- Table View
- List View
The Oak Island Mystery: The Secret of the World's Greatest Treasure Hunt
by Lionel Fanthorpe Patricia FanthorpeThe Oak Island mystery has been the world’s greatest and strangest treasure hunt, and after years of research the authors have finally solved the sinister with an answer that is challenging, controversial, and disturbing. In 1795 three boys discovered the top of an ancient shaft on uninhabited Oak Island in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. The boys began to dig, and what they uncovered started the world’s greatest and strangest treasure hunt but nobody knows what the treasure is. Two hundred years of courage, back-breaking effort, ingenuity, and engineering skills have failed to retrieve what is concealed there. Theories of what the treasure could be include Captain Kidd’s bloodstained pirate gold, an army payroll left by the French or British military engineers, priceless ancient manuscripts, the body of an Arif or other religious refugee leader, or the lost treasure of the Templars. The Oak Island curse prophesies that the treasure will not be found until seven men are dead and the last oak has fallen. That last oak has already gone, and six treasure hunters have been killed. After years of research, the authors have finally solved the sinister riddle of Oak Island, but their answer is challenging, controversial, and disturbing. Something beyond price still lies waiting in the labyrinth.
Of Rocks, Mountains and Jasper: A Visitor's Guide To The Geology Of Jasper National Park
by Chris Yorath Ben GaddA resource for understanding the regions geology and seeing the evidence of important processes typical of the unique geological system in Jasper National Park.
One Russia, Two Chinas
by George FetherlingA travel narrative written over the course of ten years, One Russia, Two Chinas is about change and resistance to change in the postmodern world. In 1991, when the Soviet Union was about to morph into the Russian Federation, George Fetherling found himself in Moscow. He both marched with the workers in the last-ever Communist May Day parade and observed, at ground level, the new Russia’s love of the marketplace. Fetherling then went overland to China. His entry point was Beijing, which at that moment was girding itself for the first anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Later that same year he journeyed to Taiwan, then in its final days as a dictatorship. He returned there mid-decade when the "Other China" had become a democracy, in order to note the differences – and similarities. This is old-fashioned travel writing, with vivid prose, bizarre characters, and crystallizing descriptions. But its also a valuable document that freezes some important world events for close inspection.
The Ontario Craft Beer Guide: Second Edition
by Robin Leblanc Jordan St. JohnWith nearly one hundred new breweries, this second edition of The Ontario Craft Beer Guide is an indispensable field guide to the province’s beer. The explosion of craft beer variety in North America has created a climate of amazing quality and bewildering options for beer drinkers. Choosing a drink in that landscape can be intimidating, but in The Ontario Craft Beer Guide beer lovers have a concise and expertly curated guide to over one thousand offerings, with simple tasting notes, ratings, and brewery biographies. Let noted experts Jordan St. John and Robin LeBlanc guide you to your next favourite beer, from your new favourite brewery.
Perdu sous la banquise: Parcs Canada découvre le HMS Investigator
by Andrew Cohen Dominique FortierL’histoire de l’équipée du HMS Investigator et de la récente découverte de son épave par une équipe d’archéologues subaquatiques de Parcs Canada. En 1850, le capitaine Robert McClure et l’équipage du HMS Investigator furent dépêchés à la recherche de survivants de l’expédition de sir John Franklin partie cinq ans plus tôt. Ils ne parvinrent pas à retrouver les navires perdus, mais réussirent à identifier la dernière portion du passage du Nord-Ouest à la conquête duquel s’était lancé Franklin. Après avoir essuyé maints revers, échappé de peu au scorbut et failli mourir de faim, l’équipage fut rescapé par un détachement d’hommes de la Marine royale partis du HMS Resolute en traîneaux. L’Investigator fut abandonné à la baie de la Miséricorde en 1853. En 2010, Parcs Canada chargea une équipe d’archéologues de retrouver les restes de l’épave. Cent soixante ans plus tard, malgré de spectaculaires avancées technologiques, une mission dans l’Arctique constituait toujours un formidable défi. Parcs Canada réussit néanmoins à retrouver l’Investigator, dont l’épave fut découverte en excellent état au fond de la baie de la Miséricorde, au large de ce qui est aujourd’hui le parc national Aulavik. Perdu sous la banquise relate la fascinante et tragique équipée de Robert McClure tout en faisant la part belle à l’histoire de l’exploration moderne de l’Arctique canadien. Richement illustré, l’ouvrage présente des gravures d’époque des expéditions de Franklin et de McClure ainsi que les premières images sous-marines du HMS Investigator et des artéfacts entourant l’épave, iconographie où passé et présent se répondent.
