The rain of the forenoon had been followed by an outburst of heat and the sunshine beat with fierce intensity on the narrow square that formed the yard of the barracks at Montreal. There was a milkiness in the atmosphere which, conjoined with the low bank of black cloud that hung over the St Lawrence where it rolled out of sight, indicated a renewal of the downpour. The yard was deserted. Dinner was over and the men lounged and snoozed indoors until the sun abated his fervor, always except...

"Well-written narrative of the American campaign of 1813." - United Empire, 1916Robert Sellar (1841-1919) emigrated to Upper Canada from Scotland in 1856 where he secured employment as a printer's apprentice.In order to chronicle the heroism of the region's original British settlers and to refute the growing notion that the only true "children of the soil" were French Canadian, Sellar wrote a collections of simple stories of backwoods life. Other l...

In "The Narrative of Gordon Sellar Who Emigrated to Canada in 1825," Gordon Sellar offers a captivating autobiographical account of his journey from Scotland to the New World, vividly illustrating the hopes and hardships faced by 19th-century emigrants. The prose is marked by an earnest and reflective style, drawing on Sellar's rich personal experiences and keen observations of both the landscapes crossed and the myriad cultural interactions encountered. Through detailed descriptions and a...

Excerpt: "A glance at the map shows the south-western extremity of the province of Quebec to be a wedge shaped bit of territory; the St. Lawrence on one side, the United States on the other. All that is related in the following pages is associated with this corner of Canada. The name of the book comes from the newspaper in which most of the tales first appeared. There is a purpose in the book. It attempts to convey in a readable form an idea of an era in the life of Canada which has passed...

A compilation of letters originally written to her mother over the course of two and a half years, Catharine Parr Traill’s The Backwoods of Canada is an intimate and telling look at pioneer life in Upper Canada.Originally published in 1836, Traill’s memoir details her journey with genuine charm and good cheer, even during difficult times. Thanks to its remarkable observations on Canadian class and economy, Traill’s story remains an important and essential telling of Canadi...

What if you could remember another life? What if you could re-live it and find love again?Professor Ross Sinclair has everything he could ever want. Reunited with childhood sweetheart Claire Forbes, Ross can finally begin to heal the pain of his childhood and live in the present. A honeymoon in Scotland is the perfect beginning.But when tragedy threatens Claire's life, Ross's dreams come to a crashing halt. He must now face the possibility of a future without her. ...

When the Free Grants and Homestead Act was first introduced in 1868, fierce debates erupted in Ontario's Legislature over whether land in the Muskoka region should be opened to settlement or reserved for the Aboriginal population. From the beginning, many people vented serious doubts about the free grant scheme, citing the district's poor agricultural prospects. In the end, such caution was ignored by overeager boosters.The story in Hardscrabble also takes readers to Brita...

For fans of The Tudors comes a captivating drama about the only woman who could defy Henry VIII -and keep her life.Mary Tudor, the headstrong younger sister of the ruthless King Henry VII, has always been her brother's favorite-but now she is also an important political bargaining chip. When she is promised to the elderly, ailing King Louis of France, a heartbroken Mary accepts her fate, but not before extracting a promise from her brother: When the old ki...

The Thirty Nine Steps, John Buchan’s groundbreaking espionage thriller featuring spy Richard Hannay, has been called the first great espionage novel. It has been embraced by each new generation and shows no sign of losing popularity.Richard Hannay arrives in London on the eve of World War I, where he meets an American agent seeking help in stopping a political assassination. Before long, Hannay finds himself in possession of a little black book that holds the key to the co...

A historical eBook about Blanche, the White Queen of France, the manipulative mother-in-law of Marguerite in Sherry Jones’s Four Sisters, All Queens.A woman's power lies in her beauty. For years, Blanche de Castille, the White Queen of France, has lived by this maxim—passed on by her grandmother, Eléonore d'Aquitaine, as she took the girl to marry King Louis VIII. When her husband dies unexpectedly, however, Blanche finds that beauty is not enough...

Refugee. Queen. Saint. Based on the lives of Saint Margaret of Scotland and her husband, King Malcolm III, in eleventh-century Scotland, a young woman strives to fulfill her destiny despite the risks...Shipwrecked on the Scottish coast, a young Saxon princess and her family—including the outlawed Edgar of England—ask sanctuary of the warrior-king Malcolm Canmore, who shrewdly sees the political advantage. He promises to aid Edgar and the Saxon cause in return for t...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – The true story behind Jon Krakauer’s bestselling novel and Sean Penn’s acclaimed film Into the Wild, from the sister of Chris McCandless, filling in questions about Chris’ journey of self-discovery and the dysfunctional childhood that pushed him to brave the Alaskan wilderness alone"The Wild Truth is an important book on two fronts: It sets the record straight about a story that has touched thousands of readers,...