BC Books From Vancouver Island & the Coast

Winner of the 2016 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize and the inaugural Mack Laing Literary Prize. Shortlisted for the 2016 Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prizes.

The Real Thing is the first official biography of Ian McTaggart Cowan (1910–2010), the “father of Canadian ecology.” Authorized by his family and with the research support and participation of the University of Victoria Libraries, Briony Penn provides an unprecedented and accessible window into the story of this remarkable naturalist. …

The Real Thing is the first official biography of Ian McTaggart Cowan (1910–2010), the “father of Canadian ecology.” Authorized by his family and with the research support and participation of the University of Victoria Libraries, Briony Penn provides an unprecedented and accessible window into the story of this remarkable naturalist. From his formative years roaming the mountains around Vancouver looking for venison to his last years finishing the voluminous and authoritative Birds of Bri …

Shortlisted for the 2016 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize.

Tod Inlet has been a place of refuge for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, but few are aware of its history. This tiny fjord, less than a half hour from downtown Victoria, is part of Gowlland Tod Provincial Park and is accessed by a forested path beside Tod Creek. For centuries it was the home of the WSÁNEc (Saanich) people, providing everything for their spiritual and material sustenance. In the early part of the twentieth centur …

Tod Inlet has been a place of refuge for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, but few are aware of its history. This tiny fjord, less than a half hour from downtown Victoria, is part of Gowlland/Tod Provincial Park and is accessed by a forested path beside Tod Creek. For centuries it was the home of the WSÁNEC (Saanich) people, providing everything for their spiritual and material sustenance. In the early part of the twentieth century a small company town grew on its shores. Houses, a railway, …

“Gudrun was a world-class athlete who is fun and vivacious. She’s passionate about a species that’s been misrepresented. And you come away feeling inspired by her courage and bravery recovering from cancer.” —David Royle, executive vice-president for programming and production, Smithsonian Channel

“I really believe the encounter with the wolves in the wilderness was a powerful medication. They gave me strength.” —Gudrun Pflüger, in USA Today

In 2005, elite marathon mountain ru …

When diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour, Gudrun Pflüger was told she had eighteen months left to live. Taking the wolf—a true “endurance athlete”—as her model, she immerses herself in the wilderness of the mountain ranges of western Canada and focuses her mind and body on a mysterious and inspirational path toward self-healing.

Through an intensely personal, scientific and emotional connection with the wolves she studies and the glorious landscape that surrounds her, Gudrun Pflüg …

First detailed exploration of the mysterious life of Amor de Cosmos; British Columbia’s second premier; discusses his role in B.C. joining Canada; Canada nation-building as a whole. This biography of Amor De Cosmos explores the life and career of this most eccentric of Canadian politicians, a man who played a crucial role in the creation of present-day Canada from sea to sea, and yet who, by the end of his life, was little remembered. Hawkins reveals how De Cosmos began public life as one of th …

This biography explores what drove William Smith to change his name, in the gold fields of California in the 1850s, to Amor De Cosmos. Hawkins traces how De Cosmos became one of the most feared journalists in British Columbia and then how he forced his way into British Columbia politics, becoming BC’s second premier. Although De Cosmos played a crucial role in creating present-day Canada from sea to sea, by the end of his life, he was little remembered.