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Coastal Nova Scotia
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$11.95A selective guide to outdoor activity in Nova Scotia, including both challenging, invigorating recreation and relaxing activities. Organized by region, this book has activities for all ages.
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Fiddleheads to Fir Trees : Leaves in all Seasons
Artist: Laurie CaplePublisher: Mountain Press Publishing$12.00Children will be delighted by the fourteen diverse North American plants depicted in Fiddleheads to Fir Trees, from weeping willow and cedar to cattail and poison ivy. The plants are organized by season, starting with the tender fiddleheads of a fern in early spring and ending with the snow-dusted needles of the balsam fir.
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Historic Baddeck
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95Historic Baddeck takes us on the town’s journey of early discovery and later growth, from the first few houses set among Atlantic aboriginal wigwams to what Baddeck is today–a magnificent summer escape and thriving lakeside village. Author Joceyln Bethune has paired some of the town’s most captivating historical images and presented them with compact and interesting vignettes of the region’s past.
Part of the Images of Our Past series.
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Plants for Atlantic Gardens Handsome and Hard-working Shrubs, Trees, and Perennials
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95With all the special challenges associated with gardening in Atlantic Canada, in-depth information and genuine inspiration are even more important. Plants for Atlantic Gardens is your go-to resource for growing perennials, shrubs, and trees on the East Coast. Well-known gardening columnist Jodi DeLong profiles over 100 of the best species for planting in Atlantic Canadian gardens. Each plant description includes essential gardening information, such as growing requirements, hardiness, height, and bloom period. In an accessible, friendly writing style, Jodi also tells prospective gardeners about the plant’s natural history in the region and shares her own experiences-both good and bad!
The book includes a hardiness map, Jodi’s list of preferred further reading, and short sidebars on useful topics like soil type, native plants, and pollinators. Over 200 colour photos provide readers a great opportunity to truly assess each plant’s suitability for their own gardens.
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Cultures of Militarization
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$39.95Special Edition of TOPIA Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies
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Life and Times of Joe Casey
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$19.95Joe Casey’s quick wit and indomitable spirit have enabled him to take risks in every job he ever undertook. Born in Annapolis County in1918 and still going strong, he will make you laugh your way through the many dramatic events if his active life. As a boy, he delivered his mother’s loaves of bread up and down the Victoria Beach Road and later in life he would break bread with the rich and famous. As a third-generation harbour pilot, he faced many dangers piloting munitions-laden ships through Digby Gap during the war and piloting ships of all kinds in the most severe weather.
Joe’s life story, filled with anecdotes and humour, mirrors the history of Nova Scotia in the twentieth century. It shows how that history shaped the man and how the man shaped history –as harbour pilot, fisherman, fish plant owner, lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Navy, hotel owner as well as member and Deputy Speaker of Nova Scotia Legislature.
Joe has pitted his storytelling skills against some of the best, including American actor James Cagney. On another occasion, a sailing trip down the East Coast, Joe’s spirit of competition led him to trade tales with Robert Ripley of Believe it or not fame. In this volume, his rich stories bring the past alive.
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Practical Small Boat Designs
Publisher: WoodenBoat Books$24.15As fans of Atkin designs well know, the name Atkin has long been associated with the best in basic boats. If you are looking for the “right little boat” to build–or have built–or if you just enjoy dreaming over boat plans, you’ll be more than pleased with this collection of John an Billy Atkin’s most successful designs.Includes Willy Winship: 14′ flat-bottom racing skiff, Liza Jane: 19′ v-bottomed knockabout, Shore Liner: 24′ flat-bottomed jib-headed sloop, Ninigret: 22′ v-bottomed bassboat, Florence Oakland: 22’5” v-bottomed schooner, Finkeldink: 9′ pram, Great Bear: 28′ flat-bottomed sloop, Nina: 11’4” flat-bottomed sailing skiff, Handy Andy: 8′ round-bottomed sailing dinghy, and more.Out of print for far too long, we’ve brought this book back into print, and updated with a new foreword by Mike O’Brien, long-time WoodenBoat magazine editor, and publisher of Boat Design Quarterly.
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Where the Water Meets the Land
Publisher: Saltscapes$17.95In 1976, the Waterfront Development Corporation Limited was created, with responsibilities for the redevelopment of the Halifax, Dartmouth and-later-Bedford waterfronts to restore the flavour and vigour of an earlier time. In Where the Water Meets the Land, author and historian John Boileau recounts the story of Halifax Harbour and its waterfront from prehistory to the modern day, detailing the rise and decline of the historic area, and its rejuvenation during the last 30 years under the guidance of the Waterfront Development Corporation Limited.
