Few Canadian cities are as tightly bound to a single historical decision as Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. When John A. MacDonald mandated the building of a coast-to-coast railroad in the mid-19th century, many believed the new line should head northwest through Saskatoon and Edmonton. Eventually the CPR decided to build the line closer to the American border. The new railway headed through the small town of Moose Jaw, and the population and local bank accounts swelled accordingly.

John Larsen and Maurice Richard Libby fondly explore this and many other of the Prairie city’s pivotal happenings and personalities in Moose Jaw: People Places History. The wealth of archived photos, playbills, newspaper clippings, and personal anecdotes lend the book the feel of a scrapbook, though the authors also examine the city’s more sordid and colourful stories. Moose Jaw was, after all, the favoured vacation getaway of Al Capone, and like all North American cities, suffered from its share of racism, crime, and municipal corruption. Luckily the authors love their subject enough to celebrate its rich history, warts and all.