BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
A century ago, the steel ships working coastal waters were built elsewhere. Gradually marine engineers began migrating to the coast with their families, and the BC industry got underway.
Ships of Steel chronicles that industry from the early development of steel construction facilities, equipment and qualified personnel; to the World War II boom when BC yards delivered two 10,000-ton freighters every week; to the postwar production of tugs, barges, fish boats and sophisticated supply vessels; to the present day.
The heart of the story is a half-century's worth of observations and recollections by Arthur McLaren (1919-99), a natural storyteller who owned and ran Allied Shipbuilders for 50 years and who knew the business inside out. This invaluable oral history is presented in the context of an engaging, readable history of the industry by Vickie Jensen, a marine writer who was a friend of Arthur McLaren. Also included are anecdotal and technical information from McLaren's archives, memories from his colleagues, and provincial steel shipbuilding statistics and photographs published here for the first time. Ships of Steel is a behind-the-scenes look at a coastal shipyard, an invaluable piece of BC maritime and industrial history, and a tribute to the skill, determination and ingenuity of BC's shipbuilding crews.