History

Nova Scotia Shaped By the Sea: A Living History by Lesley Choyce

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The history of Nova Scotia is an amazing story of a land and a people shaped by the waves, the tides, the wind, and the wonder of the North Atlantic. Choyce weaves the legacy of this unique coastal province, piecing together the stories written in the rocks, the wrecks, and the record books of human glory and error.

Pinkerton’s and the Hunt for Simon Gunanoot by Geoff Mynett

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Pinkerton’s and the Hunt for Simon Gunanoot throws new light on the extensive manhunt for an accused murderer in northern British Columbia in the early 1900s. After a double murder in 1906, Gitxsan trapper and storekeeper Simon Gunanoot fled into the wilderness with his family. Frustrated by Gunanoot’s ability to evade capture, the Attorney General of BC asked Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency in Seattle to assist in the pursuit.

The Days That Are No More: Tales of Kent County New Brunswick by Loney Hudson

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The Days That Are No More chronicles people from Kent County, New Brunswick during the 1920s through the 1980s in communities of Targettville, Main River, Bass River, Smith Corner, Emerson, Harcourt, Clairville, Beersville, Fordsmills, Brown's Yard, West Branch, South Branch, Mundleville, and Rexton. They tell of a time when most of the people of Kent County had large families, and children left home at a very young age to find work wherever it could be found. Life was often hard. They lived through war and poverty, and experienced hardships and modernization. This immersive collection of lives tells of a time that no longer exists, except in the heart and minds of booklovers.

Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson By Mark Bourrie

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Bourrie has written a classic Canadian historical biography. The best-selling author, and award-winning journalist, lays bare the mottled myths of colonial settlement. He weaves a compelling, sometimes lurid, but always enlightening narrative of the legendary adventurer, scoundrel, Pierre-Esprit Radisson. Bush … Continue reading

Two Novels of Le Grand Dérangement

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The Great Deportation or Le Grand Dérangement, of the Acadian peoples, began in 1755 in the area now called the Bay of Fundy. Homes and farms were burned, and many of the 14,000 inhabitants of Acadia were herded aboard British ships and sent off to the Thirteen Colonies in what is now the New England states. The following two novels, both suitable for mature young readers on up, focus on this time of upheaval and the separation of families.

The Peddlers: The Fuller Brush Man, the Lords of Liniment and Door to Door Heroes in Nova Scotia and Beyond by Blain Henshaw

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Mr. Henshaw's book, while of regional interest to Nova Scotians, will undoubtedly recall to mind travelling salesmen from your past as it did mine (if you are old enough!).  Furthermore, it does go beyond provincial borders to look at products such as Buckley's, Rawleigh's and Watkins that while developed elsewhere, were sold door-to-door in the Maritime region.

Margaret Atwood, Campobello Island and the Passamoquoddy by Rachel Bryant

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The following article was penned by Rachel Bryant, author of The Homing Place: Indigenous and Settler Literary Legacies of the Atlantic. It was originally published on her website on September 21st, 2019 and is reproduced here with her kind permission.

Casey: The Remarkable, Untold Story of Frederick Walker “Casey” Baldwin by John G. Langley

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Frederick Walker "Casey" Baldwin—athlete, engineer, aeronaut, sailor, politician, activist, conservationist—was a true gentleman, modest to a fault. As one of Alexander Graham Bell's young associates, Casey was the first Canadian to fly.