British Columbia is celebrated as Canada’s principal centre of audiovisual production. Its billion-dollar industry trails behind only California and New York, the most well-established film production sites on the continent. Prior to the mid-1970s, however, British Columbia had little in the way of film production that could properly be called an …

These memoirs offer a compelling account of life in early British Columbia from the 1860s to the first decade of the 20th century. The wife of Judge Eli Harrison, one of the province's foremost lawyers and judges, Mrs. Harrison gives intimate glimpses into daily life in Victoria, Nanaimo and New Westminster, and her visits as a young woman to Granv …

The history of indigenous political action in Canada is long, hard-fought, and under-told. By the mid-1900s, Native peoples across western Canada were actively involved in their own political unions in a drive to be heard outside their own, often isolated, reserve communities. In Alberta, the Indian Association of Alberta (IAA) represented the inte …

With a collector's eye trained to uncover the rare, the unusual and the finest examples of British Columbia's antique postcards, authors Fred Thirkell and Bob Scullion have given readers an eclectic array of century-old photographs.

The images selected for this book—the authors' fifth for Heritage House—tell 80 distinct stories that capture Bri …

What was the three-letter last name of the Ladysmith native who is "the world's most recognizable Canadian?"

What is the four-letter name of the character Burnaby native Michael J. Fox played on Family Ties?

What's the four-letter word for the amount of clothing required at Wreck Beach?

What's the nine-letter pass near Sparwood where the CPR started c …

Since the release of our first, bestselling Calgary cityguide, many things in the city have changed: it's gotten bigger, faster, and richer. Still filled with strange secrets, this revised and expanded edition of the earlier Calgary: Secrets of the City reveals the whole truth.
With stories of notorious figures like the jazz impresario who has ha …

Here is the story of the unique vessels that make up BC history's fleet. The Beaver, the first steamer on the coast, played such an important role that its chunky form and the resonant thud, thud of its sidewheels are inseparable from 19th-century BC history. The Lady Alexandra, a passenger ship in the Union Steamship fleet, is remembered as one of …

Outdoor adventurers from all over the world come to the Sunshine Coast to enjoy the very best in bicycling, beachcombing, scuba diving, birdwatching, canoeing, kayaking and hiking in rain forests and mountain passes.

This new, expanded edition covers the 160 picturesque kilometres of winding coastline from Port Mellon, Gibsons, Sechelt and Pender Ha …

The four volumes of The Birds of British Columbia provide unprecedented coverage of BC's birds, presenting a wealth of information on the ornithological history, habitat, breeding habits, migratory movements, seasonality, and distribution patterns of each of the 472 species of birds. The text is supported by hundreds of full-colour pictures, includ …

This much-awaited final volume of The Birds of British Columbia completes what some have called one of the most important regional ornithological works in North America. It is the culmination of more than 25 years of effort by the authors who, with the assistance of thousands of dedicated volunteers throughout the province, have created the basic r …

For as long as we have communicated by words, men and women have turned to poets to help them express the surges of emotion that accompany the feelings we call romantic love. Recognizing that "love's domain is as huge, as vast as Canada itself," acclaimed poet Tom Wayman set out in 1997 to compile an anthology of the nation's best poetry on the sub …

In January 1887 a delegation of chiefs from the Nisga'a and Tsimshian peoples of northern British Columbia, seeking restitution from a government that had stolen their lands without a treaty or compensation, arrived by steamship in Victoria's Inner Harbour. They were met by Premier William Smithe, who refused them entry to the provincial legislatur …

The heart of this fresh and eclectic look at BC's history is an enormously popular 11-part series that ran in the Vancouver Province newspaper late in 1999. Starting with the years before the Europeans arrived, the book chronicles the life and times of BC through the decades, with plenty of photographs from public and private archives in large and …

British Columbia is a province of extraordinary extremes: urban areas and rural territories; lush farm terrain and mountain vistas; balmy ocean views and frozen snowscapes. Its population is equally diverse: gardeners, skiiers, bush pilots, filmmakers, fishermen, and assorted eccentrics who could have only come from British Columbia. Through it al …

The genre of horror has in the past been the exclusive province of heterosexual writers and themes, stereotypically involving a male antagonist and a female victim. Although the incursions into the field by such writers as Anne Rich and Poppy Z. Brite have largely blurred sexual orientation boundaries, there has never been an anthology of horror s …

In this updated edition of Treaty Talks in British Columbia, Christopher McKee traces the origins and development of treaty negotiations in the province. Through an examination of Native concerns, he analyzes conflicting points of view and suggests alternatives for achieving consensus.

