“Victoria-based historian Michael Layland, for whom this book is a departure in several respects, does a fine job of not only piecing together Philip Hankin’s life using the man’s sometimes sketchy written memoir, but also in associating the major figures and events of the day that have assembled the province we now call home.” Trevor Marc Hughes reviews Turmoil: The Life & Times of Philip Hankin, by Michael Layland (Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2025) $35 / 9781771514712
“The introduction closes with three words that have stayed with me since I turned the final page: “Let’s get kicking.” With the World Cup having arrived in Vancouver and Toronto, with Canada playing on home soil for the first time in its history, that line reads less like a closing sentiment and more like an opening whistle for something we have spent our whole sporting lives waiting to hear.” Amy Tucker reviews Winning Pitch: The Canadian Men’s Soccer Team at the World Cup and Beyond, by Murray Mollard (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2026) $26.95 / 9781998526598
“Thanh, a prize-winning novelist and memoirist, admitted that media technology wasn’t her strength, but agreed to look at the narrative that had been assembled to that point by other sympathetic activists. She also connected online with Kanafani and swiftly established a bond.” Larry Hannant reviews Pizza Before We Die: An Eyewitness Account in Gaza, by Hassan Kanafani, with Yasuko Thanh (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2026) $19.95 / 9781834050324
“The way the book reveals the ‘making’ of the ‘pacifist’ is all the more compelling because, as the writer of a memoir, Maloff demonstrates that he is ‘made’ a pacifist not through external pressures, but, instead through his own quest for values to live by.” Theo Dombrowski reviews They Called Him a Radical: The Memoirs of Pete Maloff and the Making of a Doukhobor Pacifist, by Pete Maloff (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2024) $26 / 9781773861340
“Spying on America was published in 2026 but the trip itself was made several years earlier, in the time of Covid and the interregnum between the two Trump terms. Enough has happened in that gap that the book contains an epilogue, ‘From the Rearview,’ which is partly a ‘where are they now?’ update on the main characters in the story, but more importantly an attempt to answer the question that I keep asking myself and anybody else who will listen. The question isn’t about Trump at all, because the whole world already knows what he is, and what America has become. Instead, it’s ‘Who in God’s name voted for this person, and why would they do it twice?'” Brian Harvey reviews Spying on America, by Bill Gaston (Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, 2026) $26 / 9781773104652
“As the primary editor Deborah (Devora) Ross-Grayman explains in the book’s preface, the writings here took root as the result of meetings of the Vancouver Second-Generation (2G) Group. All of the twelve writers represented here are the offspring of Holocaust survivors (or, in one instance, a survivor himself).” Heidi Greco reviews Voices of Resilience: An Anthology of Stories Written by Children of Holocaust Survivors, by Deborah (Devora) Ross-Grayman, with Wendy Bancroft & The Writers (eds.) (The Netherlands: Amsterdam Publishers, 2026) $24.95 / 9789493418608
“There are still a few instances of righteous indignation and conspiracy theory, but these are easy to spot and disregard. There is happily much less of the defamatory innuendo about “rent-seeking” which stained too many chapters in Grave Error. The overall tone of Dead Wrong—despite its provocative title, the publisher’s preface, and a couple of other instances—seems much less frenzied. But most important, every chapter of this book contains something British Columbians may not have known and ought to have the chance to think about. Some chapters particularly so.” Richard Butler reviews Dead Wrong: How Canada Got the Residential School Story So Wrong
by C.P. Champion and Tom Flanagan (Ottawa: True North, 2025) $22.99 / 9798274120593
“The story of the mistreated tunnel workers may sound familiar. In rough outline, the it begins with an Italian tunnelling company, SELI, tasked with a major project in Vancouver. Finding no Canadians responding to their ads, the company recruited experienced workers from Latin America, attracting them with comparatively high payment and side benefits such as accommodation. As it turned out, the wages, though higher than what they were used to, were a small fraction of Canadian wages for similar work—and significantly lower than those of Europeans subsequently hired by the same company.” Theo Dombrowski reviews A Fight for Justice: The Compelling Story of Temporary Foreign Workers & Human Rights, by Joe Barrett (Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2026) $26.95 / 9781553807391
“This book is a story about the past. History, of course, contains the word ‘story.’ History was for so long his story whereas this one is her story. It is the story of Florence Wilson, a woman who lived much of her life in a man’s world. But here is the thing, if history is a story does that mean that a story is history? Let’s see.” Robin Fisher reviews Bloomsbury to Barkerville: The Life of Florence Wilson, by Marion McKinnon Crook (Victoria: Heritage House Publishing, 2026) $26.95 / 9781772035643
