-
Perseverance Will Triumph Cape Breton University at 50
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$24.95Cape Breton University at 50: Perseverance Will Triumph details the history of Cape Breton University (CBU) and its deep commitment to the communities from which it arose. CBU owes its very existence to the support of Cape Bretoners.
What is now CBU was born in 1951, when St. Francis Xavier University agreed to establish a “feeder college” in Sydney, Cape Breton Island; the community wanted its own institution, and it persevered to create the College of Cape Breton in 1974. Within a decade it evolved as University College of Cape Breton and after another ten years became Cape Breton University.
CBU has embraced internationalization which has reshaped both the university and the Island. Now CBU is the second largest university in Nova Scotia and a force for change in its community, the province, and the country.
Cape Breton University at 50 honours the University’s golden anniversary (1974-2024) as a degree-granting institution and chronicles the people, events, developments, and innovations that got it there.
-
Women, War & Hypocrites
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95Robert Campbell’s Reading the Qur’an in English is an introductory guide to help readers experience the Qur’an on its own terms. Following his guidance, in conjunction with reading an English language version of the Qur’an, can reveal a great deal about the nature of Islam and about how the Qur’an compares with other Abrahamic scriptures. People who are unwilling or unable to delve into the text of the Qur’an on their own will always be at risk of having their opinions shaped by others. In this new book, Dr. Campbell expands the journey through his analysis of the thematic structure of the fourth surah (The Women), a large and complex surah containing some of the most controversial verses and ideas in the Qur’an. The key issues addressed are women (on marriage, lewdness, wife beating and hijab), war (on killing, battle, jihad and terrorism) and hypocrites (on believers, the People of the Book, idolatry, intoxication and the crucifixion of Jesus). Given that Islam traces its prophetic heritage from Noah through to Abraham, Moses, Jesus and finally Muhammad, much of the content of the Qur’an will be familiar to those with even a passing exposure to the scriptures of the Jews and Christians.
-
William Roach: Folk Artist
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95William Roach’s interest – training, if you like – in carving and shaping wood into representations of the world around him, came naturally. When they weren’t making or repairing practical articles and tools, the older men in his life spent countless hours whittling curiosities that delighted children, neighbours and friends.After years working in Ontario, Roach and his family moved home to his Acadian birthplace, Chéticamp, Cape Breton, striving for the stability of family and community. A new life, turning a new leaf, William began expressing himself through his gift – a diversion at first, his passion for creating objects of beauty and value became an obsession and later a business.From his Sunset Gallery and studio on the outskirts of Chéticamp, Roach works tirelessly at his entertaining creations.
-
Honour Roll
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95The Nova Scotia Highland Brigade sailed on the SS Olympic, from Halifax on October 12, 1916, and played a significant role in the victories of World War I, including the now-infamous Vimy Ridge.In time for the 90th anniversary of the battle for Vimy, historian James MacDonald has catalogued information about members of the Highland Brigade (85th, 185th, 193rd, 219th Battalions) killed or mortally wounded in action.The Honour Roll collates, for the first time in a single publication, the name, date of birth, family origin, vocation, enlistment details, date and where they were killed in action and final resting place and of each member. Fifteen battle maps showing troop movements are included, along with a description of Commonwealth war graves where the soldiers are buried.
-
These Were My People: Washabuck, An Anecdotal history The Cape Bretoniana Research Series
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95Most 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.
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.
-
Immortal Air
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95Bright and promising as a student, George Cameron was sent to live with his sister in Boston while he attended a prestigious Latin school and later the Boston School of Law. It was what his mother wanted for him and his brother, Charley. It was what any well-bred family would want for an intelligent son destined for greater things than his humble New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, upbringing. On his journey to find his voice among the great poets of the 19th century, George had to leave behind his first love, a muse who haunted his thoughts and fuelled his passion for poetry throughout his life.
Law clerk, journalist, poet, George’s life often seemed to fall short of the dreams of fame he secreted in his private journals, yet his poetry remained ever-present in a mind churning with words and feeling.
George Cameron teamed up with Oscar Telgmann to write the longest-running Canadian opera. Leo: The Royal Cadet. It was his steadfast brother Charley who shared George’s work in the posthumous publication of Lyrics on Freedom, Love and Death.
