The fascinating exploration of a vanished settlement in Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park, told within the framework of an archaeologist’s memoir. While excavating Alberta’s most important historic sandstone quarry, archaeologist and oral historian Shari Peyerl uncovers fascinating clues about the province’s past. From metal fragments and dusty artifacts, she pieces together a story about a settlement situated in today’s picturesque Glenbow Provincial Park. Chronicling the development of ranching, village life, industry, and the Canadian Pacific Railway, Alberta’s Cornerstone is an engaging and authoritative history that reads like an archaeological detective story. As Peyerl dispels archaeological myths, explains scientific techniques, and shares the excitement of unearthing lost histories, she introduces readers to a colourful array of characters who once lived at Glenbow, including a local embezzler, Alberta’s first graduate nurse, a Canadian soccer champion, an acclaimed mathematician, and a member of an international spy agency. Written for the general public, the detective-like attention to detail of this carefully annotated book will also appeal to historical scholars. Beautifully illustrated with modern colour photographs and many historic photographs (including fifteen previously unpublished), Alberta’s Cornerstone brings the ghosts of Glenbow to life.

Eric Hanson Albertas first, and arguably greatest, economist wrote a number of influential books on federal-provincial relations, education finance, health care finance, and energy economics. His doctoral thesis was entitled A Financial History of Alberta, 1905-1950 and was found by Paul Boothe at the University of Alberta library while Boothe was doing research on Alberta government spending almost forty-five years after it was written. This "forgotten gem" sheds light on the institutional, economic, and public development of the province from a financial perspective. With a detailed and analytical introduction, this edited work provides historical perspective on the perennial problems facing Alberta's fiscal managers: wildly fluctuating revenues, in-migration, seemingly insatiable demands for infrastructure, high-quality public services, and resistance to taxes while exuding an optimistic attitude for the future.