In 1983, at nineteen, Greg Nolan was hired (reluctantly) by his older sister’s boyfriend—a treeplanting contractor based in Northern British Columbia. His crewmates didn’t know what to think of the wide-eyed kid whose mom drove him the 750 kilometres to hook up with his first job. But within a week, Nolan was hitting the thousand-trees-a-day …

The common marine life of the transition waters and more exposed coasts of the Salish Sea are abundant and diverse: giant green anemones, amazing sea stars and thick kelp forests. This eight-fold field guide is a useful aid to coastal exploration from BC to Washington and beyond with over seventy colour photographs to help explorers identify the mo …

Rick Harbo, one of the Pacific Northwest’s leading marine writers and photographers, is back with a new addition to Harbour Publishing’s popular series of pocket-sized field guides. A Field Guide to Marine Life of the Protected Waters of the Salish Sea includes the most commonly observed species in the tide pools and protected waters of the Sal …

Praise for Hello Humpback!, the inaugural title in the First West Coast Books series:

“Graceful, well-constructed rhymes pair with First Nations artist Vickers’s crisp, luminous scenes… It’s a gorgeous glimpse of the distinctive landscapes and creatures of the Northwest, and it will enchant residents and nonlocals alike.”

—starred review, …

The Pacific Northwest coast is home to one of the most diverse displays of intertidal marine life in the world, including sponges, clams, snails, crabs, sea stars, sea anemones, jellies, fishes, seaweeds and more. The New Beachcomber’s Guide to the Pacific Northwest is a portable and easy-to-use reference for searching out and identifying the hun …

Up until the 1930s, Refuge Cove was one of the most remote places on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Tucked into Clayoquot Sound, it sheltered boats from Pacific storms and its hot springs provided welcome relief for anyone waiting for bad weather to pass. In spite of its natural wonders, the cove was undeveloped and transiently populated. But …

The office of Lieutenant Governor has been a constant in British Columbia from the province’s colonial beginnings to the modern era. Originally tasked with selecting the province’s premier and giving royal assent to provincial legislation, and invested with the power to dismiss governments, the role of the Crown’s representative has continual …

Of the settlers, prospectors, trappers, mountaineers and loggers who came to British Columbia’s remote Bute Inlet between the 1890s and the 1940s, few remained long. August Schnarr, however, trapped far up the Homathko and Southgate Rivers and logged the inlet shores from 1910 until the 1960s. An adventurous photographer, August strapped his Koda …

“George Garrett is one of the most remarkable reporters of news that I have ever known. He has always had the ability to smell a good story and to report on it honestly and accurately.”

—Jim Pattison, Canadian business magnate

Starting from humble beginnings as a farm boy in Saskatchewan, George Garrett rose through the ranks of journalism and …

British Columbia wouldn’t exist without the railway; the province was brought into the Canadian Confederation in 1871 in exchange for the promise of a transcontinental line to the West Coast. It was the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1886 that set off economic development in the province, created the city of Vancouver and spurred othe …

Mike McCardell’s instinct for finding the perfect story at just the right time has led him to a lifetime of great scoops and gripping tales as an author and Vancouver news icon. Years of chasing and reporting human-interest stories have honed his ability to see the deeper meaning behind the everyday, and to capture the universal and familiar in e …

West Vancouver is a community defined by its geography, bordered on three sides by the ocean, backed by mountainous wilderness and threaded by creeks and ravines. This setting gives the region a distinct identity, attracting people from all over the world with the prospect of stunning scenery and unparalleled opportunities for outdoor activity, but …

“We operated perfectly legally. We considered ourselves philanthropists! We supplied good liquor to poor thirsty Americans ... and brought prosperity back to the Harbour of Vancouver ...”—Captain Charles Hudson

At the stroke of one minute past midnight, January 17, 1920, the National Prohibition Act was officially declared in effect in the Uni …

“... without a doubt the greatest poet English Canada has ever produced.”

—Dennis Lee

“A hundred years from now, one of the few Canadian poets whose work will still be read will be Al Purdy.”

—Maclean’s

Al Purdy (1918–2000), known as Canada’s unofficial poet laureate, wrote poetry that anyone could read. Having come from working-class …

The poems in The Broken Face explore a sacramental, imaginative vision within contexts of crime, perception, memory and love. In this collection, Russell Thornton returns to the vital themes of intimacy and family, loss, fear and hope, bringing to each poem the essential quality of a myth or incantation. Reverent and revealing, within those familia …

To the sea, to the sea,

who or what waits here for me?

Pairing two dozen of Carol Evans’s wonderful watercolours with a lilting rhyming story by Caroline Woodward, A West Coast Summer tells of a timeless, idyllic season where “Sea salt in the air floats everywhere / and cedars smell so sweet beside the shore.” Children race bikes along sand fl …

In 1888, a prosperous industrial family in Calne, Wiltshire, sent one of its younger sons, a lad judged to have no head for business, to Guelph Agricultural College in Ontario to learn to be a farmer.

