On the Road to Stalingrad: Memoirs of a Woman Machine Gunner. Rev. ed.

Tim Cook is the transport archivist at the Government Archives and
Records Disposition Division, National Archives of Canada.

John DeMont defines home as “where you belong no matter how much its
face changes.” He theorizes that everyone spends their life searching
for their own “last best place,” and believes that people who never
find a home are condemned to an endless search from town to town looking
for the place that will give them context. They do this, he says,
because it is human nature to strive for “connection and spiritual
nourishment.”

DeMont was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and now lives in Ottawa where
he is a member of the parliamentary press gallery for Maclean’s
magazine. In The Last Best Place, he recounts his return home to Nova
Scotia, and the oftentimes strange cast of characters he encountered,
including Anne Murray’s greatest Austrian fans, moonshiners, tuna
smugglers, and Celtic musicians.

The 14-chapter book is divided into four sections that give the reader
a sense of how the geography and history of Nova Scotia have helped to
shape its unique character. DeMont’s vivid lyrical and historical
descriptions easily convey his love for his home, which he describes as
“the perfect fantasy spot.” Readers planning a Nova Scotian road
trip will especially enjoy the author’s eclectic mix of adventures.