National Network for Equitable Library Service

Award-winning Globe and Mail journalist Sandra Martin captures the life and times of 50 extraordinary Canadians, whose achievements, follies, and dreams have shaped the country we call home. Martin’s witty essays on the cult and craft of obituary writing, from the ancient Greeks to a wired up 24/7 world, explode the myths and celebrate the art of our oldest biographical form. Great Canadian Lives tells the political, social, and cultural history of modern Canada from WW1 to the Charter, from Pierre Trudeau to Jack Layton — one fascinating life at a time.

An exploration of modern regionalism and senses of place developing among generations of settler colonial society on North America's northern grasslands.

Authorized Heritage analyses the history of commemoration at heritage sites across western Canada. Using extensive research in Parks Canada records, it argues that heritage narratives are almost always based on national and conventional messages that commonly reflect colonialist visions of the past. Throughout western Canada there are vivid examples of original and official views of what constitutes a national narrative.

The Flora and Fauna of Coastal British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest is an extensive, easy-to-follow resource guide to the plant and animal life of the vast and diverse bioregion stretching from Juneau, Alaska, south to coastal British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, down to California's San Francisco Bay. Encompassing over eight hundred native and invasive species, and including more than two thousand color photos, this is the most complete book of its kind on the market.

An inspiring and eye-opening collection of true stories about fourteen women who blazed their own trails in life and contributed in a fundamental way to the history of Vancouver Island and the surrounding islands. In this fascinating follow-up to On Their Own Terms, author Haley Healey chronicles the lives of a whole new crop of resilient, hard-working, rule-breaking, diverse women who lived on and around Vancouver Island.

This selection of works by naturalist, hunter, conservation activist, and outdoors journalist Kevin Van Tighem will both inspire and provoke, because it offers an unflinching challenge to cherished myths and conventional wisdom in a troubled province beset with profound questions about its future. Even at their most provocative, however, these writings remind us of what is best about the Alberta spirit, and offer the possibility of a more sustaining relationship with our place and with one another.

Popular Day Hikes: The Castle and Crowsnest covers 37 of the best trails north of southern Alberta’s Waterton National Park. Featuring easy short-day walks, more-strenuous full-day hikes, and the occasional easy scramble in Castle Provincial Park, Castle Wildland Provincial Park, and Crowsnest Pass, Andrew Nugara's well-written and beautifully illustrated guidebook contains routes for everyone.

Waterfall Hikes in Southern British Columbia is the comprehensive guide to discovering waterfalls in BC. It provides detailed access and hiking directions to more than a hundred cascading water features in the BC Rockies and Southern Interior mountain ranges, as well as the Okanagan. Highlighted by stunning photographic imagery, this is the ultimate companion for those looking to chase spectacular and serene waterfalls in Western Canada.

Before his untimely death from cancer in 2018, veteran rider and passionate cyclist Ryan Correy (two-time finisher of the Tour Divide, founder of Bikepack Canada and author of A Purpose Ridden) pedalled his way through the most popular national parks in the Canadian Rockies in order to complete his work on this unique guidebook. Featuring routes in Waterton, Kananaskis, Banff, Kootenay, Yoho, and Jasper, Bikepacking in the Canadian Rockies will take biking enthusiasts on Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert journeys.

Craigdarroch Castle, built by coal baron Robert Dunsmuir for his wife, Joan, and their family, was completed in 1890. Following Joan's death, the castle was put up for sale in 1908, and later housed a military hospital and the nascent University of Victoria. Since 1979 the castle has operated as a museum and is one of the top tourist attractions in the city, a prime example of a 'bonanza castle' and a rich repository of Victorian-era furnishings and décor, as well as objects evoking the hospital and college eras.