Product Description

A landmark reference on a vast and historic area.

First Nations people call it Nishwawbe-Aski, "Land of the Original People." The area known as the Little North lies in Ontario and Manitoba, north of Lake Superior, east of Lake Winnipeg, west of James Bay and south of Hudson Bay. Early French fur traders referred to it as Le Petit Nord, as distinguished from the vast area west and north of Lake Winnipeg, Le Grand Nord. Despite its name, the Little North encompasses over 20 major lake and river systems within more than 500,000 square miles.

This remarkable atlas, in an oversize format, is a landmark publication -- the result of five decades of travel, research and documentation. Its first section provides an overview of the region's geography, the nature of its canoe routes, and the influence of natural and cultural history on those routes. Its second, larger section features annotated versions of 50 topographic maps derived from the well-known Canadian National Topographic System and constructed in digital form by the Geographic Information Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Annotations include points of interest, portages, rapids and difficult passages.

This atlas is sure to be treasured by canoeists everywhere and by anyone fascinated by the history of the North.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5485 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

Review
This is one book that a dedicated wilderness canoeist will find hard to put down ... impressive, truly wonderful. (Toni Harting Nastawgan 200712)

rRinvents the canoe-routes book.....This is a dreamer's book for those long, chilly winter evenings when your imagination drifts north. (Brian Back Ottertooth.com )

About the Author

Jonathan Berger holds a PhD in environmental planning. He has traveled, sketched and mapped the Little North since the early 1960s. He lives in Philadelphia.

Thomas Terry is an instructor in wilderness rock-climbing, canoe-tripping and first-aid. He outfits and guides custom canoe trips and serves as a community development and wilderness consultant. He lives in Sioux Lookout, Ontario.

Customer Reviews

An unusual and valuable book
A minor work of art, this book begins with a high-level graphical overview of the natural history of the Little North that is suitable for coffee-table browsing, and follows with a wealth of detail about canoeing through the area, both on and completely off the beaten path. In addition to the anticipated maps, there are numerous sketches of natural features that one could imagine using to confirm location in a way that only GPS coordinates could otherwise provide. It's hard to be certain about the present value of the canoeing information as the maps show countless portages undertaken by the authors some years or decades ago, along with hundreds more obtained from conversation with locals, or even extracted from other published works dating back more than 50 years. As a single historical record of where people have travelled in this largely roadless area though, it is fascinating. With logging set to expand into the Albany watershed in the near future, a book such as this is a fitting tribute to a wilderness area with a long history that has received little recognition from the majority of Canadians.