What do Superman, Prince Valiant, Cerebus the Aardvark, and Spawn have in common? Their creators – Joe Shuster, Harold Foster, Dave Sim, and Todd McFarlane are Canadians. And while many of the cutting-edge talents of contemporary comix and graphic novels are also from Canada – artists such as Chester Brown, Seth, Dave Cooper, and Julie Doucet – far too few Canadians realize their country had a remarkable involvement with the «funnies» long befor ...
Filled with photographs, both historic and contemporary, this engaging book looks at the industrial pioneers of northwestern Ontario, and the activities which brought them to the wilderness: surveying, railroading, lumber, gold, bush piloting, transportation, and hydro power. Rasky lets the pioneers tell their own story, through their own reminiscences, and by the monuments they have left behind. Published with the assistance of the Ontario Mini ...
A colourful and revealing look at more than 500 years of commerce conducted at the renowned Frankfurt Book Fair, from its beginnings in the Middle Ages. Even then, in spite of internal strife and religious upheaval, books were becoming increasingly accessible to those who found their way to Frankfurt to buy, sell, and promote. The fact that King Henry VIII sent Sir Thomas Bodley as his personal emissary to purchase books for the new library at O ...
In early 1812, as the British and the Americans were on the brink of war in North America, Fort St. Joseph was not thought to be of much importance to the British cause. It was disregarded as a useless, poorly located post. But when war was delcared, the garrison at Fort St. Joseph pulled off a miracle: it captured the American Fort Mackinac, and for the remainder of the War of 1812 the British never relinquished control of the Upper Great Lakes ...
Historical Distillates examines the history of the Chemistry Department at the University of Toronto from its beginnings in 1843, when it was housed in simple quarters in the Parliament Buildings on Front Street and had just one faculty member. During the founding era (1843-1920) three British gentlemen professors guided the department through four homes; between 1920 and 1960 three Canadian heads built a highly influential department. Since 1 ...
Strategies for the conservation and revitalization of buildings and districts have preoccupied the international community for decades. This book summarizes the five major legislative approaches, the treaties and international declarations (including The Habitat Agenda 1996), outlining how to deal with these properties, e.g. in light of «sustainable development.» Positive and negative examples from some twenty jurisdictions are cited, but they a ...
Ghost Towns of Muskoka explores the tragic history of a collection of communities from across Muskoka whose stars have long since faded. Today, these ghost towns are merely a shadow – or spectre – of what they once were. Some have disappeared entirely, having been swallowed by regenerating forests, while others have been reduced to foundations, forlorn buildings, and silent ruins. A few support a handful of inhabitants, but even these towns are ...
Soldier, university professor, lawyer, political candidate, and judge; David Vanek’s compelling life story has seen him in many roles, all of which are played out in these memoirs. The child of Jewish-Russian immigrants, Vanek encountered anti-semitism while growing up, but was able to overcome prejudice and rise to prominence. He was educated at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School (where he was in a Jewish fraternity with Joh ...
The Franklin Conspiracy is an absorbing account of the single most enigmatic event in Canadian history. In 1845, two British Royal Navy ships, the Erebus and the Terror, commanded by Sir John Franklin, entered the Canadian Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage. Neither ship returned. A fifteen-year search uncovered evidence of unparalleled disaster, but to this day no one knows exactly how the 129 men of the Franklin Expedition met their d ...