Joseph Colebrook Harris, the author’s grandfather, didn’t take to Ontario and after visiting a friend on Salt Spring Island, fell in love with BC. …

These popular cruising companions offer charts, tips and data that will enhance the enjoyment and safety of any voyage. The guides feature informative and charming hand-drawn shoreline plans of selected marinas and small boat anchorages, ranging from safe all-weather havens to secluded picnic spots and marine parks. Intended to complement official …

The BC tradition of fighting back against unfair pay and unsafe working conditions has been around since before the colony joined Confederation. In 1849 Scottish labourers at BC’s first coal mine at Fort Rupert went on strike to protest wretched working conditions, and it’s been a wild ride ever since. For years the BC labour movement was the m …

Salmon gillnetting in the turbulent waters of the Fraser River at the turn of the last century was dangerous, back-breaking work. Skiffs were equipped with a single sail, but most maneuvering had to be accomplished by oars, an almost impossible task against any current or tide. Once towed to the grounds by a cannery tug, the fishermen were on their …

Insects are all around us, from the butterflies in our gardens to the mosquitoes in the woods. About 80 percent of the 1.5 million named species of animals on earth are insects. Without flower-loving bees, wasps, flies and beetles, most crops and wild plants would not be pollinated and would disappear.

But insect diversity is largely invisible becau …

Following on the success of their bestselling board book Hello Humpback!, the celebrated and award-winning authors Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd are back with One Eagle Soaring, the second volume in their exciting new series, First West Coast Books. One Eagle Soaring, a “first numbers” book, explores counting and numbers with the help of We …

The title poem in David Zieroth’s the bridge from day to night follows the speaker across the Second Narrows Bridge to North Vancouver, a well-worn moment in a daily commute that opens a window into the sublime: “from the apex / of the bridge with traffic flying / I look directly into / their deepest clefts.” Such moments occur throughout the …

Home to the 2,500-km Fossil Trail, the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, and Dinosaur Provincial Park—a UNESCO World Heritage site—the Alberta Badlands have unearthed more species of dinosaurs than anywhere else in the world and hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the fossil beds annually. Despite …

At age nineteen, Pat Ardley packed up her belongings and left Winnipeg for Vancouver, looking for adventure. Little did she know that she’d spend the next forty years in the wilderness, thirty of which would be spent with a man known as George “Hurricane” Ardley. Pat met George soon after arriving in Vancouver, and not long after that the two …

What do you do when you decide you no longer want to be responsible for anyone but yourself? When faced with that moment, Donna Kane leaves her twenty-five-year marriage for life with a conservationist and wilderness guide who is so certain of the path he is on that she thinks she’s just along for the ride.

A few days before Kane’s new husband l …

Nestled in the Strait of Georgia between British Columbia’s mainland and Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands are a hiker’s paradise, each boasting an eclectic character and an array of flora and fauna unique to the temperate climate of the southern West Coast of Canada. Discover the panoramic views, inviting beaches and friendly hospitality of t …

The traditional territory of the Ts'elxwéyeqw First Nation covers over 95,000 hectares of land in Southwestern BC. It extends throughout the central Fraser Valley, encompassing the entire Chilliwack River Valley (including Chilliwack Lake, Chilliwack River, Cultus Lake and areas, and parts of the Chilliwack municipal areas). In addition to being a …

"At first I'm calm as the trees fall. But suddenly a rat's nest of wood, bent horizontal and cribbed into the trees above us, comes down in a rush of a hundred machine gun snaps. Trees caught in the nest flail around before hitting the ground. Our eyes dart everywhere, trying to keep track of every moment. Trees break free and swing themselves like …

In 1970, twenty-two-year-old Thom Henley left Michigan and drifted around the northwest coast, getting by on odd jobs and advice from even odder characters. He rode the rails, built a squatter shack on a beach, came to be known as "Huckleberry" and embarked on adventures along the West Coast and abroad that, just like his Mark Twain namesake, situa …

"Looking back over thirty years of flying for Okanagan, I see the experience has given me an interesting life. I have never really considered flying as work. It is more a way of life, a way of life that nourishes a free spirit, something that not many jobs can give you. I just cannot imagine anything I would... rather have done or any company I wou …

It is not mere coincidence that two-thirds of the population of British Columbia occupies lands bordering its great inland sea, the Strait of Georgia, and connected waterways collectively known as the North Salish Sea. Averaging forty kilometres in width and stretching some three hundred kilometres from Vancouver and Victoria in the south to Powell …

In response to her brother's sudden death, Cornelia Hoogland explores the shift in gravity his dramatic absence creates. Set on the Salish Sea on Vancouver Island's east coast, Trailer Park Elegy reaches back two thousand years to the First Peoples, as well as to the brother whose delight was summers spent at Deep Bay.