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Halifax and Titanic
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$26.95The story of Titanic’s tragic sinking on April 15, 1912, has been told countless times in films and books, inscribing it into popular culture as perhaps the best-known disaster of all-time. When Titanic went down off the coast of Newfoundland, the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, was the base from which recovery operations were mounted. Eventually, 337 bodies were recovered, the majority of them by ships dispatched from Halifax. Of this total, 128 were buried at sea and 209 were delivered to Halifax—150 of those buried in three Halifax cemeteries. They remain there to this day, the largest number of Titanic graves in the world, cared for in perpetuity by the city and visited by thousands of people each year.
On the one-hundredth anniversary of Titanic’s sinking, author John Boileau examines the relationship between the city and the unprecedented tragedy. This illustrated history includes over 100 historical photographs of the people and places involved in Halifax’s sombre recovery effort.
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6/12/17
Publisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.$22.95On 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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Valiant Hearts
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$26.95Valiant Hearts chronicles the stories of inspiration and courage shown by men in wartime, stretching from the Crimean War (1854-1856) to World War Two, telling the life stories of the gallant men from Atlantic Canada who won that most coveted of bravery awards- the Victoria Cross.
The twenty men profiled in this book all have strong connections to Atlantic Canada (11 of them were born in the region; 9 have other ties to the region, having either lived or served here). With a focus on historical accuracy, this book tells the stories of these courageous men by filling in the details of their lives before and, for those who survived, after winning the VC, with attention to the specific events that led to their recognition as heroes.
No comparable book has ever been written. Most books about Canadian Victoria Cross winners cover the entire country and were published some time ago. Most of the previously published books contain little more than citations for the awards or excerpts from them, with only the briefest of personal details. This book is particular to the Atlantic region, and is detailed, personal and informative as well as being carefully written. -
Historic Eastern Passage
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95Drawing upon powerful images and stories of the past, John Boileau takes readers on a journey through the Eastern Passage region, including Imperoyal, Shearwater, South East Passage, Cow Bay, McNab’s Island, Lawlor’s Island, and Devil’s Island. From fortifications and quarantine sites to aviation bases and even to Bill Lynch’s amusement rides and buried treasure, Historic Eastern Passage illuminates the history of the region to the end of the Second World War.
Follow Helen Creighton on her search to record folk music and stories, or learn how the air base played a role in the first flight across the Atlantic. With attention to both the special and everyday events, a full picture of what life was once like in Eastern Passage is vividly depicted.
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Halifax and the Royal Canadian Navy
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95On May 4, 1910, the Liberal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier passed the Naval Service Act, which created the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). Ever since, the RCN and the city of Halifax-a strategic Canadian port on the Atlantic-have been partners. During the Second World War’s Battle of the Atlantic, Halifax was a major centre of operations for the RCN, which was tasked with the crucial missions of escorting merchant ships and hunting German U-Boats not far off Halifax’s coast. But the relationship with the city of Halifax was not without turmoil: at the conclusion of the war the pent-up frustrations of sailors boiled over into the V-E Day riots.
Part of the popular Images of Our Past series, Halifax and the RCN marks the centennial of the Royal Canadian Navy’s founding in 1910. Author John Boileau’s superbly researched narrative is supplemented with over 150 historical photos of the sailors, ships, and shore establishments that defined the RCN. An accessible and lively photographic history, Halifax and the RCN is a worthy tribute to the Royal Canadian Navy and its home port.
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Amazing Atlantic Canadian Kids Awesome Stories of Bravery and Adventure
Artist: James BentleyPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Celebrate the amazing accomplishments of kids from across the East Coast in this book, the first in a new illustrated series about Amazing Atlantic Canadians. Learn about incredible young people excelling as athletes and inventors, overcoming adversity and even saving lives. Includes over 50 amazing, diverse youth from history to present day and shows young readers that greatness has no age limit.
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How to Build Glued Lapstrake Wooden Boats
Publisher: WoodenBoat Books$43.95As a child, John Brooks loved to build models and sail with his grandfather. When most teenagers were at the prom, John was changing jibs in the Indian Ocean, halfway through a 35,000-mile, two-year cruise. He began building boats in commercial yards at 19, while studying boat design and building his own boats. John worked for many years honing his craftsmanship on fine yachts, small boats, custom furniture, and a harpsichord. He has been a instructor at the WoodenBoat School in Maine since the mid-1990s, teaching glued-lapstrake boatbuilding, fine interior joinery, and carving. Ruth Ann Hill grew up on the coast of Maine. A writer, boatbuilding assistant, naturalist, and graphic artist, Ruth is the author of Discovering Old Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park: An Unconventional Guide and a contributing editor for Maine Boats & Harbors magazine. John and Ruth started their business, Brooks Boats, in 1991. They design and build glued-lapstrake boats in West Brooklin, Maine-and get out to enjoy their handiwork in its proper element whenever they can.
