John Bently-Mays Emerald City: Toronto Visited
(Viking, o/p). Thoughtful critical essays about Toronto, its
architecture and its inhabitants.
David Cruise & Alison Griffiths The Great
Adventure: How the Mounties conquered the West (St Martin's
Press, US). Contemporary accounts of the Mounties' first major
expedition into the West from the strange assortment of men who
made up this legendary force.
Beatrice Culleton April Raintree (Pemmican,
Canada/Peguis, US). Heart-rending account of the enforced fostering
of Métis children in Manitoba during the 1950s.
Don Dumond The Eskimos and Aleuts (Thames &
Hudson). Anthropological and archeological tour de force on the
prehistory, history and culture of northern peoples: backed up with
fine maps, drawings and photographs.
Christian F. Feest Native Arts of North America
(Thames & Hudson). This attractively illustrated book covers
every aspect of North American native art in revealing detail.
Everything you've ever wanted to know - and probably a good bit
more.
Paul Fleming The North American Indians in Early
Photographs (Phaidon/HarperCollins, o/p in US). Stylized poses
don't detract from a plaintive record of a way of life that has all
but vanished.
Glenn Gould The Solitude Trilogy (CBC PSCD
2003-3). These CDs comprise three extraordinary sound documentaries
made by Gould for CBC (who also recorded his music) concerning life
in the extreme parts of Canada. A fascinating insight into harsh
lifestyles in the words of the people themselves.
Alan D. McMillan Native Peoples and Cultures of
Canada (Orca, US). Comprehensive account of Canada's native
groups from prehistory to current issues of self-government and
land claims. Well-written, though more an academic textbook than a
leisure-time read.
Dennis Reid A Concise History of Canadian Painting
(Oxford University Press). Not especially concise, but a thorough
trawl through Canada's leading artists, with bags of biographical
detail and lots of black-and-white (and a few colour) illustrations
of major works.
Mordecai Richler Oh Canada! Oh Québec! (Chatto
& Windus/Knopf). A satirical chronicle of the hysteria, zeal
and chicanery surrounding Québec's independence movement.
Harold Towne and David P. Silcox Tom Thomson: The
Silence in the Storm (McClelland & Stewart, o/p). A study
of the career and inspirations of Tom Thomson, one of Canada's
best-known artists. Towne, the co-writer, is also a major Canadian
artist.
The True North - Canadian Landscape Painting 1896-1939
(Lund Humphries). A fascinating and well-illustrated book exploring
how Canadian artists have treated the country's challenging
landscapes.
William White (ed) The Complete Toronto Dispatches,
1920-1924 (Charles Scribners Sons). Ernest Hemingway's first
professional writing job was with The Toronto Star as both a
local reporter and as a European correspondent. This is a
collection of his dispatches for the paper.