Hoogland looks to her child- …

Living alone in the remote wilderness, Chris Czajkowski has given her dogs a rich life, although not without its difficulties. Often residing in areas accessible only by float plane, the dogs have encountered grizzlies and cougars, slept in the snow, hiked with packs of food and equipment, and occasionally gotten themselves into scrapes, such as be …

"Call me Chick. I've been called Chick since I was six years old. If you call me Donald, I'll know you don't know me. In this story, I'll tell you how my life unfolded over the last eight decades: how I got that nickname; how I met and married the most beautiful girl in the world; and how I came to own and operate S & R sawmills in Surrey, British …

These popular cruising companions offer charts, tips and data that will enhance the enjoyment and safety of any voyage. The guides feature informative and charming hand-drawn shoreline plans of selected marinas and small boat anchorages, ranging from safe all-weather havens to secluded picnic spots and marine parks. Intended to complement official …

Still compact and the perfect size for travelling, Pacific Reef & Shore has been updated with new species, up-to-date scientific information and many brilliant photographs of the more than 300 common plants and animals found in the intertidal zone off the coast of North America—from the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, to Point Conception, California. E …

One of the most sought-out cruising areas of the Pacific Northwest, the protected waters of Desolation Sound and the surrounding network of the Discovery Islands are world-famous for their pristine and spectacular natural beauty. The interconnecting waterways encompass large tracts of accessible wilderness that entices boaters, sailors and kayakers …

"No part of the Empire has given up more completely of her splendid men than Yukon ... Such being the case, the Dominion should not be forgetful of this region--the Empire's farthest North, and take pride in the encouragement of the spirit that dominates the people of the Land of the Midnight Sun."

--Dawson Daily News, May 15, 1918

Nearly a thousan …

A dog's tail is incredibly versatile. They use them to communicate everything from the furious, full-body wiggling "I'm so happy to see you I could burst!" to the tucked-under-the-bum "N-O-O-O! Is that the vet's office we're pulling up to?" They also keep noses warm on cold nights and conveniently sweep food off coffee tables.

Tails Don't Lie 2 is …

The West has long attracted visionaries and schemers from around the world. And no other region in North America can outstrip British Columbia for the number of utopian or intentional settlement attempts in the past 150 years. Andrew Scott delves into the dramatic stories of these fascinating, but often doomed, communities.

From Doukhobor farmers t …

With bright and bold illustrations of the wild and magical West Coast by celebrated artist Roy Henry Vickers, this sturdy board book will delight babies and toddlers as they begin to experience and recognize the sights and sounds of the natural world. Hello Humpback!, a "first words" book, introduces iconic West Coast animals, from hungry sea otter …

"...one of those rare books--a satisfying mystery that has no criminal content whatsoever ... even the most hidebound mystery reader is likely to be delighted by this well-written and intriguing tale."

--The Toronto Star

"...a worthy successor to her short fiction collection ... Woodward interweaves several intriguing narrative threads into this in …

With over forty years since its original printing, and over 30,000 copies sold, this bestselling guide still remains a trusted and much-consulted reference for those interested in identifying, foraging and growing wild plants for food and medicine. Now Some Useful Wild Plants is back in print for a new generation of foragers and herbalists.

Some Us …

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

From bulls to balloons, from horses to helicopters, Working in the Woods chronicles the myriad changes which have swept through west coast logging since Captain Vancouver came ashore to cut spars in the eighteenth century. By far the most authoritative book ever written on th …

In the next decade, a 60-metre-high wall of compacted earth will stretch more than a kilometre across the main stem of the Peace River, causing the waters behind it to swell into a 93-square-kilometre artificial lake, drowning the best topsoil left in the BC north. The waters will swallow fifty islands and a valley that is home to farmers, ranchers …

Like John Muir, David Pitt-Brooke stepped out for a walk one morning--a long walk of a thousand kilometres or more through the arid valleys of southern interior British Columbia. He went in search of beauty and lost grace in a landscape that has seen decades of development and upheaval. In Crossing Home Ground he reports back, providing a day-by-da …

Gerry St. Germain's story begins in "Petit Canada" on the shores of the Assiniboine, growing up with his two younger sisters, his mother and his father--a shy Metis trapper and construction worker who sometimes struggled to put food on the table. St. Germain was initially troubled in school, scrapping with classmates and often skipping out to shoot …

Few recent events in British Columbia have seized the public mind like the 2006 sinking of the BC Ferries passenger vessel Queen of the North. Across Canada, it was one of the top news stories of the year. In BC it has attained the status of nautical legend. Ten years later, questions are still being asked. How did a ship that sailed the same cours …

Red Robinson details the life and career of Red Robinson, one of Canada's most celebrated pioneers of rock and roll. Robinson began spinning hits while in high school in the early 1950s, laying the foundation for what would become a glamorous, impossible-to-stop and ultimately fulfilling career that has made him a household name west of the Rockies …