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You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on
bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
The Atlantic Coast, A Natural History
by Harry Thurston
Thurston illuminates the geology, plant and animal life and nature of the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland and Labrador through the Maritime Provinces and the Northeastern United States south to Cape Hatteras in this illustrated, engaging survey.
Burden of Desire
by Robert MacNeil
An intricate, suspenseful novel of love and war set against the backdrop of the 1917 explosion that destroyed the north end of Halifax. Written by the noted newsman Robert MacNeil.
A Field Guide to North Atlantic Wildlife
by Noble S. Proctor, Patrick J. Lynch (Illustrator)
A comprehensive pocket guide to commonly encountered marine mammals, seabirds and other marine life of Northeastern North America, from North Carolina to Newfoundland and the Canadian Maritimes.
Canada and Quebec: One Country, Two Histories
by Robert Bothwell
An in-depth look at Canada-Quebec relations through interviews with prominent Canadian figures.
Varieties of Exile
by Mavis Gallant, Russell Banks (Introduction)
Wonderful stories set mostly in Gallant's native Montreal, a city starkly divided between working-class French Catholics and genteel English Protestants.
Atlantic
by Simon Winchester
The subtitle tells it all -- Winchester squeezes "Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories" into the covers of this latest entertaining and digressive tale.
The Sea Captain's Wife
by Beth Powning
Azuba Galloway, daughter of a shipwright, sees ships leaving for foreign ports from her bustling town on the Bay of Fundy and dreams of seeing the world. When she marries Nathaniel Bradstock, a veteran sea captain, she believes she will sail at his side. But when she becomes pregnant she is forced to stay behind. Her father has built the couple a gabled house overlooking the bay, but the gift cannot shelter her from the loneliness of living without her husband. When Azuba becomes embroiled in scandal, Nathaniel is forced to take her and their daughter, Carrie, aboard his ship. They set sail for London with bitter hearts.
Their voyage is ill-fated, beset with ferocious storms and unforeseen obstacles that test Azuba's compassion, courage and love. Alone in a male world, surrounded by the splendour and the terror of the open seas, she must face her fears and fight to keep her family together.
Train, Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World
by Tom Zoellner
An informative and entertaining history of railway travel around the world -- from the frigid Trans-Siberian Railroad to the antiquated Indian Railways to futuristic Mag-Lev trains. Zoellner examines mechanics and innovations in rails and engines, trains’ impact on societies and even America's ambivalence toward mass transit.
Trans-Canada Rail Guide
by Melissa Graham
A compact, kilometer-by-kilometer guide to the 4,000-mile rail journey across North America from Halifax to Vancouver.
A Traveller's History of Canada
by Robert Bothwell
A readable and admirably concise march through Canadian history from prehistory to today, including a timeline.
Why I Hate Canadians
by Will Ferguson
This is the tenth anniversary edition of Ferguson's wickedly astute cultural salvo, the collection of humorous essays that launched his career. As you might guess, the title is tongue-in-cheek.
Shadows on the Rock
by Willa Cather
Set at the end of the 17th century in rural Quebec, this beautifully realized novel highlights the struggles of the Parisian widower Auclair and his young daughter to adapt to their new land.
Island, The Complete Stories
by Alistair MacLeod
Raised in Cape Breton, Alistair MacLeod writes of family, the pull of old Gaelic traditions, love and the landscape and folkways of Nova Scotia in this collection of 16 stories. Winner of the Pen/Malamud Award.
Cod, A Biography of a Fish That Changed the World
by Mark Kurlansky
A sparkling extended essay on the cod, looking at the importance of the fish to cuisine and history, as well as to Scandinavian, American and Canadian commerce.
The Boat Who Wouldn't Float
by Farley Mowat
A laugh-out-loud account of Mowat's determination to refurbish and sail a clunky old boat in the not-always-forgiving waters of Newfoundland.
Railroads Across North America, An Illustrated History
by Claude Wiatrowski
This entertaining account of the golden age of rail in the U.S. and Canada is illustrated with 600 vintage and modern photographs, period advertisements, maps, timetables, postcards and brochures.
Montreal Then and Now
by Alan Hustak
This installment in the Then and Now series takes stock of Montreal’s evolution by placing antique photographs side-by-side with contemporary ones. It peels back the years so that readers can see city fixtures as they once were.
Champlain's Dream
by David Hackett Fischer
In this stunningly researched and engaging biography, Pulitzer Prize-winner David Hackett Fischer weaves together the epic story of soldier and explorer Samuel de Champlain, a colonizer of North America who spent 30 years bringing his vision of a New France to life.