Takeo Nakano immigrated to Canada from Japan in 1920, later marrying and starting a family in his adopted homeland. Takeo's passion was poetry, and he cultivated the exquisite form known as tanka.

Then came the Second World War. Takeo Nakano was one of thousands of Japanese men forcibly separated from his family in 1942 and interned in labour camps …

The Canadian Fuhrer is the story the emergence of prominent fascist leader Adrien Arcand and a dark chapter in Canada's past.

During the 1930s, when the misery of hunger, unemployment and the threat of war shadowed life for many, Canadians were drawn to a wide range of new political ideas. Communism, socialism, and the social credit movement all att …

"Within hours of his arrival, Norman was taken to meet Chairman Mao Zedong. The smiling man grabbed Norman's hands in welcome....The two men talked for hours." This book will be especially fascinating for all readers interested in: history or biography. One of the world's top surgeons, an advocate of democratic medical services, and an internationa …

"He gave his extraordinary genius, his passionate sympathy, his bodily strength, his magnetic personal influence, even his very earnings to the service of animals..." - Lovat Dickson, publisher. This book will be especially fascinating for all readers interested in: biography or animals. Grey Owl was known to millions of people as an outstanding Na …

This is the story of the notorious, unsolved murder of the richest baronet in the British Empire, Sir Harry Oakes. The millionaire miner made his fortune from the rich mines in Northern Ontario. His wealth and lifestyle gave many a motive for murder. Rumours surrounding the murder case as well as prime details about the three suspects (including hi …

"These dedicated men and women gave blood, sweat, and tears as their contribution - And now, it really happened, our beloved bird was in the air." - Ray Boone, A.V. Roe Canada employee. In the 1950s, A. V. Roe Canada was at the forefront of aviation development worldwide. After building one of the first jet airliners and completing production of Ca …

The human story behind Canada's worst chemical fire
"Why you leaving Stelco?" the friend asked the rookie firefighter.
"'Cause it's hot and dirty and I don't like shifts."
Enter the world of Hamilton's firefighters. Theirs is a smouldering, combustible workplace, and in the effort to save lives they routinely put their own on the line. They know t …

"Blondin's daring and cool demeanour made him an instant celebrity - on one [tightrope crossing, he carried a small cook stove, stopped midway, fried up two omelettes, and lowered them to spectators aboard the Maid of the Mist." This book will be especially fascinating for all readers interested in: history, or adventure. From swimmers and jumpers, …

In the mid-nineteenth century, the new science of weather forecasting was fraught with controversy on both sides of the Atlantic. In the United States, a bitter dispute about the nature of storms had raged for decades, and forecasting was hampered by turf wars then halted by the Civil War. Forecasters in England struggled with the scientific establ …

Spine chilling accounts of school hauntings after the Halifax Explosion, premonitions of the Titanic tragedy, the phantom reappearance of the Yarmouth, the Great Amherst Poltergeist Mystery, the cursing of the Narrows area in Halifax Harbour, and the famous "Bell Island Hag" in Newfoundland are just some of the supernatural stories found in this co …

How did the Kenora Thistles become, against all odds, the smallest team and the smallest town ever to win the Stanley Cup?

This famously scrappy hockey team was founded in the rough and tumble town of Kenora, Ontario, at the end of the 19th century. A decade later, playing far away from home, in Montreal, the fiery teenagers whom the Montreal Star d …

This one-volume history chronicles a 150-year history of dramatic changes in fortune and attitudes in western Canada.

From the Riel Rebellions and the Winnipeg General Strike to the founding of the CCF, Social Credit, and Reform parties, Canada's West has always been a hotbed of political, social, and economic change. In the early twentieth century …

This is the biography of Tecumseh, a legendary nineteenth century Shawnee warrior, a hero of the War of 1812 and a man who spent most of his life trying to build a Native confederacy to withstand the pressure on native lands from American settlement.

It also tells the story of his younger brother Lalawethika and of Lalawethika's transformation from …

This book offers a fresh perspective on North American history, and the key role played by Halifax and Victoria in ensuring that Canada emerged as an independent country in the 20th century.
Brian Elson focuses on the significance of the bases for the all-powerful British navy at Halifax and Victoria through the 19th century and the First World Wa …

Adolescence, like childhood, is more than a biologically defined life stage: it is also a sociohistorical construction. The meaning and experience of adolescence are reformulated according to societal needs, evolving scientific precepts, and national aspirations relative to historic conditions. Although adolescence was by no means a “discovery” …

The Toronto Dressmakers’ Strike of 1931 brings young sisters Sophie and Rose together in their fight for better working conditions, decent wages, and for their union. It’s a tough battle as distrust and resentment of immigrants is growing, with many people blaming their poverty and difficulties on these workers. Sophie and Rose are faced with u …

It’s 1947, and while the second world war is over and ration tickets are gone, food prices are going up. Then it is announced that the price of chocolate is going up too! Maggie and her friends leap into action and plan a strike against the price hike.

