If you love to read…Here are a few books that I enjoy!

Links where to purchase these books are at the bottom of the page.

Let’s start with some books that contain some exciting history.

WILDERNESS SECRETS REVEALED

André-François Bourbeau has a lot to say when it comes to survival. Born here in Quebec Canada André-François holds a Guiness World Record for a longest voluntary wilderness survival.

He has now a new book that is out explaining his secrets. Let him take you through his adventures as a Survivor.

His book is Foreworded by LES STROUD.

André-François is obsessed with survival and adventure. Some would sat passionate. I say obsessed!        Les Stroud

 “Fire! Wake up! The shelter is on fire!”

“His students affectionately call him “Doc Survival.” He’s Quebec’s Indiana Jones in a forest setting. Searching for the treasures of the wilderness has been his life-long quest; with passion as his only guide, he has dared to penetrate the forest on its own terms, facing increasingly difficult challenges in the hope of becoming nature’s confidant, of learning her secrets.

Professor emeritus André-François Bourbeau holds a Guinness World Record for voluntary wilderness survival in the boreal forest. Herein lies his path and his stories, unadulterated: gritty and often comical mistakes punctuated by inspiring successes. What remains of this lifetime of experimentation is one man’s everlasting love of the wilderness and its intricacies, a rousing reflection on our own human priorities, and need for deep connection with the environment and other fellow beings.”

  

 

 

 

 

 THE KLONDIKE QUEST by PIERRE BERTON

This is one of the books that states…A picture is worth a thousand words! Does it ever!

These are real and rare pictures of the famous Klondike Era from 1897 to 1899. They are astonishing to look at. Each picture takes me back. I can just take minutes observing all the details from each picture taken. What hardship they had to go through. There is not much to read but each picture tells a story.

Each page is made out of glossy paper which makes it easy to see. A quality made book that I will keep for my lifetime and hopefully pass it on. It is quite a size. It measures 12 ½ inches by 11 inches and contains 239 pages of rich history when it comes to pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FIRST CROSSING by DEREK HAYES

This is the story of ALENXANDER MACKENZIE, His expedition across North America, and the opening of a continent.

Here is a major exploration story of epic proportions-romantic, historically significant, and compelling. It is the story of Canada’s most famous explorer, Alexander Mackenzie, who in 1793 became the first person to cross the continent of North America north of Mexico. Drawing upon contemporary accounts, including Mackenzie’s own writings, this book brings to life his dramatic and dangerous quest for the Pacific Ocean. It also traces the path of explorers who came after Mackenzie, including Sir John Franklin to the Arctic Ocean and David Thompson, Lewis and Clark, and Simon Fraser to the Pacific. First Crossing is more than the saga of one explorer. It is a unique slice of exploration history of a continent.

I love this one 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

EPIC WANDERER by D’ARCY JENISH

David Thompson and the Mapping of the Canadian West.

Less celebrated than his contemporaries Lewis and Clark, Thompson spent nearly three decades (1784-1812) surveying and mapping over 1.2 million square miles of largely uncharted Indian Territory. Travelling across the prairies, over the Rockies and on to the Pacific, Thompson transformed the raw data of his explorations into a map of the Canadian West.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You know when we plan for a 3 day or maybe a week to 2 weeks canoe trip! Well imagine leaving on a canoe and coming back close to 30 years later. Now that’s what I call a canoe trip. This is that type of story. The struggles that he had to face are out of this world. This is a first rate recommendation by me if this is your thing 🙂

EMPEROR OF THE NORTH by JAMES RAFFAN

SIR GEORGE SIMPSON and The Remarkable Story of the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Without Sir George Simpson, Western Canada would not exist. A feisty little illegitimate Scot, aged 28, who the Governors of the Hudson’s Bay Company plucked, from outside the fur trade and the company, from a London counting house and sent to take over the company’s operations. For 40 years, mainly by commanding brigades of 36 foot canoes d’maitre with maniac intensity, he expanded (onto the Pacific Coast) and preserved the company, circumnavigated the globe through Russia, sired a score of children throughout his domain and behaved as most great men, given great power. Raffan tells a story impossible to put down, loves the north and loves the canoe.

What a story! When I first received this book I said to myself…this book is cheaply made. The paper used seems old and not even. But I heared that it was intentionally made that way to keep you in that early time of history.

Wow! Another good read…

 

 

UNDAUNTED COURAGE by STEPHEN E. AMBROSE

Who does not enjoy the classic story of Lewis and Clark! Man I loved this book…It’s one of those books that you do not want to put down 🙂

From the bestselling author of Band of Brothers and D-Day, the definitive book on Lewis and Clark’s exploration of the Louisiana Purchase, the most momentous expedition in American history and one of the great adventure stories of all time. Ambrose follows the Lewis and Clark Expedition from Thomas Jefferson’s hope of finding a waterway to the Pacific, through the heart-stopping moments of the actual trip, to Lewis’s lonely demise on the Natchez Trace. Ambrose shows us the American West as Lewis saw it-wild, awesome, and pristinely beautiful.

 

 

A NAME OF HER OWN by JANE KIRKPATRICK

This is also one of my all time favorites. This book contains some truth but the author had to fill in the gaps to bring to life the incredible story of Marie Dorion, a woman’s struggle to survive, wild men, wild camps and the dangerous wilderness that surrounded her.

I have actually read this book 3 times and I think I am ready to read it again 🙂  Incredible what human nature is ready to do when it comes to its survival.

Based on the life of Marie Dorion, the first mother to cross the Rocky Mountains and remain in the Northwest, A Name of Her Own is the fictionalized adventure account of a real woman’s fight to settle in a new landscape, survive in a nation at war, protect her sons and raise them well and, despite an abusive, alcoholic husband, keep her marriage together. With two rambunctious young sons to raise, Marie Dorion refuses to be left behind in St. Louis when her husband heads West with the Wilson Hunt Astoria expedition of 1811. Faced with hostile landscapes, an untried expedition leader, and her volatile husband, Marie finds that the daring act she hoped would bind her family together may in the end tear them apart.
On the journey, Marie meets up with the famous Lewis and Clark interpreter, Sacagawea. Both are Indian women married to mixed-blood men of French Canadian and Indian descent, both are pregnant, both traveled with expeditions led by white men, and both are raising sons in a white world.

Together, the women forge a friendship that will strengthen and uphold Marie long after they part, even as she faces the greatest crisis of her life, and as she fights for her family’s very survival with the courage and gritty determination that can only be fueled by a mother’s love.

 Now let’s take a look at a few books we can learn from!

BUSHCRAFT by MORS KOCHANSKI

This is a man we all know to be quite an experienced woodsman. A lot of good information in this book to learn new things about our natural environment and the skills to go with it. I like the fact that he sketches a lot of his teachings. Makes it so much easier to learn.

 

CAMPING and WILDERNESS SURVIVAL by PAUL TAWRELL

Well no need to explain much of this book. It pretty much contains it all and comes in color, how awesome is that 🙂 It’s called the Ultimate Outdoors Book for a good reason.

EDIBLE WILD PLANTS by LEE ALLEN PETERSON

If you are like me and need to learn more about wild edibles and you live in the Eastern/Central part of North America…Here is the book for you. I love it simply because it is complete and very easy to use and understand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So dear friends I hope you enjoyed this little book section of our website. I did not post all of them yet but once in a while I will add the worthwhile reads.

Reading is Learning….Enjoy them!

Mike

 

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