Perilous Passage
by B. J. BayleShortlisted for the 2009 Red Maple Award and commended in Best Books for Kids & Teens After a shipwreck in 1809, Peter finds himself the victim of amnesia. The sea captain who finds the teenager gives him the only name he knows, while others derisively dub him Peter No-Name. Eventually, Peter finds employment in a Montreal tavern where he meets a French voyageur called Boulard who changes his life irrevocably. Boulard works for fur trader David Thompson, soon to become one of the world’s most famous explorers and mapmakers. Thompson is impressed with the teenager and enlists him in his obsessive quest to establish an overland "northwest" passage to the Pacific Ocean via the Columbia River. With Thompson, Peter embarks on an amazing series of adventures that brings him face to face with hostile Natives and exposes him to the hardships and life-threatening challenges of formidable mountains and primeval forests as the intrepid outdoorsmen canoe, ride, and sled across a continent still largely untouched by European civilization.
Pilgrim in the Palace of Words: A Journey Through the 6,000 Languages of Earth
by Glenn DixonPilgrim in the Palace of Words is about language, about the words that splash and chatter across our tongues. Some six thousand languages are still spoken on the planet, and author Glenn Dixon – an expert is socio-linguistics and a tireless adventurer – travels to the Earth’s four corners to explore the way these languages create and mould societies. As one philosopher said, languages are Houses of Being. After doing graduate work in linguistics, Dixon wanted to visit these houses or "palaces" himself – to stroll along their sidewalks, knock on their doors, and peek in their windows. He wanted to see what they were hiding in their basements … even if it meant a little bit of trouble. In some cases, a whole lot of trouble! Join him on his adventure as, with wit and humour, he works toward a real understanding of how and why we communicate the way we do in the Global Village.
The Pleasures and Treasures of Britain
by David KempIs a famous queen of Britain really bured beneath platform 10 at King’s Cross station in London? What is the telephone number of the National Theatre? what is the best place to eat in Worcester? Where is the National Bagpipe Museum? (Hint: not in Scotland) Was Pointius Pilate born in Pitlochry? The answers to these questions and literally thousands more are to be found in David Kemp’s fascinating guidebook, The Pleasures and Treasures of Britain. Nowhere else will the discerning traveller find so much diverse and essential information about British culture gathered together in one volume. With the author as your witty and knowledgeable guide, take a tour through nearly fifty cities, from Penzance to Perth, from London to Cardiff and Belfast. Each city section begins with a concise, readable history and a guided walk around the town, planned to take in as many of the significant local sights as can comfortably be included. Next are exhaustive listings, including telephone numbers and addresses, of everything a culturally curious visitor might want to seek out: theatre, art galleries, museums, antique markets, antiquarian and other bookstores, restaurants, lcoal fairs and festivals and more. Finally, under the headings of Artistic Associations and Ephemera, each section concludes with an entertaining collection of local lore, gossip, legend and anecdote.
