Canoe Country: The Making of Canada [Paperback]

One of our favourite chroniclers of all things Canadian presents a rollicking, personal, photo-filled history of the relationship between a country and its canoes.

From the earliest explorers on the Columbia River in BC or the Mattawa in Ontario to a doomed expedition of voyageurs up the Nile to rescue Khartoum; from the author's family roots deep in the Algonquin wilderness to modern families who have canoed across the country (kids and dogs included): Canoe Country is Roy MacGregor's celebration of the essential and enduring love affair Canadians have with our first and still favourite means of getting around. Famous paddlers have been so enchanted with the canoe that one swore God made Canada as the perfect country in which to paddle it. Drawing on MacGregor's own decades spent whenever possible with a paddle in his hand, this is a story of high adventure on white water and the sweetest peace in nature's quietest corners, from the author best able (and most eager) to tell it.“MacGregor, a talented writer and engaging storyteller, therefore, weaves an impressive tale about the view from a Canadian canoe. . . . He writes majestically. . . . [S]uperb book.” —The Washington Times

“[J]ust perfect for the die-hard canoeist.” —Ottawa Citizen

“Canoe Country is a rollicking good read—engaging, thought-provoking and, at times, startling in the quirky turns of the research and storytelling, as far as it goes. MacGregor weaves a convincing argument that the canoe is one of Canada’s great characters.” —James Raffan, The Globe and Mail

“I couldn’t put this collection of essays down. . . . [Canoe Country] should be placed onlów