The new edition includes:

• an overview of the Supreme Court of …

Art BC presents -- in full colour -- 100 outstanding works by 84 of British Columbia�s foremost artists. Finally, we have the much-needed history of the visual arts in British Columbia, one that also properly integrates our great heritage of First Nations art into the mainstream. In the introduction, Ian M. Thom outlines the art history of the …

Alberta has long been a big part of the frantic Canadian hockey scene, and even before Alberta became a province in 1905, the intense hockey rivalry between Calgary and Edmonton was in full swing. Long before the glory days of the '80s, teams from Edmonton and Calgary worked each other over with relish and passion, all the while creating a hockey r …

In this revised and retitled edition of Fishing in the West, David Carpenter offers a wealth of tips and techniques for catching all the major species of Western Canada, from the prized trout to the monster pike to the beautiful arctic grayling. The book tells you how to master the delicate and demanding art of fly-fishing, where the prime fishing …

Once Upon an Oldman is an account of the controversy that surrounded the Alberta government's construction of a dam on the Oldman River to provide water for irrigation in the southern part of the province. Jack Glenn argues that, despite claims to the contrary, the governments of Canada and Alberta are not dedicated to protecting the environment an …

To Calgarians, the Rocky Mountains are a continual source of pleasure. Stretching across the western horizon, they can be seen from almost every point in the city. The text - augmented by historic photographs, Ron Ellis's watercolours and a six foot-long folding panorama - tells you everything you want to know about the individual mountains, their …

In a few short decades before the First World War, Calgary was transformed from a frontier outpost into a complex industrial metropolis. With industrialization there emerged a diverse and equally complex working class. David Bright explores the various levels of class formation and class identity in the city to argue that Calgary’s reputation as …

Aboriginal people in Canada took hope with the election of Trudeau’s Liberals in 1968. They were outraged when the Paper introduced by Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Jean Chretien a year later amounted to an assimilation program: repeal of the Indian Act, the transfer of Indian affairs to the provinces, the elimination of separate legal …

Drinkin' rye and water with Grandma. Guns in False Creek. Frat boy homies from the North Delta ghetto. Samuel L. Jackson. Phantom Lord & Metallica. A kid who's got the hots for his mom...'Hunh'? That's right. It's all here in this collection of immediate, lean and visceral short fiction from Clint Burnham.

"Stripped down language of the street (in t …

Living on the banks of the turbulent Fraser River, the Nlaka'pamux people of Spuzzum have a long history of contact with non-aboriginal peoples. They watched as Hudson's Bay Company employees hacked a path through the mountains for the fur brigades, and over time they found themselves in the path of the Cariboo road, the CPR, and virtually every co …

The essays in Beyond the City Limits, all published here for the first time, decisively break this silence and challenge traditional readings of B.C. history. In this wide-ranging collection, R.W. Sandwell draws together a distinguished group of contributors who bring expertise, methodologies, and theoretical perspectives taken from social and poli …

Like the world's other great waterways, the Fraser River is the lifeblood of the territory through which it flows. And the Fraser's domain is vast, the river's basin encompasses half of British Columbia's forests and agricultural lands, the majority of the province's salmon streams, and two-thirds of its human population. Tacoutche Tesse -- the Mig …

Both the mountains and northern forests of British Columbia are magical kingdoms shaped by cold and snow. They also form the landscape that covers most of the province and that offers countless spectacular destinations for campers, hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts. Adapted and expanded from sections of the best-selling British Columbia: A Natur …