Polar Region Explorers 2-Book Bundle: River Rough, River Smooth / Arctic Naturalist
by Anthony DaltonPresenting a special 2-book bundle of Anthony Dalton’s outstanding writing on Canada's polar regions, their history, and their greatest explorers. “Dalton does an excellent job … a very enjoyable read.”— Bios Newsletter Includes: River Rough, River Smooth Manitoba’s Hayes River runs over 600 km, from Norway House to Hudson Bay. Traditionally used for transport and hunting by the indigenous Cree, it became a major fur trade route from the 17th to 19th centuries. This is the account of the author’s journey on the Hayes in the company of modern-day voyageurs reliving the past. Arctic Naturalist J. Dewey Soper was the last of the great pioneer naturalists in Canada, and spent many years in the Arctic, where he discovered the breeding grounds of the blue goose and charted the final unknown region of Baffin Islands coastline.
Porcelain Moon and Pomegranates: A Woman's Trek Through Turkey
by Üstün Bilgen-ReinartFor millennia, the land now called Turkey has been at the crossroads of history. A bridge between Europe and Asia, between West and East, between Christianity and Islam, the peninsula also known as Anatolia, the place where the sun rises, is one of the oldest continually inhabited regions on the planet. In this unique blend of memoir and travel literature, Üstün Bilgen-Reinart explores the people, politics, and passions of her native country, whisking the reader on a journey through time, memory, and space. She searches deep into the roots of her own ancestry and uncovers a family secret, breaks taboos in a nation that still takes tradition very seriously, and navigates through dangerous territory that sees her investigating brothels in Ankara, probing honour murders in Sanliurfa, encountering Kurds in the remote southeast, and witnessing the rape of the earth by a gold mining company in Bergama.
Rainbow Warriors: Legendary Stories from Greenpeace Ships
by Maite MompóFollowing the lives of the three Greenpeace ships with the name Rainbow Warrior, long-serving Greenpeace activist, Maite Mompó tells the inside stories of life on board and recounts some of the ships’ most exciting adventures and actions. Rainbow Warriors provides a narrative of real life on board, a history of these famous vessels, and a history of Greenpeace that goes beyond the organization’s work on the oceans. Starting with the early life of Greenpeace and the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior I by the French secret service through to the imprisonment of the Arctic 30 by the Russians, the stories are brought to life with colour photos from the Greenpeace archives, maps, and nautical charts. Mompó’s tales from the high seas are full of action and daring but also of humanity and great compassion.
Ready to Come About
by Sue WilliamsThree hundred nautical miles from shore, I‘m cold and sick and afraid. I pray for reprieve. I long for solid ground. And I can‘t help but ask myself, What the hell was I thinking? When Sue Williams set sail for the North Atlantic, it wasn’t a mid-life crisis. She had no affinity for the sea. And she didn’t have an adventure-seeking bone in her body. In the wake of a perfect storm of personal events, it suddenly became clear: her sons were adults now; they needed freedom to figure things out for themselves; she had to get out of their way. And it was now or never for her husband, David, to realize his dream to cross an ocean. So she’d go too. Ready to Come About is the story of a mother’s improbable adventure on the high seas and her profound journey within, through which she grew to believe that there is no gift more precious than the liberty to chart one’s own course, and that risk is a good thing … sometimes, at least.
Red River Rising
by B. J. BayleAngus and his family are sent from Scotland in 1813 on a voyage to start a new life in the strange and cruel new land of western Canada. In 1813, cleared out from their beloved Scottish Highlands, 15-year-old Angus, his mother, father, small brother Rabbie, and 100 others sail for Canada to seek a better life with assistance from Lord Selkirk. Angus, his family, and their friends the O’Hares, with their aloof, unsmiling daughter Maggie, share the hardships and terror of the sea voyage only to be dumped onto the shore of a forbidding land. There they spend a brutal winter.With bitter determination and help from the Native population, the settlers manage to reach the Red River. They are eager to finally begin their new life but meet obstacles even more dangerous when they are caught up in a struggle between the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company, powerful fur-trading rivals. Despite this hard transition, Angus falls in love with this new land and takes his place beside the brave men who risk their lives to protect it.