-
Vintage Cabot Trail
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$4.95In 1932, the Nova Scotia and Canadian governments undertook to upgrade centuries-old hardscrabble roadways and pathways that linked numerous isolated communities perched between ocean and mountain, roughly circumscribing the bounds of the Cape Breton Highlands.
For 75 years, the Cabot Trail, one of the world’s most stunning travelways, has not only relieved isolation, it has captivated, charmed and challenged motorists, cyclists, runners and walkers alike.
This booklet commemorates the 75th anniversary (1932-2007) of the designation of the Cabot Trail by revisiting the Trail’s earliest years through images from the archives of the Beaton Institute at Cape Breton University.
Terry MacLean, PhD, is a retired CBU Professor, a writer and heritage consultant living in Sydney. He was former Senior Historian at the Fortress of Louisbourg and is the author of books and articles on aspects of Cape Breton history and culture.
-
Failure of Global Capitalism
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95What do Cape Breton and Colombia have in common? Coal, for one thing. Coal mining was the backbone of Cape Breton’s industrial economy for more than one hundred years, but the last mine was closed in 2001 when the province’s utility company took advantage of neoliberal globalization by importing coal—from Colombia. There’s more. Colombia and Cape Breton represent the loss of well-paid, unionized industrial jobs as a result of neoliberal globalization—the economic hegemony that allows multinational corporations in the global North—primarily North America and Europe—to exploit the natural resources and cheap labour of the global South—Latin America, Africa and Asia. But the commonalities between Cape Breton and Colombia do not end with coal, there are numerous connections directly related to the capitalist system: militant labour struggles, repression, economic insecurity, population displacement, social inequality and environmental devastation. Activists and scholars Gibbs and Leech use the examples of Cape Breton and Colombia to illustrate the harsh realities suffered by people throughout the global North and the global South under neoliberal globalization, particularly with regard to socio-economic and environmental issues. Ultimately, they expose the failure of industrial capitalism, and look toward more sustainable and egalitarian alternatives.
-
A Better Life A Portrait of Highland Women in Nova Scotia
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$22.95MacIsaac interviewed nearly 100 descendants of Highland Scots women and provides this heart-and-soul treatment of the lives of Scots immigrants from women’s perspective. She includes an extensive look at women in teaching, nursing and religious congregations. This is an exploration of the traditions and experiences in the lives of Highland Scottish women – in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and in the eastern counties of Nova Scotia where so many of them settled (Pictou, Antigonish, Inverness and Victoria counties primarily). In A Better Life, oral accounts obtained from descendants, enriched by written sources – precious archival collections and rare books – offer insight into the influences central to the cultural, religious, working, caring and devotional lives of Highland women: the dreams and realities of a better life if Nova Scotia.
-
Basement Suite
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95Eddy and Liz participate in a relationship study for extra cash and learn that they don’t share the same opinions about fidelity, sex, career or truth. In fact, they don’t understand each other. Eddy tries. Liz tires. Basement Suite is a sexy, cheeky look at another side of love.
-
Getting It Done
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$24.95It’s often said that the future of Cape Breton depends on the vision and initiative of her sons and daughters. But when we go on a quest for leadership –what is it we’re looking for? Originally conceived as a series for CBC Radio and now adopted to book form, Getting It Done is an exploration of effective leadership through the experiences of people who have “been there.” From cabinet ministers to CEOs, a Juno winner to an Olympic medalist and two former premiers, Steve Sutherland delves into the habits and philosophies of some Cape Breton’s most prominent and influential figures. Featuring exclusive material that didn’t appear in the original radio interviews, Getting It Done is a compendium of insights about how these leaders got where they are, and what they do to make things happen.
-
Cape Breton Wonders
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95Did you ever wonder why… your mother re-washed the wash?Did you ever wonder why… the lighthouse lights, or why the miners risked their lives?
-
Beartan Briste
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$14.95Born in Dublin, Ireland, Rody Gorman is Writer-in-Residence at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Isle of Skye. He has worked as writing fellow at the University College Cork and the University of Manitoba and is editor of the annual Irish and Scottish Gaelic poetry anthology An Guth. He has published a wide range of poetry collections and his selected poems in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, Chernilo, were published by Coiscéim in 2006.
Beartan Briste is the latest collection from this prolific Gaelic poet. His highly original English “intertongueings” are wonderfully entertaining in their own right – providing insight not only to the nature of his poetry, but the nature of Gaelic interpretation.