This book is a social and political history of the struggle for literacy in rural China from 1949 until 1994. It aims to show how China's revolutionary leaders conceived and promoted literacy in the countryside and how villagers made use of the literacy education and schools they were offered. Rather than focusing narrowly on educational issues alo …

In Courting Saskatchewan, Carpenter captures the poetry of the prairies, confronts the brevity of life and the depression brought on by the dead of a Saskatchewan winter, takes hilarious delight in his own and other people's foibles, and reflects on the importance of his friends. By turns humorous, light hearted and profound, this intensely persona …

Skookum, cultus, hyack, saltchuck, klahowya, tillicum: It is in words like these that the last vestiges of a lost British Columbian language remain. It was known as "Chinook." Its use today is mainly confined to colloquialisms, and place names like Boston Bar, Canim Lake, Illahee Mountain, Snass Creek, and Skookumchuck. It began as a trading jargon …

In this groundbreaking portrait of the uneasy state of the province, Terry Glavin's lyrical narratives reveal the fibre of a British Columbia rarely glimpsed. With journalistic acumen, he surveys a landscape of inexorable suburban sprawl, dismantled railway lines, scapegoating of Native fisheries, and strange goings?on at Gustafsen Lake. A new bree …

This book is an up-to-date checklist of the current valid taxonomy for all vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens in British Columbia, including synonyms, species codes, and other information. A convenient, geographically restricted, comprehensive checklist like this one will aid greatly in avoiding the present confusion concerning the names of m …

Elephant Crossing. Houdini Needles. Miniskirt, Tickletoeteaser Tower, and Why Not Mountain. These are just some of the many names of places, rivers, mountains, and lakes that you will come across in the newest edition of British Columbia Place Names. This classic which, in its various editions, has sold over 29,000 copies, covers about 2,500 geogra …

Walking in Indian Moccasins is the first work to offer a different view of the Tommy Douglas provincial government in Sakatchewan: their policies, their applications, and their shortcomings. Much more than that, however, it is a careful account of the development of Indian and Metis people in Saskatchewan in the post-war period. The goal of the CCF …

Sitka spruce, the largest of the world's spruces, is an important component of British Columbia's coastal forests. Its ecology gives it a special place in the sustainable management of the province's forests. However, in west coast forestry it is poorly known in comparison with its main coniferous companions -- Douglas-fir, western redcedar, and we …

In his debut book, Greg offers guidance to over 50 dives in five areas Metchosin and Race Rocks, Victoria, Sansum Narrows, Saanich Inlet, Sidney and the Southern Gulf Islands.

Diver’s Guide, Vancouver Island South is fully illustrated with Greg’s own computer-generated maps, based on his personal exploration of these underwater environments, an …

British Columbia has one of the richest assemblages of bird species in the world. The four volumes of The Birds of British Columbia provide unprecedented coverage of this region's birds, presenting a wealth of information on the ornithological history, habitat, breeding habits, migratory movements, seasonality, and distribution patterns of each of …

In this beautifully crafted collection of essays, Cole Harris reflects on the strategies of colonialism in British Columbia during the first 150 years after the arrival of European settlers. The pervasive displacement of indigenous people by the newcomers, the mechanisms by which it was accomplished, and the resulting effects on the landscape, soci …

British Columbia's Vancouver Island is the outdoor recreationist's dream, with magnificent waterfalls, secluded fishing spots and wilderness trails. Many of the best out of the way places are accessible only by way of the roughest logging or mining roads, which makes the Island a perfect place for four-wheeling as well.

This third instalment in Harb …

Look around at the roads today, and you'll see a variety of sport-utility vehicles, trucks, jeeps, and any other rugged outdoor vehicle you van think of. It all points to the fact that four-wheeling is becoming one of the BC's fastest growing leisure activities. If people aren't actually out there on weekends in their four-wheel drive, they're sitt …

Shells and Shellfish of the Pacific Northwest is the indispensable guide for beachcombers, seashell collectors, divers or anyone who wants to know more about the shells and shellfish found along the saltwater beaches and intertidal areas of the Pacific Northwest. Everyone from weekend adventurers to serious collectors will love this book!

This comp …