From the seafaring battles between the British and the French of the 1640s to the privateers of the War of 1812, from the merchant ships of the Second World War to the construction of the corvettes and frigates in the 20th century, New Brunswick has played an important role in Canada's naval history. In 1881, the new Dominion of Canada chose New Br …

Greetings from the off-kilter world of Chris Gudgeon. In his first-ever book of fiction, the bestselling author of The Naked Truth: The Untold History of Sex in Canada offers postcard glimpses into the quirky private lives of unusually twisted characters. A prim English bride honeymooning near the so-called Vodka Sea learns the hard way why it's be …

Winner, Taste Canada Gold Medal for Culinary Narrative

Commemorating the two-hundredth anniversary of Sir John A. Macdonald's birth, Sir John's Table is a refreshing look at Canada's first prime minister.

Sir John's Table traverses the colourful life of Macdonald, from his passage as a young Scottish boy in the steerage compartment aboard the Earl of …

A long-awaited history of this important Canadian regiment, The 104th (New Brunswick) Regiment of Foot in the War of 1812 looks at this military unit from its beginnings in the early days of the 19th century to its disbanding in 1817. Best known for its perilous Winter March through the wilderness of New Brunswick to the battlefields of Upper Canad …

To mark Goose Lane Editions's 60th anniversary, the editors at Goose Lane selected six tiny perfect stories for your reading pleasure. Authored by some of Canada's finest writers, they come from the sweep of Goose Lane's publishing history. Each story is part of this collection or they may be purchased individually in eBook singles. Here's what you …

Myths and legends abound with tales of giants and their feats of exceptional strength, witches and their powers of good and evil, and the miraculous abilities of healers and medicine men. The past comes alive in this selection of stories about extraordinary Canadians who have lived unusual lives.

A fascinating look at empires and imperialism, and the new kind of empire the United States has become. An excellent introduction for young adults.

The United States presides over the most far-flung imperial system ever established. Empire compares the American Empire to those of the past, finding that much can be learned from the fates of the Briti …

In 1770, the slave Esperança Garcia bravely penned a letter to the governor of Piauí state, in Brazil, describing how she and her children were being mistreated and requesting permission to return to the farm where the rest of her family was living.

Before she wrote her letter, Esperança Garcia lived on a cotton farm run by Jesuit priests, where …

This fascinating look at Africa refutes the common assumption that the Western world is the solution to the challenges the continent faces. An excellent introduction to the subject for young adults.

Think Africa, and many people think of brutal war, endless famine, pervasive corruption, unworthy rulers, universal poverty, an AIDS epidemic out of con …

An investigation of the origins of democracy in a range of countries and societies, from ancient Greece to modern times, and the threats that democracy is under today. An excellent introduction to democracy for young adults.

In this eye-opening work, political scientist and award-winning author James Laxer warns readers that our common assumptions a …

Humans have always generated garbage, whether it’s a chewed-on bone or a broken cell phone.

Our landfills are overflowing, but with some creative thinking, stuff we once threw away can become a collection of valuable resources just waiting to be harvested. Trash Talk digs deep into the history of garbage, from Minoan trash pits to the Great Pacifi …

In 1945, Alfred Adams, a respected Haida elder and founding president of the Native Brotherhood of British Columbia (NBBC), was dying of cancer. After decades of fighting to increase the rights and recognition of First Nations people, he implored Maisie Hurley to help his people by telling others about their struggle. Hurley took his request to bot …

What is genocide? Why does it happen, and what can be done to prevent it from happening again? These urgent questions are clearly and concisely explored for young adult readers.

Some view the systematic killing, rape and destruction of homes in Darfur as a grave humanitarian crisis. For others, it’s a clear example of the ultimate crime against hu …

Mike's parents and sister are dead and his legs are gone. The horrific accident that shattered his life continues to haunt him. When he grudgingly returns to school and a life that he no longer understands, Mike is bitter and unwilling to participate in school life. To avoid one of his classes Mike agrees to put together a 50th Anniversary history …

It's all aboard! for mystery when Dinah Galloway takes the cross-country train from Vancouver to Toronto, to appear on a TV talent show. But will she make it-or be permanently derailed? Along with her sister Madge, and her fellow junior musicians, tree fanatic Pantelli Audia and history buff Talbot St. John, Dinah is shadowed by someone who wants t …

A thought-provoking look at the demands and expectations we place on our growing cities in the twenty-first century. An excellent introduction to the subject for young adults.

Today, more people live in cities than in rural areas. The search for better housing, transit, economic opportunity, and security within neighbourhoods forces today's city-dwe …

During World War II, some of the most treacherous jobs were those performed by men and women located deep within enemy territory. Always in danger of being exposed and subjected to torture, imprisonment, and even death, their stories are chilling accounts of bravery and luck--and, in some cases, what happens when the luck runs out.