This collection of biographies profiles ten creative business leaders who have proven that entrepreneurial women can not only succeed in business, they can also bring about positive change. Against all odds, African-American Madam C.J. Walker, born in 1867, became a self-made millionaire who promoted civil rights and opposed racism. Designer Doroth …

In The Canadian Labour Movement, historian Craig Heron tells the story of Canada's workers from the mid-nineteenth century through to today, painting a vivid picture of key developments such as the birth of craft unionism, the breakthroughs of the fifties and sixties, and the setbacks of the early twenty-first century.

This new edition has been comp …

Elsie MacGill achieved many firsts in science and engineering at a time when women were considered to be inferior in the sciences. In 1923, at the age of nineteen, she became the first woman to attend engineering classes at the University of Toronto. She was the first woman in North America to hold a degree in aeronautical engineering and the first …

In 1951, Canada sent troops to western Europe to support its NATO allies. The brigade helped Canada establish its international status. In private, however, Canadian officials and military leaders expressed grave doubts about NATO's strategies and operational plans. Despite these reservations, they sent military families overseas and implemented pe …

A spirit of adventure, a great sense of fun, an observant eye, and enthusiasm for everything new--that's the kind of woman Monica Hopkins was, and that's what led her to leave the comforts of her English family home in 1909 to homestead on the prairies.

Hopkins was a young bride who had finally married her childhood sweetheart, an Irish lad who'd wa …

Written by a respected western Canadian writer, Debts to Pay offers a fresh point of view on the perennial questions of Quebec's place in the Canadian federation.
Rejecting the hardline positions of both sovereigntists and federalists, Conway attempts to understand Quebec's demands by understanding its history. Through a discussion of relations be …

"The feeling in space flight is like hanging by your heels...with all the blood rushing to your head. ...You feel as though you are at the top of a roller coaster when your stomach feels like it is going to lift off." - Dr. Roberta Bondar. This book will be especially fascinating for all readers interested in: biography or space exploration. From t …

It's the summer of 1962, and to twelve-year-old Rex the world is starting to look like a pretty scary place. On TV there are reports about the Russians and a nuclear war. Some people in his new neighborhood are even building bomb shelters in their backyards. Rex learns that there's trouble closer to home as well. A black panther has escaped from a …

Meet someone new… Harriet, who sees Mars and tastes pomengranates -- all in one day; Cluny, a girl who wants to publish a magazine for people with weird names; Ky, who lives in a geodesic dome deep in the country; Fletcher, the survivor of an almost fatal illness, who decides to paste the names of exotic places he would like to visit on his chest …

Released to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the arrival of the Komagata Maru, this expanded and fully revised edition will stand as the most thoroughly researched account of the notorious Komagata Maru incident. The event centres on the ship’s nearly four hundred Punjabi passengers, who sought entry into Canada at Vancouver in the summe …

Established in 1940 in response to the Great Depression, the original goal of Canada’s system of unemployment insurance was to ensure the protection of income to the unemployed. Joblessness was viewed as a social problem and the jobless as its unfortunate victims. If governments could not create the right conditions for full employment, they were …

Kiumajut [Talking Back]: Game Management and Inuit Rights 1900-70 examines Inuit relations with the Canadian state, with a particular focus on two interrelated issues. The first is how a deeply flawed set of scientific practices for counting animal populations led policymakers to develop policies and laws intended to curtail the activities of Inuit …

When Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, he also authorized the army to recruit black soldiers. Nearly 200,000 men answered the call. Several thousand came from Canada. What compelled these men to leave the relative comfort and safety of home to fight in a foreign war? In African Canadians in Union Blue, Richard Reid sets out in search of …

Kurt F. Jensen argues that Canada was a more active intelligence partner in the Second World War alliance than has previously been suggested. He describes Canada’s contributions to Allied intelligence before the war began, as well as the distinctly Canadian activities that started from that point. He reveals how the government created an intellig …

Patricia E. Roy is the winner of the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award, Canadian Historical Association.