“Memories and anecdotes from the past make their way into many of the essays. He writes about family, high school, friendships, travelling, loneliness, and most significantly his relationship with Litia, his wife. Two of the essays are about the family dog. The author, who lives in Vancouver, is witty, curious, nostalgic, analytical and overly solemn. He has a way of noticing odd details and meaningful moments that pass us by when we are with those closest to us.” Bill Paul reviews Decadence, by Richard Kelly Kemick (Windsor: Biblioasis, 2026) $24.95 / 9781771967136
“What is Sveva’s achievement? In visual terms, she has left a compelling body of work that is both challenging and uplifting. In psychological terms, she goes through a ‘dark night of the soul’ and achieves what was, for her, a state of enlightenment. She uses all of her knowledge of commentators on the human condition throughout the ages as signs and guide posts throughout her journey. She also draws on her extensive knowledge of the visual arts and, on occasion, paints an homage to someone who she found particularly inspiring.” Adriana A. Davies contributes the essay Sveva Caetani: From Old to New World and Back
“This expertly curated and well-composed book intends to rectify Wakayama’s relative obscurity. He is both the subject of Enemy Alien and, to a large extent, its author.” Philip Huynh reviews Enemy Alien: Tamio Wakayama, by Paul Wong (ed.) (Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2025) $40 / 9781773272801
“Darcy describes her struggles as the only woman or one of few in the corridors and meeting halls of union power. For those of us who were there, can I have an Amen, Sister; for those now used to seeing women in positions of union leadership, it could be instructive to learn how it was, not so long ago, for a woman in a union leadership position to speak truth to power – to both sides of the table.” Wendy Burton reviews Leading from the Heart: The Battles of a Feminist, Union Leader and Politician, by Judy Darcy (Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2026) $40 / 9781771625043
“Considering author and journalist Craig Taylor has had such cosmopolitan addresses as London and New York, and such impressive credentials, such as writing for The Guardian, finding him on the quiet shores of Protection Island just off of Nanaimo is surprising.” Trevor Marc Hughes presents an interview segment with author Craig Taylor, filmed on Protection Island.
“Early in Rob Simpson’s affectionate tribute to his co-author/subject, we learn that Bill McCreary (2014) is one of only two NHL on-ice officials inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this century, the other being linesman Ray Scapinello (2008). Is this an indication of both men’s exceptional contributions to the sport, or more a reflection of the sorry state of on-ice officiating since 1999? Or both? Whatever the case, it is fair to say that the gravitas referees once enjoyed in the world’s premier hockey league has diminished since McCreary first put on the NHL zebra stripes in 1984.” Daniel Gawthrop reviews Stories from Ice Level: A Great NHL Referee Tells All, by Rob Simpson with Bill McCreary (Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2026) $24.95 / 9781771624824
“Who committed the murders and why and what to do about it and what happens later takes up the rest of this remarkable story, the seventh book in what has evolved as author Geoff Mynett’s stand-out series of deep dives into formerly obscure corners of British Columbia history. William Brown is the subject of the author’s previous book in the series, A Gentleman of Considerable Talent.” Steven Brown reviews The Fort George Murders of 1823: Crises and Coexistence in New Caledonia, by Geoff Mynett (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2026) $28.00 / 9781773861791
“Pontefract fills his argument with far too much jargon, but he stresses an important point: by making older workers redundant we lose what he calls the ‘rubies’ on the job. That is the old-timers who have the collective know-how that needs to be combined with the ‘rivers’ and ‘rocks’ i.e., the new hires and the mid-career workers.” Ron Verzuh reviews The Future of Work Is Grey: The Untapped Value of Age in the Workplace, by Dan Pontefract (Vancouver: Page Two Books, 2026) $36.95 / 9781774586440
“The momentary victory didn’t seem complete, though, as my marble season was forever marred. I couldn’t play my winnings without some kid declaring that any marble with defining features was once theirs and trying to lay claim.” Marcella Kyrein explores the game of marbles battlefield during her Prince George elementary school years in her essay Marbles and the Art of War.
“Hilton is effective in elucidating the many ways that the Indian Act has intentionally alienated First Nations from the Canadian economy. The Indian Act estranged them from the value of their lands and territories, with the government allowing itself through its fiscal responsibility over ‘Indian moneys’ to set a cap on what rents can be charged by band governments.” Matthew Downey reviews Deconstructing Indian Act Economics and the Rise of Indigenous Economic Power, by Carol Anne Hilton (Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers, 2025) $29.99 / 9781774060155
“…almost everything about this book is careful, measured, and studied. Handling a figure who, as the subtitle suggests, has been subject to speculation and hearsay—but also adulation and condemnation—this book is almost entirely based on careful screening of evidence and extensive documentation.” Theo Dombrowski reviews Oscar Wilde’s Paris: Legends and Legacies, by Collette Colligan and Gregory Mackie (eds.) (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2025) $90 / 9781487541415