Devin and Nadia team up with Bounce, Pema and Marcus as they all travel to Northern Ontario to watch their parents present to the Summit of World Leaders.

A swarm of politicians, lobbyists, corporate bosses and protestors have all converged on the summit to get their messages heard. A tragic accident just hours before their parents' presentation pl …

Dawn, June 6, 1944. Off the Normandy coast 6,500 ships carry 150,000 Allied troops. This is D-Day, the long-awaited Allied invasion of German-occupied Europe. The Allies will storm five beaches. One is code-named Juno Beach. Here, 14,500 Canadians will land on a five-mile stretch of sand backed by three resort towns. The beach is heavily protected …

TJ does not believe in ghosts, so when he agrees to create a haunted house in his own home as a fundraiser, he does not anticipate problems...

...at least not until it turns out that a ghost may inhabit the spare room in his century-old house. The ghost, real or imagined, leads TJ to some fascinating family history. TJ finds a way to bring that hist …

Being Muslim is written for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It presents a readable explanation of the most complex and emotion-laden issues of our troubled times. The varying branches of Islam are analyzed and their history outlined — but the focus is on the present.

In speaking about and crossing political, cultural and religious divisions, this b …

A musical genre as tough and hard as the Canadian Shield.

Canada has produced many successful proponents of the genre known as heavy metal, which grew out of the hard rock of the 1970s, exploded commercially in the 1980s, and then petered out in the 1990s as grunge took over, only to rise to prominence once again in the new millennium.

The road to …

An emergency room doctor recounts harrowing stories about his time at a combat hospital in Kandahar.

Combat Doctor presents the stories of the victims of the War in Afghanistan, as told by the last Canadian Officer Commanding at the Kandahar Role 3 Multinational Hospital.
In 2009, Marc Dauphin, an experienced emergency-room physician, served a fu …

Deindustrialization is not simply an economic process; it is also a social and cultural phenomenon. The rusting detritus of our industrial past-the wrecked halls of factories, abandoned machinery too large to remove, and now-useless infrastructures-has for decades been a part of the North American landscape. Through a unique blend of oral history, …

An amusing collection of lives and stories from the eccentric side of Canada’s history.

A joyous romp through the back pages of Canadian quirkiness, Canadian Folk provides a fresh look at the saints, sinners, oddballs, and outright nutbars who have populated the Canadian landscape.

They were perpetually northbound or south; they were inveterate wa …

2014 Dayton Literary Peace Prize — Nonfiction Runner Up

The complex histories and memories of Jewish and Palestinian Israelis today frame Israel’s future possibilities for peace.

1948: As Jewish refugees, survivors of the Holocaust, struggle toward the new State of Israel, Arab refugees are fleeing, many under duress. Sixty years later, the mem …

December 20, 1943. Two Canadian infantry battalions and a tank regiment stand poised on the outskirts of a small Italian port town. They expect to take Ortona quickly. But the German 1st Parachute Division has other ideas. For reasons unknown, Hitler has ordered Ortona held to the last man. Houses, churches and other buildings are dynamited, cloggi …

Visit some of Europe’s greatest museums and galleries in the company of a knowledgeable tour guide.

"Who can resist an art critic with attitude?"
– Former Supreme Court of Canada Justice, Ian Binnie

"It was wonderful! Julian shared his enormous knowledge of the world’s best art with a panache that is irresistible."
– Justice Stephen Goudge, …

A National Post Bestseller!
How did Tom Thomson die in the summer of 1917?

Was landscape painter Tom Thomson shot by poachers, or by a German-American draft dodger? Did a blow from a canoe paddle knock him unconscious and into the water? Was he fatally injured in a drunken fight? Did he end his life out of fear of being forced to marry his pregnant …

Michael Lynch, the central figure of this book, was a long-time gay activist and a dynamic force in organizing an early response to the AIDS epidemic. Lynch’s prescient articles in The Body Politic spoke to the gay communities of Toronto, New York, and San Francisco. His organizing efforts meant change and hope. AIDS Activist is a crisp and passi …

2017 Evergreen Award, Forest of Reading — Nominated

A sister. A baby. A man who watches from the trees.

Fara and her husband buy a house with a disturbing history that reawakens memories of her own family tragedy. Maddy still lives in the house, once a hippie commune, where her daughter was kidnapped twenty-seven years ago. Rose grew up isolated wi …

The story of Canada’s other game from its invention by a Canadian to its current struggle for popularity.

Basketball, the only major world sport undeniably invented by a Canadian, has ironically failed to win Canadians’ hearts more than a century after its creation. James Naismith’s brainchild is a popular recreational pastime in his homeland …

Once known for peacekeeping, Canada is becoming a militarized nation whose apostles—-the New Warriors-—are fighting to shift public opinion. New Warrior zealots seek to transform postwar Canada’s central myth-symbols. Peaceable kingdom. Just society. Multicultural tolerance. Reasoned public debate. Their replacements? A warrior nation. Author …

The Hill Times: Best Books of 2016

Written by the foremost authorities, The Canadian Federal Election of 2015 provides a complete investigation of the election.