A White Man’s Province examines how British Columbians changed their attitudes towards Asian immigrants from one of toleration in colonial times to vigorous hostility by the turn of the century and describes how politicians responded to popular …

In 1891, Alice Barrett moved from Port Dover, Ontario, to the Okanagan Valley to keep house for her brother and uncle. She soon married Harold Parke, a former NWMP officer, and spent the next decade recording her experiences in a series of notebooks sent to her Ontario family. Few women’s diaries have survived from that time, and Barrett Parke re …

This book brings together recent and original work to illuminate comparisons and contrasts between two former colonies of the British empire. The contributors include some of the top names in history and political science, in Canada and Australia. Parties Long Estranged covers the entire 20th century and examines different aspects of Canadian-Austr …

In 1957, Lester Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize for creating the United Nations Emergency Force during the Suez crisis. The award launched Canada’s enthusiasm and reputation for peacekeeping. Pearson’s Peacekeepers explores the reality behind the rhetoric by offering a detailed account of the UNEF’s decade-long effort to keep peace along th …

The Aleutian Islands, a mostly forgotten portion of the United States on the southwest coast of Alaska, have often assumed a key role in American military strategy. But for most Americans, prior to the Second World War, the bleak and barren islands were of little interest. In Stepping Stones to Nowhere, Galen Perras shows how that changed with the …

In the late 1970s, feminists urged us to “rethink” Canada by placing women’s experiences at the centre of historical analysis. Forty years later, women’s and gender historians continue to take up the challenge, not only to interrogate the idea of nation but also to place their work in a global perspective. This volume showcases the work of …

For decades, the Chinese Rescue Home was a feature of the landscape of Victoria, British Columbia. Originally a refuge for Chinese prostitutes and slave girls rescued from captivity, it became a residence and school where the Methodist Women’s Missionary Society attempted to reform Chinese and Japanese girls and women. They did so, in part, by te …

In 1993, Canada’s Liberal Party cancelled an order to replace the navy’s Sea King helicopter. It claimed that the Tory plan was too expensive, but the cancellation itself actually cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Aaron Plamondon connects this incident to the larger evolution of defence procurement in Canada, revealing that partis …

In 1974, India shocked the world by detonating a nuclear device. In the diplomatic controversy that ensued, the Canadian government expressed outrage that India had extracted plutonium from a Canadian reactor donated only for peaceful purposes. In the aftermath, relations between the two nations cooled considerably. As Conflicting Visions reveals, …

Unwanted Warriors uncovers the history of Canada’s first casualties of the Great War – men who tried to enlist but were deemed “unfit for service.” What impact did military exclusion have on these men? Nic Clarke looks for answers in the service files of 3,400 rejected volunteers and explores the mechanics of the medical examination, the ph …

A political biography extraordinaire, Elusive Destiny reveals the inner workings of the Liberal Party in its heyday as charted through the meteoric rise and fall of John Napier Turner. It highlights Turner’s vision for the country and tallies the political price he paid when he deviated from the Trudeau legacy on matters such as language rights, …

In Mixed Company explores taverns as colonial public space and how men and women of diverse backgrounds – Native and newcomer, privileged and labouring, white and non-white – negotiated a place for themselves within them. The stories that emerge unsettle comfortable certainties about who belonged where in colonial society. Colonial taverns were …

Hiroshima Immigrants in Canada, 1891-1941 is a fascinating investigation of Japanese migration to Canada prior to the Second World War. It makes Japanese-language scholarship on the subject available for the first time, and also draws on interviews, diaries, community histories, biographies, and the author’s own family history.

Starting with the …

Party systems. Party organization. For too long, scholars researching in these two areas have worked in isolation. This book bridges the divide by bringing together political scientists from both traditions to examine the intersection of rules, society, and the organization of parties within party systems. Blending theory and case studies, Parties …

This cultural history of the amateur military tradition traces the origins of the citizen soldier ideal from long before Canadians donned khaki and boarded troopships for the Western Front. Before the Great War, Canada’s military culture was in transition as the country navigated an uncertain relationship with the United States and fought an impe …

In 1914, Tom Thomson spent the summer at a family cottage on Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay, where he taught the ten-year-old daughter, Helen, how to paint. Author Susan Vande Griek and illustrator Pascal Milelli have imagined this time through Helen’s eyes, providing an intriguing glimpse into the famous painter’s life.

Helen and her father greet …

Most history books make a joke of it, but Canada faced a serious military threat in the 1860s -- and came under multiple attacks by military forces based in the United States. It took the combined effort of British troops in Canada and the Canadian militia -- plus some good luck -- to repel the invaders and end the threat. The experience helped pus …

The American refugees who fled north to Canada after Britain's defeat by the revolutionary U.S. army were determined to build a culture separate from the U.S. By their numbers and their politics they became effectively the founders of English Canada.

In 1784 Britain carved out the new province, New Brunswick, for these Loyalist refugees, creating a …

This great collection of stories strange but true is for every reader who loves history -- and mystery. Edward Butts weaves true tales -- the wreck of the Francis and the weird connection to Edward, Duke of Kent; the sea voyage of Charles Coghlan's coffin; Captain Jack Randell the rum-runner; Al Capone's gunman Bugs Moran and more!

This collection o …