About

About the Book
About the Authors
About the Publisher

About the Book

100 years after the start of WWI, BC Almanac has involved listeners across the province in compiling a collection of photos, stories and artifacts commemorating the war.

It has often been observed that the First World War jolted Canada into nationhood, and as Mark Forsythe and Greg Dickson show in this compelling book, no province participated more eagerly in that transformation or felt the aftershock more harshly than British Columbia. In

From the West Coast to the Western Front, Forsythe, host of CBC Radio’s mid-day show BC Almanac, marks the 100th anniversary of World War I by teaming with historian Greg Dickson and the ever-resourceful BC Almanac audience to compile a sweeping portrayal of that crucial chapter of BC history.

Compiling stories, artifacts and photos sent in by BC Almanac listeners from across the province, this volume tells of submarine-smuggling, bagpipes lost on the battlefield and of the ongoing struggles by soldiers who made it home. It tells of battles that set records for mass death amid conditions of unequalled squalor, but also of the heroism of front-line nurses and soldiers like George Maclean, a First Nations man from the Okanagan, who won the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

By turns devastating, harrowing, insightful and miraculous, these stories reveal much about the spirit and resilience of a people who survived one of history’s greatest disasters to build the province we have today.

About the Authors

Mark Forsythe has hosted CBC Radio One’s BC Almanac since 1996. Raised in Toronto, Forsythe moved to BC in the mid-seventies and has come to know the province intimately through broadcasting assignments in Smithers, Prince George, Prince Rupert, the Okanagan and Vancouver. He currently lives in Fort Langley, BC.

Greg Dickson was a journalist and producer at CBC radio and television for over 20 years. He also co-authored the Harbour Publishing titles The BC Almanac Book of Greatest British Columbians (2005) and The Trail of 1858 (2007) with Mark Forsythe. He lives in Coquitlam, BC.

About the Publisher

Harbour Publishing—A History

Harbour Publishing is an award-winning independent book publisher owned and operated by Howard and Mary White.

The company was established in 1974 and is based on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast. Harbour is well known for Raincoast Chronicles, a series of anthologies on BC coast history and culture, of which twenty have now been produced. Harbour is also the publisher of over five hundred titles in various genres, including The Encyclopedia of British Columbia; the bestselling Fishing With John by Edith Iglauer; Governor General’s Award-winning The Fly in Autumn by David Zieroth; and many other prize-winning books, including The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names: A Complete Reference to Coastal British Columbia, Simon Fraser: In Search of Modern British Columbia,A Stain Upon the Sea: West Coast Salmon Farming,Birds of the Raincoast: Habits & Habitat and The Great Bear Rainforest: Canada’s Forgotten Coast.

Other well-known Harbour authors are Patrick Lane, one of Canada’s pre-eminent poets;Arthur Black, beloved humorist and author of Pitch Black, which won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour; Carolyn Herriot, organic gardening guru and author of the national bestseller The Zero-Mile Diet: A Year-Round Guide to Growing Organic Food; Mike McCardell, whose bestselling books have raised over $65,000 for Variety—The Children’s Charity of BC; Anne Cameron, the bestselling novelist; Meg Hickling, children’s book author; the late Al Purdy, recipient of the Governor General’s Award and member of the Order of Canada; and Chris Czajkowski, Canada’s favourite wilderness dweller.

The Canadian Historical Association has cited publisher Howard White as “a tireless promoter and creator of quality British Columbia regional history,” recognizing that Harbour Publishing “has nurtured and brought into being a remarkable range of works that capture the essence of British Columbia.”

White is also an award-winning writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, articles and essays. His book Writing in the Rain won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, and he has also been awarded a Canadian Media Club Prize, the Eaton’s BC Book Award, the Canadian Historical Society Career Award and the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize, among others. He is a member of the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada, and in 2003 received an honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Victoria.