About BC Books Online
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."
Description
For his third volume about BC literary history, Alan Twigg traces the writings of David Thompson, Alexander Mackenzie, Simon Fraser and thirty of their peers, mainly Scotsmen, who founded and managed more than fifty forts west of the Rockies prior to 1850. After the failure of Alexander Mackenzie and Simon Fraser to find a navigable route to the Pacific Ocean, it was the remarkable mapmaker, David Thompson, who was instrumental in creating the "highway" for commerce that connected both sides of the North American continent. Thompson's exploration and mapping enabled George Simpson, the "Little Emperor" of the Hudson's Bay Company, and James Douglas, the founding father of the province, finally to bring viability to the corporate fur trade on the so-called Western Slope.
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age:
- 14
- Grade:
- 9
Editorial Reviews
“Passionately, almost obsessively, Twigg has been drawing the map of our conglomerate culture.” —Pacific Rim Review of Books
“Twigg is the Ali Baba of Canadian literary studies. He finds literary gems from the often silent and discursive past and brings them to life. . . . Since the deaths of W. Kaye Lamb, William Ireland, Margaret Ormsby, and Charles Lillard, Twigg has been the main voice for what I call the British Columbia narrative.” —Barry Gough, Bibliographical Society of Canada
“Twigg is the Ali Baba of Canadian literary studies. He finds literary gems from the often silent and discursive past and brings them to life. . . . Since the deaths of W. Kaye Lamb, William Ireland, Margaret Ormsby, and Charles Lillard, Twigg has been the main voice for what I call the British Columbia narrative.” —Barry Gough, Bibliographical Society of Canada
“Thompson’s Highway usefully introduces readers to a new topic, aiding them with its extensive bibliography.”—BC Studies
“Passionately, almost obsessively, Twigg has been drawing the map of our conglomerate culture.” —Pacific Rim Review of Books
“Lively and energetic, slangy and accessible, and well informed”—Georgia Straight