-
Reading the Qur’an in English
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95The unique beauty and richness of Islam’s sacred book calls out for it to be read and enjoyed by all. To be open to following the structural logic of the Qur’an, Western expectations about the use of narrative, description and dialogue should be set aside. Robert Campbell provides this introductory guide to help readers experience the Qur’an on its own terms. Following his guidance, in conjunction with reading an English language version of the Qur’an, can reveal a great deal about the nature of Islam and about how the Qur’an compares with other Abrahamic scriptures.
-
Governance and Social Leadership
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$27.95Governance and Social Leadership examines the inadequacies of current theories on leadership in order to help us better understand the process of leadership and to suggest mechanisms for change.
The proliferation of examples of poor political, religious, corporate and even grass roots leadership is troubling, to say the least. Perhaps more troubling is the resulting cynicism—and apathy—on the part of populations who sorely desire, and deserve, better leadership and governance.
There are many and varied sources of theories and practical advice on leadership but, as Robert A. Campbell suggests, too many simply play into our need for quick fixes and novelty and do not reflect what is actually going on in the world. In Governance and Social Leadership, Campbell examines the dynamic nature of organizations and humans systems and our capacity, or incapacity, to act.
-
Discovering Cape Breton Folklore
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$24.95For more than two decades, Richard MacKinnon—Canada Research Chair in Intangible Cultural Heritage, Cape Breton University—has researched Cape Breton’s rich cultural heritage: from protest songs to company houses, from co-operative housing to nicknames, from log buildings to cockfighting.In Discovering Cape Breton Folklore, professor MacKinnon revists some of his research and exposes us to some new.
-
Fogradh, Faisneachd, Filidheachd/ Parting, Prophecy , Poetry
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$14.95In the original Gaelic, with English translations by John Alick MacPherson, Fògradh, Fàisneachd, 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.
-
Our Grandmothers’ Words Traditional Stories For Nurturing
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$14.95Traditional child-raising practices recognize that you begin to raise a child from the moment you know you are pregnant. Through traditional stories, Grandmothers’ understandings guide and nurture parents and children as they grow together.
-
Blood Brothers In Louisbourg
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$11.95As the son of an officer, Jacques was expected to pursue a career in the military. In the spring of 1744, at the age of fifteen, Jacques and his father leave France for Louisbourg, the French capital of Île Royale, where Jacques is to learn the military arts – a far cry from his books and music and the comforts of his mother’s home. In the Acadian forests that surround the French fortress of Louisbourg, a young Mi’kmaw man named Two-feathers watches the strange comings and goings of soldiers and citizens. Two-feathers is hoping to find his father who, he has been told, is an important man among the French – they have never met. From his discreet camp outside the walls of the fortress, Two-feathers watches, believing that he will know his father when he sees him. At night, he moves silently about the city, including the Governor’s apartments, where he befriends a beautiful young French woman. Jacques’ life in Louisbourg is a curious mixture of military duties and his visits to the Governor’s apartments where he teaches the daughter of a visiting merchant to play the violoncello. The two young men follow very different paths – one formally educated and refined, the other curious and skilful – both seeking to understand their father. Their paths and their worlds collide during the violent siege by British forces in 1745.
-
Distinction Earned
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95Distinction Earned highlights the accomplishments of significant Cape Breton fighters like George “Rockabye” Ross (about who MacDougall has also penned a play), Tyrone Gardiner, Blair Richardson and Francis”Rocky” MacDougall and trainers like Johnny Nemis. Between 1965 and 1967 five national boxing champions in different weight classes were from Cape Breton.Paul MacDougall has collected dozens of interviews from participants, enthusiasts and their heirs, from which has evolved this account of an amazing sporting record.
-
Celts in the Americas
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$27.95Celtic-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.
-
Seanchaidhna Coille / Memory-Keeper of the Forest
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$27.95Gaelic-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.
-
Heartsong
Artist: Patsy MacAulay-MacKinnonPublisher: Cape Breton University Press$11.95Heartsong is an illustrated children’s book which tells of the loving creation of a fiddle which is passed along and enjoyed through several generations. Told in English and Gaelic.
