In the Google Earth era, it’s easy to forget that for most of the human age the planet was largely an unknown and mysterious place. Think of the timeless mariners’ warning that, beyond the tattered map edges, “Here be dragons…” Over centuries of voyages and journeys of exploration, the understanding of our world’s geography grew. With The Land of Heart’s Delight: Early Maps and Charts of Vancouver Island, Michael Layland has created an attractive and absorbing book that focuses on a small corner of our country that was among the last regions to be explored by Europeans —the west coast of British Columbia. Filled with beautifully detailed colour and black-and-white reproductions, this coffee-table book is a must for fans of cartography and history.
—Mark Collin Reid, (Editor-in Chief, Canada’s History, formerly The Beaver)
—Mark Collin Reid, (Editor-in Chief, Canada’s History, formerly The Beaver)
Dave Obee, Times Colonist, November 3, 2013
“filled with dozens of details that help provide a better sense of where we live”
“It is readable, entertaining and informative, and will be a reference work for many years to come.”
“filled with dozens of details that help provide a better sense of where we live”
“It is readable, entertaining and informative, and will be a reference work for many years to come.”
Phyllis Reeve’s article, “Mapping an Island Paradise” in The Dorchester Review, Spring/Summer 2014. “The maps are the story, glossed in a style so deceptively light-handed that the reader scarcely realizes how much information she has absorbed.”
Read it here.
Read it here.
The Land of Heart’s Delight shortlisted for a 2014 BC Book Prize.
On March 12, the West Coast Book Society announced the shortlists for the BC Book Prizes for 2014. The Land of Heart’s Delight is one of the five finalists for the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award.
On March 12, the West Coast Book Society announced the shortlists for the BC Book Prizes for 2014. The Land of Heart’s Delight is one of the five finalists for the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award.
Second Place for The Land of Heart’s Delight
The BC Historical Federation has announced that The Land of Heart’s Delight has been awarded second place prize in its annual Historical Writing Competition. A panel of judges evaluated some 30 books about BC history that had been submitted, for scholarship, presentation, and accessibility criteria. The Lieutenant-Governor will present the awards on June 6, 2014, at the opening reception for the federation’s annual conference.
The BC Historical Federation has announced that The Land of Heart’s Delight has been awarded second place prize in its annual Historical Writing Competition. A panel of judges evaluated some 30 books about BC history that had been submitted, for scholarship, presentation, and accessibility criteria. The Lieutenant-Governor will present the awards on June 6, 2014, at the opening reception for the federation’s annual conference.
Margaret Thompson, The Coastal Spectator,
January 14, 2014
“meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated”
January 14, 2014
“meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated”
Barry Gough, BC Studies, Autumn, 2014
“In all this is a fine book, and a very handsome production… a credit to author and publisher alike.”
“In all this is a fine book, and a very handsome production… a credit to author and publisher alike.”
Cartographic history of the Island entertaining, informative
Read Dave Obee’s review of The Land of Heart's Delight, Sunday, November 3, 2013
Michael Layland gets the lay of the (is)land.
Review (2013)