The Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada for the years from 1929 to 1937 included a series in nine parts of important papers on "Crucial Maps" which have been a frequent source of reference ever since for students of the history of discovery and of early cartography. Their author, William Francis Ganong, had a life-long interest in the natural and human history of his native province, New Brunswick. Although he was primarily a botanist, with four full-length books and an amazing number of articles to his credit, it was through his series of monographs in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada that the breadth of his interests became known. For over fifty years he contributed almost annually to the Transactions the results of his systematic investigations into New Brunswick's physiography, aborigines, early explorations, wars and settlements. Crucial Maps, which concluded in 1937, was the last series of articles. Ganong was the first investigator to employ a critical classification of maps based upon groupings by period and type, although the cartography of Canada's east coast had earlier been introduced by Baron Alexander von Humboldt. Ganong's contributions to cartography are enormous: for example, his reconstruction of Cabot's voyages, while all may not agree with it, is a masterpiece of inductive analysis which will remain a model in historical research; his chapters on Gomez, Verrazzano and Fagundes are still the chief secondary sources on these discoverers. There have been notable additions to the bibliography of discovery and maps since Ganong wrote; recently published works as well as the complete file of Ganong's correspondence with his fellow cartographer, G.R.F. Prowse, were consulted by Theodore E. Layng, Map Division, Public Archives of Canada, in preparing the commentaries which accompany this edition of Crucial Maps. These commentaries, with Mr. Layng's introduction, also provide an interesting sketch of Dr. Ganong and his work. Another important feature of this edition is the index prepared by William Morley of the John Carter Brown Library. In much of his work Ganong was a pioneer, and, while subsequent studies have reached different conclusions on some points, many of his results have seldom been challenged. Students of the present and future will still use and quote from Crucial Maps. Royal Society of Canada Special Publications No. 7

"Atlantic Canada" covers the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.

This study was prepared in an attempt to clarify seemingly contradictory interpretations of the early history of the discovery of North America, as well as to survey the early historical sources which may contribute to an ethno-historical study of the Indians of those coasts first explored. A major part of the book is devoted to a re-analysis of the cartographical materials and to an attempt to present a more logical interpretation of this material. In the course of this attempt the work discusses and rejects previously widely held viewpoints concerning the early exploration of North America and the development of North American cartography. A new hypothesis is presented in this respect and is shown to fit the available evidence more adequately. The study also reconsiders the documentary materials deriving from the Cartier voyages and develops new conclusions concerning their origin, particularly with respect to the so-called "Cartier vocabularies." This is a pioneer summary and original analysis based upon exhaustive research, and is the most comprehensive collation available to scholars; in combination with the recent map bibliography published by the Public Archives, it will be of great aid to research students. Dr. Hoffman's hypotheses are brilliantly presented and highly stimulating. The line-cut illustrations and listing of nomenclature are most valuable.

Backyard History unearths the often hilarious, mostly mysterious, always surprising untold tales of Canada’s East Coast, as only a Maritimer can spin them. This extraordinary collection gathers the very best from Andrew MacLean’s popular newspaper columns, podcast, and television show, now enhanced and extended with fresh insights and discoveries. Running the gamut from lost cities to rodent invasions; from rum runners to teenage heroines; from monstrous sea creatures to circus riots these true forgotten stories from Atlantic Canada will astound readers of all ages. Combining meticulous research with vivid storytelling, captivating anecdotes, and a human touch, Backyard History takes readers on an entertaining and exhilarating ride detailing the rich, undiscovered past of a region which has long been renowned for its storytelling.

In these essays the author draws on ideas in art history, literature, philosophy and the study of visual culture to subvert the traditional 'positivist' model of cartography and replace it with one grounded in an iconological and semiotic theory of the nature of maps.

The Island of Seven Cities unveils the first tangible proof that the Chinese settled in the New World before Columbus. In the summer of 2003, architect Paul Chiasson decided to climb a mountain he had never explored on Cape Breton Island, where eight generations of his Acadian family had lived. One of the oldest points of exploration and settlement in the Americas, with a written history dating back to the first days of European discovery, Cape Breton is littered with remnants of old settlements. But that day Chiasson found a road that was unique. Well made and consistently wide, and at one time clearly bordered with stone walls, the road had been a major undertaking. But he could find no record of it. In the two years of detective work that followed, Chiasson systematically surveyed the history of Europeans in North America and came to a stunning conclusion: the ruins he had stumbled upon – an entire townsite on a mountaintop---did not belong to the Portuguese, the French, the English, or the Scots. And they predated John Cabot's 1497 "discovery" of the island. Using aerial and site photographs, maps and drawings, and his own expertise as an architect, Chiasson re-creates how he pieced together the clues to one of the world's great mysteries: a large Chinese colony existed and thrived on Canadian shores well before the European Age of Discovery. He addresses how the ruins had been previously overlooked or misunderstood, and how the colony was abandoned and forgotten, in China and in the New World. And he discovers the traces the colony left in the storytelling and culture of the Mi'kmaq, whose written language, clothing, technical knowledge, religious beliefs, and legends, he argues, expose deep cultural ties to China. A gripping account of an earth-shaking discovery, The Island of Seven Cities will change the way we think about our world.