Rich in stories, the Crowsnest Pass region in the southern Rocky Mountains still bears evidence of its tragedies, and one monumental triumph—a railroad rammed through the pass in 18 months. Hailed as the greatest project in the Dominion, the Crow's Nest Pass Railway was built by men who toiled with horses and primitive tools to carve the way for industry. Towns and coal mines blossomed as the nourishing stem of the railroad brought abundance to British Columbia and Alberta, but with progress came disaster. The town of Frank, Alberta, was devastated when part of the legendary "Mountain That Walks" crashed down on the homes and businesses nestled at its foot. A mine explosion at nearby Hillcrest took nearly 200 men in one huge blast, and the entire town of Fernie, BC, was razed by fire. Was the relentless hand of fate responsible, or was it the Elk Valley curse? A must-read for anyone who enjoys thrilling tales of true life and real people, this book captures all the drama and spirit of a mythic land.

King Coal presents the rich history of Alberta coal mining, and the people and culture that emerged out of the industry, from the 1870s through to the modern era. King Coal invites the reader to discover Alberta’s coal history, its triumphs and tragedies, and its legacy in the province today. Uniquely, the book’s carefully researched historical sources are augmented by a vision of the era imagined through a fictional account of the author’s coal mining ancestors, as well as a variety of poetry, song lyrics, archival and modern photographs, and appendices that contain maps, charts, and links to multiple museums and historic sites around the province. These features of the book complete a full portrait of miners and their families, presenting how they lived and worked, the innovations they created, the tragedies they endured, and the life cycles experienced in the towns where they lived—including those boom and bust towns that have disappeared from the Canadian landscape. Made to feel like insiders in a different time, readers will emerge from King Coal with an excellent view of the social side of coal mining in Alberta, a time in Canada’s history when Coal was King.

The true story of war hero and prohibition lawman Steve Lawson. September 21, 1922 is a fateful one for Constable Lawson of the Alberta Provincial Police. The force is charged with stopping the illegal importation of liquor into the province. After an ill-fated run-in with police the rum runners confront Lawson at his office and home in Coleman in the Crowsnest Pass. There is a brief scuffle, shots are fired and the unarmed officer falls to the ground dead. After the arrest and subsequent sensational trial the rum runners are hanged the following year. The focus in this story is on the victim and his family, not on the criminals and the crime. Too often victims are forgotton in the media frenzy after crimes are committed. Readers will be surprised to learn Steve Lawson is more than a historical footnote, but a major player in the history of the West.

The first major biography of an iconic war correspondent sheds light on the personal life and fascinating career of a remarkable Canadian figure--and it's now available in paperback. "This is Matthew Halton of the CBC." So began Matthew Halton's war broadcasts. Originally a reporter for the Toronto Star, Matt Halton, as Senior War Correspondent for the CBC during the Second World War, reported from the front lines in Italy and Northwest Europe, and became "the voice of Canada at war." His reports were at times tender and sad and other times shocking and explosive. Covering the flashpoints of his generation--from the war trenches to the coronation of the Queen--Halton filed a series of reports warning that the Third Reich was "becoming a vast laboratory and breeding ground for war." For a decade he chronicled Europe's drift to disaster, covering the breakdown of the League of Nations, the Spanish Civil War, and the Nazi takeover of Austria and Czechoslovakia. Along the way he interviewed Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Herman Goering, Neville Chamberlain, Charles de Gaulle, Mahatma Gandhi, and dozens of others who shaped the history of the last century. Drawing on extensive interviews and archival research, this definitive biography, written by Matthew's son, acclaimed former CBC correspondent David Halton, is a fascinating look at the career of one of the most accomplished journalists Canada has ever known.

A young girl survives the deadliest landslide in Canadian history — but a family secret could call into question everything she thought she knew about her life before the disaster. After her father dies, Abby and her family move west to live with relatives who run a hotel in the mining town of Frank, Alberta. Abby keeps busy helping out at the hotel, being chief caregiver to her little brother with Down Syndrome, and learning Morse Code at the telegraph office. When the devastating Frank Slide buries much of the town, Abby must do all she can to help. But a long-buried family secret emerged just before the disaster — and she must wait for the dust to settle before getting the answers she so desperately wants. Inspired by two of her own relatives, one who helped run a telegraph office in the late 1800s and another who shares Abby's story (and her family secret), Jean Little crafts a compelling story rich with emotion and historical detail.

What makes a body of sound appear as an aesthetic object as well as a method for knowledge? In Sounding Bodies Sounding Worlds, Mickey Vallee argues that we must impose our sonic imagination onto the non-sonic, and embrace how we sound to ourselves, sound with our animal companions, and sound in very earth itself. From the invention of the laryngoscope to the role of the spectrogram, from the call of the bird to the tumble of a rockslide, from the deep listening of environmental immersion to the computational listening of bioacoustics research, Vallee offers a wide range of cases to convincingly argue that all life shares in a continuous, embodied and ethical vibration.