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Sixty people died in 1857, leaving behind their stories and the tales of those involved. In 1857, the Desjardins Canal bridge collapsed under a Toronto-to-Hamilton train, creating one of the worst railway wrecks in North American history. Sixty lives, including that of the main contractor, were lost. The story of how the Great Western Railway was conceived, where it was located, and how it was constructed is replete with high irony covering political intrigue, commercial skullduggery, and bold entrepreneurship.

Justices of the peace, constables, and game wardens from the late 19th century are brought to vivid life interacting with a variety of accused citizens. Rare views of human lives in turmoil are revealed in several hundred trials conducted in 1890s Muskoka by Magistrate James Boyer of Bracebridge. The charges and evidence show how raw life really was in Canada’s frontier towns, with cases ranging from nostalgic and humorous to pitiable and deeply disturbing.

Ce livre commémoratif, produit à l’occasion du Centenaire de la Marine canadienne 1910–2010, traite d’une double citoyenneté particulière : celle des Canadiens exerçant le métier de la mer au service du Canada, tout en répondant aux devoirs de leurs activités civiles, chez eux, dans leur communauté. Les points de vue de ces citoyens marins à temps partiel, qui ont constitué la Réserve navale du Canada au cours des cent dernières années, offrent une autre histoire intéressante, utile et opportune de la Marine canadienne.

At a time of great sacrifice in Canadian history, we are welcomed into the homes, the hearts, and the minds of mothers, sons, fathers, and friends as we follow Syd Smith and his high-school brotherhood of 13 when they answer the call to duty in 1941. Written with his son, David, Lifting the Silence is also a father-and-son journey of discovery that uncovers a remarkable letter that serves as testament to what still defines Canada today.

Samuel de Champlain has long been known as the founder of Quebec and as a tireless explorer. No one knows for sure where he was born or who he really was. Still, his career was packed with interesting details and his early life prepared him for greatness.Without Champlains own detailed records, the years 1600 to 1640 in Canada would be almost a mystery. Possibly Canadas first multicultural advocate, he dreamed of creating a new people from French and Aboriginal roots. However, his efforts to establish a colony encountered setbacks in France.

The savage struggle to take control of the North American wilderness during the epic Seven Years War (1756-63) between France and England is a gripping tale. As the two European powers battled each other for global economic, political and military supremacy in what some have called the first world war, the brutal conflict took on a unique North American character, particularly in the role Native allies played on both sides. Formal European tactics and military protocols were out of place in the harsh, unforgiving forests of the New World.

"A fascinating history of a wonderful old theatre." - Hume Cronyn In September of 1901 London's New Grand Opera House flung open its doors. Boasting a beautiful interior design, and with the most modern stage equipment available, the theatre was large enough to accommodate over 1,700 patrons and the largest touring shows of the time. With impresario Ambrose J. Small at the helm, a new era in theatrical entertainment began.

The beginning of Owen Sound can be traced to the 1840 historical meeting, in a small forest clearing, between surveyor Charles Rankin and land agent John Telfer. Owen Sound: The Port City begins with the Native Peoples of the area and moves through pioneer settlement to the creation of a city in this more northerly area of central Ontario. The influence of Georgian Bay and the beginning of marine commerce, combined with the coming of the railway, led to rapid industrial growth.

This is the remarkable story of the trail that became the longest street in the world, as officially recognized by The Guinness Book of Records. Begun in 1794, Yonge Street was planned by the ambitious Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe as a military route between Lake Ontario and Lake Huron. Anxious to bolster Upper Canada's defences against the new republic to the south, which he heartily loathed, Simcoe had his Queen's Rangers survey and develop the route from Toronto to present-day Holland Landing, and laid out lots for settlement.

This book provides the first exhaustive study of the great Scottish exodus to Canada written in modern times. Using wide-ranging sources, some previously untapped, Lucille Campey examines the driving forces behind the Scottish exodus and traces the remarkable progress of Scottish colonizers across Canada. Mythology and truth are considered side by side as their story unfolds. Scots had a profound impact on Canada and shaped the course of its history. This book is essential reading for those who wish to understand why they came and the enormity of their achievements in Canada.