Early depictions of the West Coast were no more than cartographers’ fanciful guesses. Not until the discovery of “soft gold”—sea otter pelts—and the quest to find a Northwest Passage did explorations, such as the epic voyage of George Vancouver, lead to a better understanding of the region’s geography. Even so, until the gold rush of 18 …

In 2016, Globe and Mail reporter Ann Hui drove across Canada, from Victoria to Fogo Island, to write about small-town Chinese restaurants and the families who run them. It was only after the story was published that she discovered her own family could have been included—her parents had run their own Chinese restaurant, The Legion Cafe, before she …

The Great Northern Expedition was the most ambitious and well-financed scientific expedition in history. Lasting nearly ten years and spanning three continents, its geographical, cartographical and natural history accomplishments are on par with James Cook's famous voyages, the scientific circumnavigations of Alessandro Malaspina and Louis Antoine …

Though less known today than contemporaries like Amundsen and Peary, Knud Rasmussen (1879–1933) was one of the most intriguing of the great early 20th century Arctic explorers. Born and raised in Greenland, and part Inuit on his mother's side, Rasmussen could shoot a gun and harness a team of sled dogs by the time he was eight. Nevertheless he wa …

"[Lundrigan's] writing is so enthralling, and the story so full of suspense and interest, that there is a temptation to allow the pages to fly by when they really should be savoured." -- Quill & Quire on Glass Boys, starred review

In the fall of 1953, three teenagers find a clutch of long-lost Roman coins while clearing vegetables from a government …

"An intensely researched, thoroughly enjoyable life of one of history's best explorers...A superb biography of a fiercely driven explorer who traveled across the last inaccessible areas on earth before technical advances made the journey much easier." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred)

In the early 1900s, many of the great geographical mysteries that had i …

A Globe and Mail top 100 book of 2012

The untold story of the great polar explorer who conquered the world's last unknown places, before vanishing in a daring bid to rescue his nemesis.

In the early 1900s, many of the great geographical mysteries that had intrigued adventurers for centuries remained unsolved, leaving some large blank areas on the inc …

This print-on-demand title is available by request from most booksellers.

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The tragic story of Captain Vancouver, a great explorer whose triumphs were overshadowed by public humiliation.

From 1792 to 1795, George Vancouver sailed the Pacific waters as captain of a major expedition of discovery and imperial ambition. Britain had its eyes on Pacific …

Trail to Heaven describes an anthropologist's experience with the subarctic Beaver Indians, the Dunne-za. Robin Ridington, a scholar who has spent nearly twenty-five years with the Dunne-za, describes moments in the life of their community, revealing the dynamics of change and stability among them as well as the ideas and assumptions that sustain t …

The compelling tale of a rivalry that drove two unlikely explorers to the edge of a new world, informed by groundbreaking new research and superior narrative power.

The final decade of the 15th century was pivotal in world history. The Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus sailed westward into the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, determined to secure for Spai …

The compelling tale of a rivalry that drove two unlikely explorers to the edge of a new world, informed by groundbreaking new research and superior narrative power.

The final decade of the 15th century was pivotal in world history. The Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus sailed westward into the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, determined to secure for Spa …

""In Cow: A Bovine Biography, German musician and author Florian Werner delivers an in-depth and surprisingly thoughtful piece of non-fiction...Werner reminds us that bovines are inextricably linked to humans, and that thinking more deeply about our relationship with them can give us a new perspective on our own humanity." -- Winnipeg Free Press

The …

A visually spectacular maritime history of sailing ships and the extraordinary navigators who sailed them to the farthest corners of the globe.

From the mid-15th to mid-19th centuries, the driving force behind world exploration was Europe's growing passion for the luxuries of life and for discovering the uncharted territories that provided these lu …

The true story involving a corrupt pope -- the patriarch of the family fictionalized in the hit Showtime series The Borgias -- in an explosive feud between monarchs and the Church that divided the world in half.

When Columbus triumphantly returned from America to Spain in 1493, his discoveries inflamed an already-smouldering conflict between Spain's …

The true story involving a corrupt pope -- the patriarch of the family fictionalized in the hit Showtime series The Borgias -- in an explosive feud between monarchs and the Church that divided the world in half.

When Columbus triumphantly returned from America to Spain in 1493, his discoveries inflamed an already-smouldering conflict between Spain's …

"...a warm, wise, witty response to Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck." -- Huffington Post

"I Feel Great About My Hands sends a strong and supportive message about the future." -- Winnipeg Free Press

With wisdom and humour, forty-one remarkable, mature women over 50 revel in the joys of aging.

Nora Ephron struck a chord with I Feel Bad about My …

Drifting Home is an account of a journey by Pierre Berton and his family as they raft down the Yukon River from Lake Bennett, British Columbia, to Dawson in the Yukon Territory. It is a meditation on family and childhood and the small moments from which memories are drawn. It is also a tribute by a son to his father.

During the Klondike summer of 1 …

Commerce meets conquest in this swashbuckling story of the six merchant-adventurers who built the modern world, as told by Steven Bown, .Canada's Simon Winchester. (Globe and Mail).

Through the Age of Heroic Commerce, from the 17th to the 19th centuries, a rogue's gallery of larger-than-life merchant kings ruled vast tracts of the globe and expande …

Archaeologist, historian, museum director, educator, curator, explorer, occasional journalist, television host and consummate storyteller James Delgado has spent much of his life in pursuit of the past...and a good tale. His passion for the past is more than academic. He lives to touch the past, to go where few have gone before. As a Sea Hunter and …

The tragic story of Captain Vancouver, a great explorer whose triumphs were overshadowed by public humiliation.

From 1792 to 1795, George Vancouver sailed the Pacific waters as captain of a major expedition of discovery and imperial ambition. Britain had its eyes on Pacific North America, and Vancouver valiantly charted four thousand miles of coastl …

After the overwhelming success of the original, this lavishly illustrated and superbly printed art book is now available in trade paper.

From the sometimes eccentric but remarkable work, rooted in symbolism and theosophy, of pioneers such as Kathleen Munn, Bertram Brooker and Lawren Harris, to the Automatistes in Montreal, to the conceptual art move …

Renowned author and map historian Derek Hayes provides a new and unique perspective on the Lower Mainland's colourful past.

Gathered together in a single volume for the first time, here are the maps that shaped Vancouver and its region, the Lower Fraser Valley. More than 370 original maps chart the region's development beginning with the years of di …

Across the Top of the World is a tale that rivals the story of Antarctic exploration for heroism, drama and tragedy. In the great age of Exploration, the quest for the fabled Northwest Passage lured bold adventurers to the icy Arctic. They risked and sometimes lost their lives in search of a sea route across the top of the world, connecting Europe …

On September 26, 1580, Francis Drake returned triumphantly to England after an epic three-year voyage, his ship, the Golden Hinde carrying a huge haul of plunder. Long given up for lost, he had passed through the dreaded Strait of Magellan to raid Spanish treasure galleons on the coast of Peru, and then had become the first captain to sail complete …