August 12, 2002 would have marked the 100th birthday of one of Western Canada's most beloved, exemplary, idiosyncratic and admired citizens, the Hon. J.W. Grant MacEwan. A Century of Grant MacEwan: Selected Writings is published to mark the centenary of the author's birth, and showcases the writing achievements of this remarkable man. From his first foray into historical writing, The Sodbusters (1948), to Watershed: Reflections on Water (2000), this collection offers a fascinating selection drawn from the nearly fifty books that won him a place in hearts and on bookshelves across the Canadian West.
From perilous Chilcotin–Klondike cattle drives to the creation of a short-lived republic within the boundaries of Manitoba, A Century of Grant MacEwan is MacEwan at his finest, preserving little-known or neglected nuggets of the past for future generations to read and remember. Through his writing, MacEwan shows us our history.
If Grant MacEwan has loved western Canada less, if his curiosity has spanned less time and fewer topics, if he had lacked a passion for passing history on-if all of that, how much less would we know about our past and ourselves. —Fred Stenson
There may be no better guide than Grant MacEwan to the broad strokes and telling details of western Canadian history. —Legacy Magazine