The Road Across Canada

Hardcover with dust jacket, 199 pages, 5.5x8.75 in - 14x22 cm, B&W illustrations by John A. Hall, maps on end papers.

Cover corners bumped. Spine bumped at heel. Dust jacket lightly worn with closed tears to front (bottom) and back (top and bottom); jacket corners chipped and rubbed. Jacket spine creased and chipped at head and heel. Previous owner’s name to ffep.; rear vacat page marked in ink.

Edward McCourt (1907-1972) was an Alberta author and an English professor at the University of Saskatchewan. He wrote novels, literary criticism, short stories, and travelogues. In “The Road Across Canada,” McCourt recounts a 1963 journey with his wife along the Trans Canada Highway (officially opened just one year earlier) from Signal Hill in Newfoundland to Victoria in British Columbia. With a keen eye for geography, history, and scenery, McCourt presents a panoramic view of Canada, balancing descriptions of major waypoints (like Rogers Pass) with personal encounters (like talking with a nature-loving Sulpician priest). Throughout, the book offers a glimpse into cross-country travel in the 1960s and a wide-angle commentary on Canada’s variety of culture and landscape.