The Halifax Citadel

The Halifax Citadel was a great bastion of the British Empire, the impregnable shield of the "Warden of the North". Today it is one of Canada's most famous landmarks: every year thousands visit the star-shaped fortress, watch the traditional firing of the noon-day gun and roam the ramparts and the fortified buildings where British soldiers were once garrisoned. They watch the re-enactment of military exercises by men and women in authentic 19th-century military uniforms, and enjoy the music of the pipe band in the Parade. This richly-illustrated history conveys the lively martial pageantry of this unparalleled attraction. This book offers background on the Halifax Citadel and its history, exploring the lives of soldiers and their families stationed in Hailfax in the 19th century.

Just who would choose to march around the Citadel Hill wearing a kilt, in the middle of winter? This book tells you why, 150 years ago, British soldiers preferred the icy breezes of Halifax to the palm trees and sunshine of the Bahamas. This is the first history book to explain how rank-and-file soldiers lived on 12 cents a day and an endless diet of boiled beef and bread. It exposes the officers' antics: they had so much status and fun, they fell flat on their faces after dinner.

Halifax offers 250 years of history to discover: this book introduces the city's rich past with remarkable colour photography.

The Halifax Citadel is now one of the most visited and well known National Historic Sites in Canada. It may also be one of the most haunted. Ghostly apparitions, unexplained footsteps, and eerie figures that appear on security monitors are just some of the mysteries encountered by staff and visitors alike. This Second Edition contains over a dozen new stories of lost love, menacing shadows, and haunted wells as the author attempts to separate truth from rumour, folklore from fact.