(NEW downloadable eBook!) Travel Canada 
Back Cover: Introducing revised Edition 2023 of Travelling the Dempster by John Neville Westwood Books Publishing LLC ISBN ebook 979-8-88887-490-5
This New edition includes More maps, more pictures, links and up to date information. Review... Nice Memoir About Birding On The Dempster By J. E. Nelson 
I am planning on a trip up the Dempster Highway to Inuvik during the summer of 2010. Being largely unfamiliar with the Western Arctic region of Canada, I was looking for as many resources as possible to plan places to stop and sights that people found worth seeing. When I saw the book Travelling The Dempster, I had high hopes of finding a detailed travel guide specifically about the Dempster Highway. The book is more of a memoir about recording birds, but it was not useless as a travel guide.
I have to admit I had never heard of John Neville before. Not being very interested in birds and birding, I have no idea if he is a common name in the inner circles of that hobby. When I initially began reading the book, hoping for a travel guide, I was expecting to be disappointed. However, I have to say that I did find the book enjoyable and I did pick up a few tidbits of information that I predict will be useful for my trip.  The book is basically a diary of the author's trip up the Dempster Highway. The author's focus on the trip was to record bird calls for a CD, Bird Songs of the Arctic. The book basically starts in Dawson City and the author divides the trip up the highway in chapters based in the regions he crossed. While I expected the focus of each chapter to be about tracking birds, this was not the case. The book was a bit travel guide, a bit of history, a dash of textbook, and a good dose of diary. Each chapter reads like a section of a travel diary. In the chapter, the author does a good job of working in a bit of history or a little science about the ecology and animals in the area. The glue holding all the pieces together is the stories told from the auth's perspective. Sometimes it was a humorous story about boarding a ferry or talk about hanging out with people at a hotel. Overall, the author tied everything together to make a well rounded book. 
At just over 100 pages, the book is short and is fast reading. The graphics and photos in the book look a bit cheap. If you are looking for a book or a guide to help you plan a trip, I would probably look elsewhere. However, as I said previously, I did pick up some information about the region that I found helpful. After reading the book, I am not sure of the target audience. My guess is if the region interests you or you have an interest in birding, I am sure you would find the book interesting. It was just a nice book that let your mind wander to an area far away from home.
Copyright @2023 by John Neville Printed USA Westwood Books Publishing LLC Library of Congress Control Number :2023940429 ISBN: Paperback 979-8-88887-488-2 124 pg Hardback 979-8-88887-489-9 124 pg eBook 979-8-88887-490-5 137 pg Contents- 1. Dawson City 2. The Boreal Forest 3. The Southern Ogilvies 4. The Northern Ogilvies 5. Eagle Plains 6. The Richardson Mountains 7. The Peel Plateau 8. The Peel Mackenzie Lowlands 9. The Explorers 10. The Mackenzie River Lowlands to Inuvik 11. The Return Journey Post script Recordings by John Neville Bibliography Prices: Amazon: Kindle $5.99, Hardcover $29.99, Paperback $13.99 Barnes and Noble: eBook $5.99, Hardcover $29.99, Paper back 13.99 To order see our Catalogue in the drop down menu. |
