Fresh Reads on Canada’s National Capital Region
Interested in learning more about the history of Ottawa and the Capital Region?
Check out CanU Board Members Alain Miguelez and David Gordon’s new books!
Transforming Ottawa
by Alain Miguelez
Alain is an Urban Planner for the City of Ottawa and an amateur historian. He was inspired to write the book “by the rediscovery, at the National Archives, of a large collection of hauntingly beautiful street scenes of Ottawa in 1937-39, commissioned by Jacques Gréber, the French urban planner hired by the Prime Minister of the day (W.L. Mackenzie King) to prepare a master plan for our city. The book looks at the city as Gréber saw it in 1937, when he first set foot in Ottawa, describes his famous 1950 plan, and discusses its outcomes and effects on our city… The book is intended as a contribution to the ongoing conversation about our growing city, its planning history, and its present-day challenges.” (Indiegogo)
After a successful Iniegogo crowd funding campaign the first printing of Transforming Ottawa sold out of all 500 copies! To get your hands on the 2nd printing of Transforming Ottawa you can pre-order through the Indiegogo crowd funding campaign.
Town & Crown: An illustrated history of Canada’s Capital
by Dr. David Gordon (Chair, CanU’s Research Committee)
“Town and Crown is an illustrated history of the planning and development of Canada’s capital city, filling a significant gap in our urban scholarship. It is the story of the transformation of the region from a sub-arctic wilderness portage to an attractive modern metropolis with a high quality of life. The book examines the period from 1800-2011, and is the first major study that covers both sides of the Ottawa River, addressing the settlement history of aboriginal, French and English peoples.
David Gordon is Professor and Director of the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Queen’s University. His latest books are Planning Twentieth Century Capital Cities and Planning Canadian Communities (with Gerald Hodge), which won the 2014 Canadian Institute of Planners’ National Award of Distinction. David was born in Ottawa, where his family has lived for almost a century.” (Commoners Publishing)
You can order the book through Commoners Publishing here.