River Rough, River Smooth: Adventures on Manitoba's Historic Hayes River
by Anthony DaltonManitoba’s Hayes River runs over six hundred kilometers from near Norway House to Hudson Bay. On its rush to the sea, the Hayes races over forty-five rapids and waterfalls as it drops down from the Precambrian Shield to the Hudson Bay Lowlands. This great waterway, the largest naturally flowing river in Manitoba, served as the highway for settlers bound for the Red River colony, ferrying their worldly goods in York boats and canoes, struggling against the mighty currents. Traditionally used for transport and hunting by the indigenous Cree, the Hayes became a major fur trade route in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, being explored by such luminaries (Pierre Radisson (1682), Henry Kelsey (1690) David Thompson (1784), Sir John Franklin (1819), and J.B. Tyrrell (1892). This is the account of the author’s invitational journey on the Hayes from Norway House to Oxford House by traditional York boat with a crew of First Nation Cree, and later, from Oxford House to York Factory by canoe in the company of other intrepid canoeists – modern-day voyageurs reliving the past.
Running Away to Sea: Round the World on a Tramp Freighter
by George FetherlingAt a turning point in his life, George Fetherling embarked on an adventure to sail round the world on one of the last of the tramp freighters. The four-month voyage carried him 30,000 nautical miles from Europe via the Panama Canal to the South Pacific and back by way of Singapore, Indonesia, the Indian Ocean, and Suez. Written with dash, colour, and droll humour, Fetherling’s narrative is peopled by a rich cast of characters, from the Foreign Legionnaires of French Polynesia to the raskol gangs of Papua New Guinea. The author captures the reality of life aboard a working cargo ship – the boredom, the seclusion, the differences of nationality and culture that isolation and cramped quarters seem to exaggerate. But the routine of loneliness or tranquility is punctuated by moments of near-panic – shipboard fires, furniture-smashing storms, even a brush with pirates in the Straits of Malacca.
Samuel's New Voyage: A Northwords Story (Northwords)
by Rabindranath Maharaj"Samuel's New Voyage" is Rabindranth Maharaj's contribution to Northwords, a cross-platform project that takes urban Canadian writers to some of the world’s most extreme environments. Introduced by award-winning journalist and radio personality Shelagh Rogers, Northwords is a collection of stories written by acclaimed Canadian authors as they experienced one of Canada’s most awe-inspiring northern national parks Torngat Mountains National Park, the country’s newest national park, and a place steeped in geological and human history. The cross-platform project, which includes a documentary film that follows the authors as they explored the harsh and stunning terrain, had adventures, and created these new works, adds to the continuing story of the North. The stories explore the idea of the North, and what happens when the country’s best writers tackle its most overwhelmingly beautiful places. Taking advantage of opportunities presented by transmedia integration, users can experience the stories in the writers’ own words through Anansi Digital, as well as learn more about their processes and what inspired them through interactive content. Users will have access to film and audio content, and together, these related media will create a larger story web, allowing the audience to truly immerse themselves in the sights, sounds, and stories of the North.
Secessionism: Identity, Interest, and Strategy
by Jason SorensUsing innovative methods to analyze both advanced democracies and developing countries, Jason Sorens shows how central governments can alleviate or increase ethnic minority demands for regional autonomy. He argues that when countries treat secession as negotiable and provide legal paths to pursuing it rather than absolutely prohibiting independence, violence is far less likely. Additionally, independence movements encourage government policies of decentralization that may be beneficial to regional minorities. An informative investigation of the root causes of political violence, Secessionism provides a clear-eyed look at independence movements for both governments and secessionists.
See You Next Summer: Postcard Memories of Sparrow Lake
by Bruce MccrawBustling station platforms, with quaint steamers nearby, often appear on early Sparrow Lake postcards. It was at the station that rail passengers were met and taken by boat to one of the over 20 hotels that once flourished in this holiday area. Such a trip could take about three hours on this roughly three-mile lake, bordering the southern Muskoka arm of the Canadian Shield. Upon arrival, the outdoors beckoned to one and all.Vintage postcards illustrate the stories of an earlier time in "cottage country." Bruce McCraw’s lifetime familiarity with the lake has been augmented by contributions from local residents and guests of Sparrow Lake resorts.
