History buffs and fans of Paul Spasoff's weekly column, "Back to the Past", in the Weyburn Review will now have the opportunity to buy a volume of some of his most popular columns.

Spasoff has compiled 50 of his columns, and in the majority of cases in an expanded form from what was published in the paper, in a book entitled, Back to the Past: Celebrating Saskatchewan's People and Places.

"From the last battle fought on Canadian soil to Prime Minister Mackenzie King repaying a political debt by establishing Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan has a rich and colourful history," said Spasoff.

Having written 70 columns for the papers, he admitted that cutting the number down to 50 was tough, but based his selections on a couple factors, including feedback from the public, and subjects that were his personal favourites.

When he first began with the column, Spasoff said he had the idea of a book in the back of his mind, but kept his expectations realistic and waited to see what the response to the columns were.

The result is he began receiving many calls and e-mails from people all over the province, as well as from across Canada from subscribers of hometown papers, with many asking if they could buy a book with all of his columns in it.

With this feedback, he gave serious thought to compiling the columns. For most of them, he had much more information on his subjects than what was printed in the space of the newspaper, with some of the chapters in the book running to 2,000 words. In addition, there are over 70 historical photos throughout the book.

As with the columns, Spasoff ensured that each region of the province was represented, with such topics from the southeast as Tommy Douglas, the strike at Estevan and Cannington Manor being included.

Some of his personal favourite topics included Tom Sukanen, who built a ship on land and hauled it 17 miles across the prairie, and Sarah Katherine Ramsland, Saskatchewan's first female MLA, who sat shortly after women received the vote in this province.

The Weyburn Review will be taking orders for copies of the book at a cost of $19.95 plus taxes. To place your order for this book, call the Review at 842-7487.