“Sadly, there are no ‘classic’ Canadian prairie images, no photographs that are known to every school child,” according to Medicine Hat author and archivist Brock V. Silversides. Traditionally, the prairies have not been considered exotic or exciting to outsiders. Silversides’ Looking West: Photographing the Canadian Prairies, 1858-1957 ($24.95 paper 1-894004-09-4, 202 pp., b&w photos, Fifth House), may help rectify that notion. A surprisingly eclectic and varied compilation of images, Looking West charts 100 years of the region’s rich visual history through 180 archival photos. An indepth 30-page introduction rounds out the collection, offering up interesting and little-known information about the land and the people who inhabited the middle provinces. Katja Pantzar