Shifting Gears: Coast to Coast on the Trans Am Bike Race
by Meaghan Marie HackinenMeaghan Marie Hackinen’s follow-up to her award-nominated debut South Away charts her unforgettable, twenty-five-day journey on the Trans Am Bike Race: a coast-to-coast ride across the entire North American continent from Oregon to Virginia. Without the aid of a support crew, Hackinen must rely entirely on her wits, ingenuity and sheer determination to finish this extremely challenging feat. A sports story with a unique theme, Hackinen writes about the Trans Am Bike Race as a cultural whole, as she encounters consequences and unforeseen repercussions of an underground, unregulated athletic endeavour. Shifting Gears is another expertly-delivered travelogue and a thrilling glimpse into a world of athletes driven to impossible lengths.
South Away: The Pacific Coast on Two Wheels
by Meaghan Marie HackinenSouth Away follows Meaghan Marie Hackinen and her sister in the adventure of a lifetime: bicycling from Terrace, BC down the West Coast to (almost) the tip of the Baja Peninsula. Along the way Hackinen battles with the elements in Vancouver Island’s dense northern forests and frigid Mexican deserts; encounters strange men, suicidal highways and monster trucks; and makes some emergency repairs as tires and spokes succumb to the ravages of the journey. Luckily, the pair meet some good people along the way and glean some insight about the kindness of strangers.A rare road-trip story with two female leads, this travel memoir also chronicles an inner journey, as the author begins to better understand her relationship with her adventurous (and not-so-adventurous) family. South Away tells an engaging and personable tale, with imaginative and memorable depictions of land and sea along the ever-winding coast.Praise for South Away:"Everyone says 'Be careful,' but Meaghan Marie Hackinen wants to live large. South Away will fill your lungs with the fresh air of adventure and restore your faith in human goodness. An exhilarating debut."~ Candace Savage, author of A Geography of Blood and Strangers in the House"Hackinen’s journey is the quest of her dreams. Her sharp images of life on the road reveal that the world is more complex than she thought—and that sometimes people will let you camp on their front lawn."~ Nicole Haldoupis, editor of Grain Magazine and untethered
South Korea: The Enigmatic Peninsula
by Mark DakeA Bill-Brysonesque romp through this often-overlooked travellers’ gem of East Asia. For seventeen years, journalist, teacher, and coach Mark Dake has called South Korea home. Now, with his longtime Korean friend Heju, he sets out on a four-month, ten-thousand-kilometre road trip, determined to uncover the real country. From the electric street life of Seoul to the tense northern border, where deadly skirmishes still erupt, the pair’s shoestring, wing-and-a-prayer trek takes them well off the beaten trail and across the complicated nation. Along the way are prisons, dinosaurs, anthropology, history, marine life, art, and abundant nature. There are Buddhist temples, fairgrounds, palaces, national parks, bridges, historical sites, forts, churches, and cemeteries. Whether standing amidst ancient stone tombs and religious architecture unrivalled in Asia, or at military briefings under the steely eyes of North Korean sentries, Mark and Heju are tireless explorers in search of the culture, geography, and beauty of this enigmatic peninsula.
SPAtopia: Unique Spa Experiences from Around the Globe
by Amy RosenBe it for a quickie pedicure or several hours of soulful pampering, people want to know where to go, and more importantly, what’s going to happen to them once they get there. That’s where SPAtopia covers over 50 spas and upwards of 100 original treatments from across Canada, the United States and beyond. The book is based on Rosen’s World of Wellbeing columns in The Globe and Mail newspaper.