A comprehensive analysis of the campaigns and the election outcome, this collection of essays examines the strategies, successes, and failures of the major political parties: the Conservative …

Stories of the evolution of Willowdale from its earliest acquisition of land to today’s urban environment.

In 1855, Willowdale’s post office opened in Jacob Cummer’s store on Yonge Street. Today, streets in Toronto’s community of Willowdale are peppered with the names of the early farm families of North York, such as the Shepards, Finches, …

History flows swiftly on, and even the formidable family home of Jalna is swept up in its currents in this collection of books 9-12 of the Jalna series. Fortunes rise and crumble as older generations give way to the young, and the reins of tradition strain against the swift rush of progress reshaping the world. Follow the Whiteoak descendants thro …

For twenty-two years politicians and businessmen pushed for the Adams Mine landfill as a solution to Ontario’s garbage disposal crisis. This plan to dump millions of tonnes of waste into the fractured pits of the Adams Mine prompted five separate civil resistance campaigns by a rural region of 35,000 in Northern Ontario. Unlikely Radicals traces …

Exploring Hamilton through its heritage museums.

Inside Hamilton’s Museums helps to satisfy a growing curiosity about Canada’s steel capital as it evolves into a post-industrial city and cultural destination. With an emphasis on storytelling and unsung heroes, the book identifies where Sergeant Alexander Fraser bayonetted seven enemy soldiers in …

The untold history of the maritime branches of two giants of early-twentieth-century Canadian railroads.

The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and the Canadian Northern Railway, two giants of Canadian rail transportation, each operated maritime shipping ventures during the early twentieth century.

Numerous vessels, including sidewheel, paddlewheel, and pro …

As the Egyptian revolution gained momentum in the winter of 2011, a common refrain echoed across Cairo’s Tahrir Square: “The wall of fear came down!” Mass protests against fear and authoritarianism have also rumbled across the aggrieved streets and plazas of Tunis, Athens, Madrid, New York City, Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Delhi, a …

The world’s addiction to economic growth continues with barely any recognition that this is a problem. Indeed, in a Western world currently dominated by austerity measures and ducking in and out of recession, growth is seen even by progressives as the only possible solution for our economic and social woes. This No-Nonsense Guide looks deeper int …

Based on in-depth oral interviews with local residents, and rich archival sources, We Lived A Life and Then Some relates the common person’s struggle to overcome harsh working conditions and government neglect. The unique culture of the hardrock mining town of Cobalt is exposed through the eyes of retired miners, young welfare mothers, and grade- …

Forget wine tours! This is the comprehensive guide to Ontario’s craft-beer revival and the brewers behind it.

The renaissance of craft beer that has swept North America over the past thirty years has transformed the Ontario landscape, leaving over two hundred breweries, both great and humble, dotting the province. The diversity of craft beers we n …

May Day: A Graphic History of Protest traces the development of International Workers’ Day, May 1st, against the ever-changing economic and political backdrop in Canada. Recognizing the importance of work and the historical struggles of workers to improve their lives, with a particular focus on the struggles of May 1st, the comic includes the rea …

A celebrated journalist finds himself reporting on the savage war in Vietnam while in combat with his own network.

In September 1969, Michael Maclear, the first Western television journalist allowed inside North Vietnam, was in Hanoi for major Canadian and U.S. networks. He recounted in gripping detail how an entire population had been trained for …

A harrowing tale of human intelligence pitted against the forces of nature.

With prospectors, trappers, and whalers pouring into northwestern Canada, the North West Mounted Police were dispatched to the newest frontier to maintain patrols, protect indigenous peoples, and enforce laws in the North. In carrying out their duties, these intrepid men en …

The story of the bold voyage of HMS Investigator and the modern-day discovery of its wreck by Parks Canada’s underwater archaeologists.

When Sir John Franklin disappeared in the Arctic in the 1840s, the British Admiralty launched the largest rescue mission in its history. Among the search vessels was HMS Investigator, which left England in 1850 u …

2015 Rocky Mountain Book Award — Shortlisted

A boy is thrown into the middle of history’s biggest war.

Fatherless and penniless, fifteen-year-old Richard Fuller wants a bike, so Mr. Black, the baker hires him to help with deliveries. Mr. Black entertains him with army stories and teaches him Morse code. He invites Richard to attend the opening ce …

Journey through the engineering marvels, stations, and heritage sites of Canada’s western mountains.

Ride the rails through Canada’s western mountains to explore the many vestiges of the region’s spectacular and surprising railway heritage. Here is where grand railway hotels were built to attract tourists to the West’s beautiful scenery and …