-
Voyage of Wood Duck
Artist: Patsy MacAulay-MacKinnonPublisher: Cape Breton University Press$11.95Some people say that dreams are foolish. Some people say that you can search you whole life long and never find what it is you are looking for. But long ago when dreams were more real than they are today; there was a young boy who lived by the sea. He was called Wood Duck. His people had always lived beside the ocean. Its salty water flavoured their days. Its currents flowed through their nights. The power of the sea ran very strongly in Wood Duck. In his dreams, fish swam and sea birds flew.
-
Loon Rock
Artist: Dozay ChristmasPublisher: Cape Breton University Press$9.95The story of a loon and a young Mi’kmaq boy written in English and Mi’kmaq.
-
One with the Music: Cape Breton Step Dance Tradition and Transmission
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$27.95Swedish-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.
-
Famhair/Giant
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$15.95No contemporary work from a sole author of Gaelic poetry from the Nova Scotia perspective been published in this province – until now. Cultural identity, sense of place and expression are important elements in the work of any artist. This book of contemporary Nova Scotia Gaelic poetry spans the landscape of Gaelic Cape Breton, the eastern Nova Scotia mainland and indeed the broader collective consciousness of Nova Scotians within the confines of their own province and in the wider, diverse, multi-ethnic, North American reality.
-
Cape Breton Fiddle Companion
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$27.95Celtic music scholar and musician Liz Doherty is no stranger to Cape Breton music – in fact she has made a study of it. Doherty’s exposure to, and research of, the island’s music traditions was the germination for this encyclopaedia on the Cape Breton fiddle: the history, the people, the tunes, the recordings.
-
Clay Pots and Bones
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95The poetry of Clay Pots and Bones is Lindsay Marshall’s way of telling stories, of speaking with others about what things that matter to him. His heritage. His people. His life as a Mi’kmaw. For the reader, Clay Pots and Bones is a colourful journey from early days, when the People of the Dawn understood, interacted with and roamed the land freely, to the turbulent present and the uncertain future where Marshall envisions a rebirth of the Mi’kmaq. The poetry challenges and enlightens. It will, most certainly, entertain.
-
Rudan Mi-bheanailteach is an Cothroman/ Intangible Possibilites
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$14.95LEWIS MACKINNON was born in Inverness, Cape Breton, to a Gaelic-speaking father and a French Acadian mother. He was raised in Antigonish County, on the Nova Scotia mainland. Educated in English, throughout his personal, academic and professional activities, Lewis has maintained an interest in his Gaelic roots. He is an accomplished singer as well as poet. His first collection Famhair agus dàin Ghàidhlig eile (Giant and other Gaelic poems) was published in 2008 (CBU Press). Since then he has been invited to numerous literary festivals internationally and, in 2011, was named Bard of the Royal National Mod (Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail) in Scotland, the first bard from outwith Scotland.
-
Social Economy : Communities, Economics and Solidarity in Atlantic Canada
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$27.95THIS BOOK CONTRIBUTES to the growing literature on the social economy from the particular perspectives of Atlantic Canadians who have been part of the Social Economy and Sustainability Research Network. It illustrates the importance of the sector to the region’s social, economic and public life while exploring its potential for positive change. Prefiguring an economy based on principles of human values and principles of solidarity, the social economy offers a space for people to exercise democracy in realms thought to be “economic” and thus exempt from such priorities. The social economy has the aim of development in a double sense-development of the individual and local or community development. What is at stake is no less than democratizing the economy, creating a space for dialogue and debate, building partnerships, networks and capacity for innovation, sustainability, democracy and justice-in other words, developing the potentials for a social economy. Considerable innovation and significant contributions to quality of life thrive within the social economy in the Atlantic region. Organizations vary tremendously, not least in terms of how successful they are in meeting the immediate and longer term objectives to which they and their supporters aspire. This volume marks one step in furthering such understanding.
-
McCurdy and the Silver Dart (New Edition)
Artist: Patsy MacAulay-MacKinnonPublisher: Cape Breton University Press$11.95McCurdy and the Silver Dart recounts the thrilling story of J. A. McCurdy, Canada’s aviation pioneer. Born in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Douglas McCurdy had a unique childhood during which he assisted world-famous scientist and inventor, Alexander Graham Bell in fascinating and frequently dangerous experiments conducted with kites and airplanes. He was the first person to fly an airplane in the British Empire. Later he became a barnstormer and daredevil pilot, taking part in some of the earliest air races. He was the first person to fly out of sight of land and the first pilot to receive a wireless message while airborne.