Spirit Bear: Encounters with the White Bear of the Western Rainforest
by Charles RussellA classic work of nature and wildlife, Spirit Bear is the captivating story of wilderness guide and naturalist Charles Russell’s quest to understand the rare spirit bear of British Columbia’s Princess Royal Island — now updated and reissued with a new design and an afterword by the author.From early experiences observing black bears in the Rocky Mountains with his father, the well-known writer and broadcaster Andy Russell, to nerve-racking encounters with grizzlies in British Columbia’s Khutzeymateen Valley, Charles Russell has spent a lifetime studying bears in their natural habitat. In 1991, Russell visited Princess Royal Island, an uninhabited island off the coast of British Columbia. There, amidst the rivers and trees of the western rainforest, he encountered the elusive spirit bear.Known to scientists as the Kermode bear and to the public as the white, ghost, or spirit bear, these extraordinary animals have never been exposed to civilization. In Spirit Bear, Russell recounts his experiences on Princess Royal Island — trekking over rocks and through streams; waiting hours for the evasive ghost bear to appear; and finally coming face-to-face with a spirit bear only inches from his nose. Illustrated with more than 100 stunning colour photographs, Spirit Bear provides beautiful and astonishing insight into the habits and nature of the Kermode bear, and is part of an ongoing effort by conservationists to save Princess Royal Island as a sanctuary for these remarkable animals.
Stanley's Dream: The Medical Expedition to Easter Island (Carleton Library Series #247)
by Jacalyn DuffinIn 1964–65, an international team of thirty-eight scientists and assistants, led by Montreal physician Stanley Skoryna, sailed to the mysterious Rapa Nui (Easter Island) to conduct an unprecedented survey of its biosphere. Born of Cold War concerns about pollution, overpopulation, and conflict, and initially conceived as the first of two trips, the project was designed to document the island's status before a proposed airport would link the one thousand people living in humanity's remotest community to the rest of the world – its germs, genes, culture, and economy. Based on archival papers, diaries, photographs, and interviews with nearly twenty members of the original team, Stanley's Dream sets the expedition in its global context within the early days of ecological research and the understudied International Biological Program. Jacalyn Duffin traces the origins, the voyage, the often-complicated life within the constructed camp, the scientific preoccupations, the role of women, the resultant reports, films, and publications, and the previously unrecognized accomplishments of the project, including a goodwill tour of South America, the delivery of vaccines, and the discovery of a wonder drug. For Rapa Nui, the expedition coincided with its rebellion against the colonizing Chilean military, resulting in its first democratic election. For Canada, it reflected national optimism as the country prepared for its centennial and adopted its own flag. Ending with Duffin's own journey to the island to uncover the legacy of the study and the impact of the airport, and to elicit local memories, Stanley's Dream is an entertaining and poignant account of a long-forgotten but important Canadian-led international expedition.
Stanley's Dream: The Medical Expedition to Easter Island (Carleton Library Series #247)
by Jacalyn DuffinIn 1964–65, an international team of thirty-eight scientists and assistants, led by Montreal physician Stanley Skoryna, sailed to the mysterious Rapa Nui (Easter Island) to conduct an unprecedented survey of its biosphere. Born of Cold War concerns about pollution, overpopulation, and conflict, and initially conceived as the first of two trips, the project was designed to document the island's status before a proposed airport would link the one thousand people living in humanity's remotest community to the rest of the world – its germs, genes, culture, and economy. Based on archival papers, diaries, photographs, and interviews with nearly twenty members of the original team, Stanley's Dream sets the expedition in its global context within the early days of ecological research and the understudied International Biological Program. Jacalyn Duffin traces the origins, the voyage, the often-complicated life within the constructed camp, the scientific preoccupations, the role of women, the resultant reports, films, and publications, and the previously unrecognized accomplishments of the project, including a goodwill tour of South America, the delivery of vaccines, and the discovery of a wonder drug. For Rapa Nui, the expedition coincided with its rebellion against the colonizing Chilean military, resulting in its first democratic election. For Canada, it reflected national optimism as the country prepared for its centennial and adopted its own flag. Ending with Duffin's own journey to the island to uncover the legacy of the study and the impact of the airport, and to elicit local memories, Stanley's Dream is an entertaining and poignant account of a long-forgotten but important Canadian-led international expedition.