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Pete Culler’s Boats
Publisher: WoodenBoat Books$38.45John Burke spent much of his life in and out of the Culler house and shop. He has been a professional boatbuilder as well as contributor to WoodenBoat magazine.
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The Men of the Deeps A Journey With North America’s Only Coal Miners’ Chorus
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95Formed 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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New London: The Lost Dream
Publisher: Island Studies Press$27.95Sometimes, fact is better than fiction. In 1773 a group of Quaker tradespeople and their families from London, England settled on Prince Edward Island’s north shore. Rather than farming or fishing, their dream was to create a “new”– a bustling, commercial outpost–on what they considered to be a doorstep to the new world. New London survived and occasionally thrived for twenty years. This is its remarkable story.
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The Little Tree by the Sea
Artist: Belle DeMontPublisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.$17.95On December 6, 1917, two ships collided in wartime Halifax Harbour, creating what became the largest man-made explosion of its time. More than 2000 people died (500 of those children) and 9,000 were injured. A single little tree whispered from its branches the word “Help” that was carried by the wind to the people of Boston. Within 48 hours Boston and Massachusetts organized trains to carry 33 doctors and 79 nurses. To repay the City of Boston for its generosity, the little tree (which now had become huge and majestic tree) was given to the city of Boston as a way to say thank you, a tradition that continues to this day.
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Six Crucial Decades
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95An insightful account of Maritime history. By isolating and examining specific events that occurred during six decades, the author shows how the course of history in this region was altered and examines the social and economic consequences that followed.
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Historic Guysborough
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$24.95In Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, located on the eastern Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia, the forestry, fishing and subsistence farming industries were the usual employers of its inhabitants. One of the larger villages, Sherbrooke, located at the head of the tide on the St. Mary’s River, had commercial interests: a saw mill, stores, including trade shops and a photography studio that made it a bustling centre of activity. Photography, in its infancy in late 19th century Canada, was widely practiced in the small towns of Atlantic Canada. Thankfully, some of the images captured by hobbyists and professionals have been saved to become part of this historical record of the county.
This is a wonderful collection of vintage photos that detail the county and the historic old villages that dot the coast and the interior of the region. -
Captains, Mansions and Millionaires
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$20.95Today is difficult to grasp the magnitude of the prosperity that Maitland enjoyed as a shipbuilding and trading centre during the late 1800s. Fortunes were made in the timber trade, in mining gypsum, and selling Maitland ships. In one summer, nineteen ships were built for a revenue of nearly one million dollars. A thousand men worked in the shipyards of this town on the shores of Cobequid Bay, requiring hotels, boarding houses, taverns, clothing stores, hardware stores and a bank.
Maitland sea captains like W.D Lawrence sailed the globe in huge schooners. A railway was built; there was a telegraph, professional photographer, and eventually a six-car ferry. There were tennis courts, and glorious mansions furnished with the finest articles money can buy.
And then it ended. The golden age of wooden ships and iron men was over, and the economic engine that generated such wealth faltered. The halcyon days of Maitland disappeared but its heritage not forgotten. Much of the town, including its great homes, still stands as it did in the glory days. Maitland has been declared a heritage conservation site, to be preserved for future generations.
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Strangers in the Land The Ukrainian Presence in Cape Breton
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95First published in 1986, Strangers in the Land is a carefully researched telling of stories of Cape Breton’s Ukrainians, written by a son of the community, John Huk. Working tirelessly in archives, he spent countless hours combing through municipal and steel company records, collecting press clippings and other relevant papers as well as memorabilia, interviewing community members about their family histories, and working with his family to put together a story of a century of Ukrainian life in Cape Breton. Huk produced a book that stands as a valuable historical document and, in the process, also amassed a wealth of artifacts and documentation now forming the Huk fonds at the archives of the Beaton Institute at Cape Breton University-providing an invaluable source of data for a new generation of researchers. It is the only history of Ukrainian experiences in Cape Breton published to date; all the more impressive is that Huk gathered the information and published the book almost entirely on his own as a self-taught community ethnographer and historian. His work has also inspired more recent research focusing on Canadians of Ukrainian descent, especially their music, dance and the Holy Ghost Ukrainian Parish in Sydney, Nova Scotia. This congregation celebrates the 100th anniversary in 2012. Now with a new introduction by Marcia Ostashewski , PhD, and new appendices, Strangers in the Land is a celebration of the traditions and cultural gifts of Ukrainians in Cape Breton and their contribution to Canadian history.
