Railway Nation
A riveting, visually engaging collection of vignettes highlighting the rich heritage of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Since its founding in 1881, Canadian Pacific has made an indelible mark on the lives of Canadians. Most commonly associated with its iconic railway, at its height CP also ran hotels, steamships, and an airline, and had myriad involve …
Lace Up
A charmingly illustrated history of the humble skate and its place in Canadian cultural identity.
Throughout our 150-year history, and even longer, people have braved the treacherous Canadian winters and taken to the ice for the purposes of transportation, competition, exercise, and just plain fun. Canadian culture has developed around ice and the r …
Whistle Posts West
Everybody has a train story. Whether it comes from a distant relative who worked on the railways or from a family train trip that formed a lasting impression of the Canadian landscape, trains inspire a sense of wonder and nostalgia. They are embedded in the history of Canada as a whole and western Canada in particular, and for generations they were …
The Game of Our Lives
In this bestselling timeless classic, Peter Gzowski recounts the 1980-81 season he spent travelling around the NHL circuit with the Edmonton Oilers. These were the days when the young Oilers, led by a teenaged Wayne Gretzky, were poised on the edge of greatness, and about to blaze their way into the record books and the consciousness of a nation. W …
Quarantined
Vancouver Island in the late nineteenth century was a major port of entry for people from all walks of life. But for many, the sense of hope that had sustained them through rough sea voyages came to an abrupt halt as soon as they reached land. Quarantined is the heart-wrenching true story of the thousands of forgotten people who arrived on our shor …
Tales from the Back Bumper
Buckle up your seatbelt and prepare for a ride on the history highway! Christopher Garrish has collected hundreds of facts and photos (not to mention licence plates) in this astonishing assembly of motoring madness. Discover what the earliest motorists in the province used to build their own licence plates; why some licence plate numbers are worth …
Flying on Instinct
They were nicknamed Snow Eagle, Flying Knight, Bush Angel, Punch, Doc and Wop. They worked in open cockpits and flew through cold, snow and fog without the benefit of radios, maps or weather reports. They flew over the Barrens, frozen lakes, boreal forests and mountain ranges by dead reckoning and line of sight. They landed on makeshift runways, gl …
Sir John Franklin
After Royal Navy captain Sir John Franklin disappeared in the Arctic in 1846 while seeking the Northwest Passage, the search for his two ships, Erebus and Terror, and survivors of his expedition became one of the most exhaustive quests of the 19th century. Despite tantalizing clues, the ships were never found, and the fate of Franklin’s expeditio …
Backspin
Backspin is a comprehensive overview of everything golf-related in BC. Veteran sportswriter Arv Olson's work on the trailblazers and the growth of the game and the province's golf courses was "the preeminent resource" on golf history when he self-published Backspin in 1992. This first Heritage House edition has been completely updated and revamped …
Code Name Habbakuk
In late 1942, Britain was desperate to win the ongoing Battle of the Atlantic. German U-boats had sunk hundreds of Allied ships containing millions of tons of cargo that was needed to continue the war effort. Prime Minister Churchill had to find a solution to the carnage or the Nazis would be victorious. With the support of Churchill and Lord Louis …
Fire Canoes
Anson Northup, the first steamboat on the Canadian prairies, arrived in Fort Garry in 1859. Belching hot sparks and growling in fury, it was called "fire canoe" by the local Cree. The first steam-powered passenger vessel in Canada had begun service on the St. Lawrence River in 1809, and for the next 150 years, steamboats carried passengers and frei …
A Long, Dangerous Coastline
On September 8, 1923, seven US Navy destroyers rammed into jagged rocks on the California coast. Twenty-three sailors died that night. Five years earlier, the Canadian Pacific passenger ship Princess Sophia steamed into Vanderbilt Reef in Alaska’s Lynn Canal. When she sank, she took 353 people to their deaths. From San Francisco’s fog-bound Gol …
The Graveyard of the Pacific
On January 22, 1906, the passenger ship Valencia lost her way in heavy fog and rain and rammed into the deadly rocks at Pachena Point on the west coast of Vancouver Island. As the wreck was shattered by the pounding waves, the survivors clung desperately to the rigging. Few made it the short distance to shore through the frigid and turbulent wavesâ …
Classic Images of Canada's First Nations
This poignant and beautiful record of Canada's First Nations people and their culture, as seen through the eyes of talented photographers, is a fascinating glimpse into Canada's past. Of great historical and aesthetic interest, this collection of photographs captures the diversity and dignity of First Nations during a time of tumultuous change. Ass …
Rocky Mountain Madness
This entertaining collection of historical photographs, amusing newspaper accounts, reminiscences and letters celebrates the capricious antics that the Rockies and Selkirks summoned in Victorian residents and visitors. From climbers, cowboys, cooks and shopkeepers to hunters, guides, photographers and poets, these were people with a mania for mount …
Vancouver
Once an almost inaccessible logging town on the edge of the frontier, Vancouver has metamorphosed into one of the world's most beautiful urban centres, host city of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. This book traces Vancouver's extraordinary coming of age through lively text and 150 evocative historical images that capture the city in e …
Alberta
To many people, Alberta represents the true Canadian frontier. It is known for its rugged image, its "wild west" past and its staunchly independent residents, from the First Nations who originally inhabited the land to the explorers, homesteaders, cowboys, oilmen and others who continued to build and shape the province. This engaging book uses more …
Ice Warriors
Technically it was a minor league, but for hockey fans west of the Mississippi, the Western Hockey League provided major-league entertainment for over 25 years.
The WHL was a determined and ambitious professional league, with some 22 teams based in major American and Canadian cities. Known as the Pacific Coast Hockey League prior to 1952, the WHL a …
Yi Fao: Speaking Through Memory
Bravo to the New Westminster Museum and Archives for their groundbreaking research into the history of Yi Fao, and for their understanding that these records of the past will remain as a living contribution to enrich and strengthen our collective heritage. —Wayson Choy
This is the fascinating history of Yi Fao—the Chinese name for New Westmins …
Philip Timms' Vancouver
In Philip Timms' Vancouver, the city's "golden age" has been captured with spirit and style by one of British Columbia's foremost photographers. Philip Timms was a man of many accomplishments, but one of the most notable was his photographic record of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, created between 1900 and 1910. As Vancouver evolved from a colo …
Carving the Western Path
The history of British Columbia's transportation systems north of the Canadian National Railway's mainline may not be well known—but it certainly is colourful. Continuing the story he began in the first volume of Carving the Western Path, R.G. Harvey describes the development of river, road and rail routes that crossed the northern two-thirds of …
Wires in the Wilderness
This is the tale of how Canada's high northern wilderness was brought into civilization's fold through a frail network of wires laboriously strung between poles and trees for hundreds of desolate miles. The Yukon Telegraph started in 1897, when gold was discovered in the Yukon and the government needed a faster way to communicate with its remote no …
The People’s Boat
There may be no other sailing ship in North America that has touched the lives of so many people during 80-plus years of existence as HMCS Oriole. The design of famed MIT marine architect George Owen, the pride of original owner George Gooderham, commodore of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, the steadfast training ship of the Royal Canadian Navy for …
Prince Ships of Northern BC
From 1910 to 1975, superb coastal liners of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and, later, the Canadian National Railway plied the waters of coastal BC, connecting Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle to Prince Rupert and southeastern Alaska. Here is the little-known story of these ships, brought to life by BC's foremost marine historian and well illustrated w …
