1812: War with America
by Jon Latimer
from Belknap Press
Listen to a short interview with Jon Latimer
Host: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron & Crane
In the first complete history of the War of 1812 written from a British perspective, Jon Latimer offers an authoritative and compelling account that places the conflict in its strategic context within the Napoleonic wars. The British viewed the War of 1812 as an ill-fated attempt by the young American republic to annex Canada. For British Canada, populated by many loyalists who had fled the American Revolution, this was a war for survival. The Americans aimed both to assert their nationhood on the global stage and to expand their territory northward and westward.
Americans would later find in this war many iconic moments in their national story--the bombardment of Fort McHenry (the inspiration for Francis Scott Key's "Star Spangled Banner"); the Battle of Lake Erie; the burning of Washington; the death of Tecumseh; Andrew Jackson's victory at New Orleans--but their war of conquest was ultimately a failure. Even the issues of neutrality and impressment that had triggered the war were not resolved in the peace treaty. For Britain, the war was subsumed under a long conflict to stop Napoleon and to preserve the empire. The one lasting result of the war was in Canada, where the British victory eliminated the threat of American conquest, and set Canadians on the road toward confederation.
Latimer describes events not merely through the eyes of generals, admirals, and politicians but through those of the soldiers, sailors, and ordinary people who were directly affected. Drawing on personal letters, diaries, and memoirs, he crafts an intimate narrative that marches the reader into the heat of battle.
(20071001)Gold Rush Women
by Claire Rudolf Murphy
from Alaska Northwest Books
This book gathers the riveting stories of adventurous women-miners, madams, merchants, and mothers -- who went North during the gold rush era.
The Incredible War of 1812: A Military History
by J. Mackay Hitsman
from Robin Brass Studio
The Klondike Quest: A Photographic Essay 1897-1899
by Pierre Berton
from Boston Mills Press
The most photographed event in America during the 19th century.
More than 10,000 images reside in public archives and private collections, depicting every aspect of what popular historian Pierre Berton has called "one of the strangest mass movements in history." For this book, Berton selected 200 photographs, some iconic, some touchingly personal, and most previously unpublished.
The Klondike Quest brings to life the panoramic drama of the great stampede for gold as seen by the ordinary gold-seeker. The photographs are beautifully reproduced and informatively and colorfully captioned. "One million people, it is said, laid plans to go to the Klondike. One hundred thousand actually set off. And so the Klondike saga is a chronicle of humanity in the mass.... For the next eighteen months, the Yukon interior plateau became a human anthill."
(20051028)Klondike Women: True Tales Of 1897-1898 Gold Rush
by Melanie J. Mayer
from Swallow Press
Canadian Pacific Railway (MBI Railroad Color History)
by Tom Murray
from Voyageur Press
In this marvelously illustrated history, author Tom Murray provides readers with an engaging look at the railroad whose own history is, in many ways, the history of Canada itself. In addition to examining the prehistory leading to CPR's incorporation in 1881 and its current status as one of the continent's leading carriers, Murray explains the colossal geographic obstacles overcome by CPR's founders; motive power and rolling stock through depression, war, and peacetime; renowned diversification efforts that included a passenger ship line, an airline serving four continents, a chain of four-star hotels, and western mining operations; and the colorful cast of characters who laid the groundwork that made CPR what is today.
Marvelous photography carefully chosen from the collections of top rail photographers and archives across Canada and the United States illustrate the national icon that began as a railway, became a global transportation system, and evolved into a diversified industrial conglomerate before settling into its role as the respected carrier it is today.
The Last Spike: 2
In the four years between 1881 and 1885, Canada was forged into one nation by the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Last Spike reconstructs the incredible story of how some 2,000 miles of steel crossed the continent in just five years — exactly half the time stipulated in the contract. Pierre Berton recreates the adventures that were part of this vast undertaking: the railway on the brink of bankruptcy, with one hour between it and ruin; the extraordinary land boom of Winnipeg in 1881–1882; and the epic tale of how William Van Horne rushed 3,000 soldiers over a half-finished railway to quell the Riel Rebellion.
Dominating the whole saga are the men who made it all possible — a host of astonishing characters: Van Horne, the powerhouse behind the vision of a transcontinental railroad; Rogers, the eccentric surveyor; Onderdonk, the cool New Yorker; Stephen, the most emotional of businessmen; Father Lacombe, the black-robed voyageur; Sam Steele, of the North West Mounted Police; Gabriel Dumont, the Prince of the Prairies; more than 7,000 Chinese workers, toiling and dying in the canyons of the Fraser Valley; and many more — land sharks, construction geniuses, politicians, and entrepreneurs — all of whom played a role in the founding of the new Canada west of Ontario.
Aunt Phil's Trunk: Volume 1 - An Alaska historian's collection of Alaska history stories
by Phyllis Downing Carlson
from Self-published
"Aunt Phil's Trunk: Volume 1" features Alaska history stories written by Laurel Downing Bill and her late Alaska historian aunt, Phyllis Downing Carlson. The book is a delightful journey through AlaskaÂ’s rich past and includes tales of nuns mingling with rough-and-tumble adventurers on the banks of Nome, the last shot of the Civil War booming in the Bering Sea and the scoundrel Soapy Smith serving as an angel of mercy before he became the undisputed king of crime in Skagway. Filled with more than 250 historical photographs, this recently released book about Alaska history showcases a spectacular photo essay following the harrowing routes rugged prospectors traveled to get to the Klondike, including the all-water route from Seattle to St. Michael and on to Dawson, as well as the Stikine, White Pass and Chilkoot Pass trails.
Good Time Girls of the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush
by Lael Morgan
from Epicenter Pr
First Crossing: Alexander Mackenzie, His Expedition Across North America, and the Opening of the Continent
by Derek Hayes
from Sasquatch Books
Timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition is this remarkable account of Alexander Mackenzie--the explorer who beat Lewis and Clark across the North American continent. Mackenzie accomplished this feat an astounding twelve years before the Corps of Discovery. Drawing extensively on the journals of Mackenzie and other turn-of-the-century explorers--and featuring historical and contemporary photographs, illustrations, and maps--Hayes presents a lively portrait of the explorer who both preceded Lewis and Clark and provided an impetus for their expedition.
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