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An Inuk Boy Becomes a Hunter
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$14.95For hundreds of years, Inuit of northern Labrador employed their ingenuity, courage, and deep sense of community to meet the challenges of living in a harsh environment. In the process, they developed a rich culture of customs and traditions that strengthened their family and community life as well their relationship with the natural world.
But with the encroachment of the modern world and the depletion of wildlife and fish stocks, the Inuit way of life has changed dramatically. In the authentic voice of a storyteller, John Igloliorte describes the Inuit way of life and the changes that are breaking down their time-honoured traditions. He shares with us the wondrous experiences of an Inuk boy’s life- from his earliest childhood memories, to when, at thirteen, he became a hunter. -
By The Sweat of My Brow The Life of a Newfoundland Logger
Publisher: John Kitchen$19.95This is the story of a young outport Newfoundlander who went into the lumberwoods at an early age to harvest trees to feed the paper mill at Grand Falls. It tells of his experiences at various phases of wood’s work: cutting trees, transporting them to the waterways, driving them to the mill, cooking meals, building dams, teaming horses, driving tractors, trucks, and other wood’s machinery.It tells of lumbermen’s living and working conditions-the hard-ships of working in all weathers, enduring heat, rain, snow, frost and flies. The camaraderie of camp life, the food served, the bunkhouse and beds they had to sleep on, the lice, the smells, and the changes brought about by the I.W.A strike.It chronicles the history of the log harvest of the Paper Company’s Millertown Division, from the start-up in the first decade of the 1900’s to the present.
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The Newfoundland Beothuk Termination of a Tribe
Publisher: John Kitchen$18.95This is an account of the final 100 years of Beothuks in Newfoundland during the years of increasing settlement of Notre Dame Bay, their last place of refuge from the Europeans’ advancement. It chronicles the conflict between the two races that led to the eventual end of the Beothuks–through the killing of their people, diseases, and denial of food.
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The Beothuk Way Living With Nature
Publisher: John Kitchen$18.85A story about the Beothuk way of life in Newfoundland before the coming of settlement by “White” people in early 1700s Notre Dame Bay. Told through the eyes of a young Beothuk boy, it tells of his people, hunting, ceremonies,trapping, cooking, shelters, weapons, tools, canoes and of their nomadic ways.
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Come Walk With Me
Publisher: John Kitchen$9.50This book is a descriptive and informative account the author’s backpacking experiences, complemented by nearly 300 coloured photographs.Walk with the author around Newfoundland visiting outport settlement; photographing caribou in wilderness areas; and hiking the 909 kilometers accross the province.Experience, also his adventures in England as ge wanders the designated trails and and pathways all the way from the Scottish border, sotuyh to the English Channel.His trips to aboriginal areas of Nprthern Ontario and Manitoba, too, will give you viewings of some amazing scenery.A quick flip through the book will show you what to expect and enjoy. Happy reading!
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Nova Scotia Book of Everything
Publisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.$14.95From the number of kilometers of coastline to the stories behind those weird place names (hello Ecum Secum) to profiles of Joe Howe and Alexander Keith, there is no book as comprehensive as the Nova Scotia Book of Everything. There is also no book more fun. Well known Nova Scotians like Premier Rodney MacDonald weigh in on subjects like the five Nova Scotians he admires most; Ashley MacIssac tells us his five greatest Nova Scotians; Joel Plaskett gives up his favorite hangouts. The worst weather, Nova Scotia slang, the greatest crimes…it’s all here!Whether you are a life long resident or visiting for the first time, there simply is no other book that delivers the goods. If you love Nova Scotia, you’ll love the Nova Scotia Book of Everything.Don’t forget to read the Book of Musts!
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Newfoundland and Labrador Book of Musts
Publisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.$13.95From kissing the cod to catching greasy pigs at the largest garden party on the world, dancing to Shanneyganock in the capital city and hiking Terra Nova, this is the MUST list every Newfoundlander and Labradorian MUST have. From watching whales on the shore of St. Vincent?s to the best bang-for-your-buck breakfast, it is all here.We get Newfoundlanders and Labradorians from across the island to weigh in with their own MUST lists. Funny girl Mary Walsh, artist Brenda McClellan, Great Big Sea front man Alan Doyle, and Premier Danny Williams all have secret places you simply MUST visit. This is the ultimate insider MUST list. If you love Newfoundland, you simply MUST have the Newfoundland and Labrador Book of Musts.
