The Canadian Rockies

Maryon L. McClary is the periodicals and microform librarian at the
University of Alberta.

Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Kootenay, and Waterton Lakes national parks, as
well as Kananaskis Country, are all covered in this coffee-table book on
the Canadian Rockies. The book includes a brief introduction (mostly a
history of the railway and of tourism in the area) and factual
information about the various parks (e.g., highest peak, total square
kilometres, when the big hotels were built). Sidebars and archival
photographs juxtapose “then and now” images and provide interesting
historical highlights.

Unfortunately, the quality of the photographs varies. The wildlife
photographs are abundant and excellent, and depict the variety of
wildlife in the backcountry. Autumn scenery and colors in the Rockies
are also well depicted. But several archival photographs of the major
hotels add little to the book except to show fuzzy buildings detracting
from the natural splendor of their surroundings. And some of the
captions explain little about the subject of the photograph. Though this
book would make a fine souvenir for visitors to the Canadian Rockies,
those looking for detailed and historical information about the various
parks should look elsewhere.