth in the late 19th century was mainly due the Intercolonial Railway that transformed the small village into a large city with the motto Resurgo: I rise again.Moncton’s continued expansion throughout the twentieth century was not without controversy as war, depression, and social upheaval all challenged the stability of the community. And the growth of the Acadian presence placed demands for bilingual services that were not initially adopted by the city fathers. But with the closure of the city’s major industries in the late 1900s, Moncton was again threatened with economic decline but managed to embrace the economics of bilingualism and diversify its economy.This book includes over 50 historic images that reveal scenes of a vanished era, a once small town with a thriving waterfront, bustling railway, and fascinating streetscapes.
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The Men of the Deeps A Journey With North America’s Only Coal Miners’ Chorus
Publisher: Cape Breton University PressFormed in 1966 with a goal of performing at the World’s Fair in Montreal in 1967 (Expo ’67), the Men of the Deeps is North America’s only coal miners’ chorus. Over the span of fifty years, the choir has performed all across North America, in China and in Europe. As the choir’s musical director for more than forty years, John C. (Jack) O’Donnell marks the travels and performances of a half-century in the spotlight.
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Company Houses, Company Towns: Heritage and Conservation
Editor: Andrew Molloy, Tom UrbaniakPublisher: Cape Breton University PressFormer company houses and towns have meaning. They can inspire attachment and a sense of place. They can be tight-knit but also quintessentially global; their resources and products have served far-off markets while housing a mosaic of newcomers from around the world; they speak to the diversity of Canada and the immigrant experience. Their landscapes, though often threatened with abandonment and decline, are a kind of language that conveys rich and layered stories. They are hands-on classrooms of culture, economics, architecture, politics and sociology.
Taken together, the case studies in this book speak to the heritage and enduring value of these places. Company towns mean a great deal to the people who put down roots there or passed through them. Many of the houses became homes. In Company Houses, Company Towns we also see how some of these places are being commemorated, conserved, regenerated and renewed–not as static museum pieces but as proud living communities aspiring to new economic opportunities and a quality of life.
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One with the Music: Cape Breton Step Dance Tradition and Transmission
Publisher: Cape Breton University PressSwedish-born traditional dancer and researcher Mats Melin has worked and performed extensively in the Scottish Highlands, the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland, in their schools and communities promoting Scottish traditional dance. He has also taught and performed in Sweden, Canada, USA, Russia and New Zealand. Mats has a vast knowledge of all aspects of the Scottish traditional dance scene, but specializes in Cape Breton step dancing.
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Seanchaidhna Coille / Memory-Keeper of the Forest
Publisher: Cape Breton University PressGaelic-speaking communities could be found all over Canada from the late-18th century to the mid-20th century. This is the first anthology of prose and poetry – mostly literary, some more ‘historical’ in tone – to give voice to the experience of Gaelic Canadians, about a broad set of themes: migration, politics, religion, identity, family life, social organizations and more.
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These Were My People: Washabuck, An Anecdotal history The Cape Bretoniana Research Series
Publisher: Cape Breton University PressMost of the people, places and events that Vince MacLean brings to life in these pages are not there anymore – the Washabuck on these pages is the Washabuck that was. MacLean’s lifetime of listening to oral traditions and of his research of every written source he could find, combines for a compelling examination of both the place and its time. Washabuck the place is much more than geographical coordinates on a map; its time spans a few centuries.
Mr. MacLean’s approach to the history of his community is unique and satisfying; we learn of its people by way of the stories they told and the stories told about them – a history rich in character without sacrificing facts and figures. These Were My People is Vince MacLean’s celebration of his community, his people.Â
These Were My People was awarded the inaugural Robert J. Morgan Grant-in-Aid Program and the Cape Bretoniana Research Series administered by the Beaton Institute at Cape Breton University.
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Fogradh, Faisneachd, Filidheachd/ Parting, Prophecy , Poetry
Publisher: Cape Breton University PressIn the original Gaelic, with English translations by John Alick MacPherson, Fògradh, Fà isneachd, Filidheachd / Parting, Prophesy, Poetry includes Blair’s articles about the Highland Clearances, a number of his poems, an account of a 16th-century seer who some say foretold of the Clearances and articles about Blair’s travels around the Maritimes – all published in Mac-Talla.
Although some of Blair’s poems have been included in various collections, his prose writings have not previously been published.
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Celts in the Americas
Publisher: Cape Breton University PressCeltic-speaking peoples of Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Scottish Highlands and Wales played a vital role in the history of Europe and the Americas. Immigrant Celtic communities enjoyed many significant accomplishments explored in this volume: continuing and developing literary traditions, establishing organizations to represent their origins and concerns, and negotiating the political and cultural issues of the day in their own languages.
A new crop of scholarship is reinvigorating Celtic Studies in the Americas by addressing issues of relevance and interest in this geographical and cultural context: race, ethnicity, immigration, imperialism, (post)colonialism and linguistic revitalization. While being firmed rooted in the languages and cultural expressions of Celtic communities, they extend research beyond the conventional framework of the field.
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The Mystery Ships of Nova Scotia in the First World War Q-Ships vs U-Boats in 1917
Publisher: Breton BooksTHEY SAILED INTO HARM’S WAY dressed as ordinary fishermen, seeking to be attacked by German submarines. This armed team faced danger, frayed nerves, and boredom. Because their mission was secret, they could not explain their service to Canada in the First World War. In this brisk, readable and respectful history, John N. Grant tells the long-buried story of Canada’s Mystery Fleet. He names men who tried to lure U-boats into range, and then sailed into anonymity—until now. Many historic photographs.
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Highland Settler The Classic Portrait of the Scottish Gael in Cape Breton and Eastern Nova Scotia
Publisher: Breton BooksAt the core of Charles W. Dunn’s pioneering work with the Canadian Gaelic-speaking community in the twentieth century, Highland Settler is the story of immigration, rural settlement, and the later dispersion to the industrial world–a thoughtful and entertaining history of an extraordinary people.
Dunn’s extensive interviews and the informed warmth of his approach make Highland Settler an essential book in the discovery of Cape Breton Island. Drawing on delightful storytelling, and local songs and poetry that settlers composed and loved, Dunn achieves a Gaelic settlers’ self-portrait as well as the historian and folklorist’s insight into the culture.
A fresh new edition of an elegant and accessible classic about folk ways vibrant in the 1940s and alive today in Cape Breton Island, with the details and historical perspective of this expert researcher.
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Great Cape Breton Shipwreck Stories
Editor: Ronald CaplanPublisher: Breton BooksOne lasting value of any shipwreck is the marvelous stories that come out of those terrible events. Ronald Caplan has collected a terrific batch of stories ranging from the gut-wrenching 1761 winter trek of survivors of the Auguste to John Angus Fraser’s hilarious 1955 adventures aboard the abandoned Kismet II. Walter Boudreau delivers his harrowing account adrift in a lifeboat while his companions died around him, and survivors of the Marine Atlantic Caribou ferry tell of being torpedoed by a Nazi submarine between Cape Breton and Newfoundland.
Filled with courage and humanity–stories of people determined to live, told by people determined to keep these stories alive.