John Reid
John G. Reid holds degrees from Oxford University (BA), Memorial University (MA), and the University of New Brunswick (PhD). Since 1985 he has been a member of the History department at Saint Mary’s University, teaching and supervising theses in the areas of Canadian and Atlantic Canadian history. He has held the rank of Professor since 1989. He is also a former Coordinator of Atlantic Canada Studies at Saint Mary’s, and is currently Senior Research Fellow at the Gorsebrook Research Institute. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, elected in 2004. Reid’s principal teaching and research interests include the history of early modern northeastern North America (focusing especially on imperial-aboriginal issues in Acadia/Nova Scotia and northern New England), the history of Atlantic Canada, and the history of higher education. He has published books and articles in these areas, as well as writing two historical novels for teenage readers and two plays for radio. Reid has served on the Council of the Canadian Historical Association and on the editorial board of the Canadian Historical Review. He is currently a board member of three historical journals, and of the Atlantic Canada Portal. He has also lectured internationally, and in 2008 held the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute Visiting Lectureship in India.
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Nova Scotia
A Pocket History
Before it was known as Nova Scotia, the province formed part of Mi’kma’ki and then of Acadie. This book provides a concise history of the province to the beginning of the 21st century. “The history of Nova Scotia,” says the author, “is not quaint. It is made up of the efforts of people of many backgrounds to make their way as best they could. Sometimes they succeeded, often they fell short. The reasons for either outcome were always complex. This book tries to sort out the broader patterns that have influenced people’s lives and, in some cases, continue to do so.”
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The People and Josh Wilson
Josh Wilson’s grade nine history project leads him stumbling into a parallel world where Native American people have not been displaced by colonists. Instead, the People thrive in a powerful domain and co-exist with small colonies in Massachusetts and New York. Josh has only a few days to find his way back to his own world. His journey among leaders of the colonists and the Mahican people is an action packed trip through an alternate history that inspires readers to question the past and rethink the present.
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Escape!
Young Adult Fiction
The exciting events of this tale begin with young Russian emigre, Alexi Gertoff, meeting a mysterious boy on the streets of Amherst, Nova Scotia. The boy, who barely speaks English, turns out to be the son of Leon Trotsky, and he has come to town to spring his father from the wartime prison camp. Alexi and his family become involved in a dangerous attempt to reunite Trotsky with his wife and children. Based on the real-life imprisonment of Trotsky at the Amherst prison camp during the month of April 1917, the story moves to Halifax and to the Ukraine in the former USSR, as we follow the travels of Alexi Gertoff. Rich in historical detail, this fictional tale is an absorbing read for young adults with an appetite for suspense and adventure.