{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YXLRGJ0?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"B00YXLRGJ0","authors":["Paul Chiasson"],"book_id":"9781459733121","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781459733121","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781459733121.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","description":"2017 Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award — Shortlisted Paul Chiasson reveals the possibility that early Chinese settlers landed in Cape Breton long before Europeans. From the very beginning of the European Age of Discovery, Cape Breton was considered unusual. The history of the area even includes early references to the island having once been the land of the Chinese. In 1497, at least a century before any attempt at European settlement in the region, the explorer John Cabot had referred to Cape Breton as the “Island of Seven Cities.” The indigenous people of the region, the Mi’kmaq, were the only aboriginal people of North America who had a written language when Europeans first arrived. This writing, clothing, and customs also suggested an early Chinese presence. In Written in the Ruins , Chiasson investigates the ruins at St. Peters in the southern part of the island, where evidence brought to light supports a theory that could answer all the questions raised by the island’s curious, unresolved history.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9781459733121","publication_date":"20160123","publisher":"Dundurn Press","slug":"written-in-the-ruins","subtitle":"Cape Breton Island’s Second Pre-columbian Chinese Settlement","title":"Written in the Ruins"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"HIS008000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Chinese History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS051000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Exploration & Discovery","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}],"hint":[],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"HIS008000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Chinese History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS051000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Exploration & Discovery","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Chinese History","score":1,"slug":"chinese-history"},{"label":"Exploration & Discovery","score":1,"slug":"exploration-discovery"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Chinese History","Good for readers interested in history","Good for readers who enjoy Chinese History and Exploration & Discovery."],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Douglas Preston"],"book_id":"9781455540013","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781455540013.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":10.3515,"title":"The Lost City of the Monkey God","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781455540013"},{"authors":["Simon Vance","Anthony Brandt","Random House Audio","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9780307276568","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780307276568.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":10.3243,"title":"The Man Who Ate His Boots","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780307276568"},{"authors":["Tony Horwitz"],"book_id":"9780312422608","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780312422608.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":10.2393,"title":"Blue Latitudes","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780312422608"},{"authors":["Sean Kingsley","Simcha Jacobovici","Brenda Jones","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9781639364589","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781639364589.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":10.2334,"title":"Enslaved","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781639364589"},{"authors":["Mark Synnott","Mark Deakins","Penguin Audio","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9780593471524","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593471524.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":7.8893,"title":"Into the Ice","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593471524"},{"authors":["Julian Sancton"],"book_id":"9780593594179","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593594179.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":7.8732,"title":"Neptune's Fortune","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593594179"},{"authors":["Jonathan Kaufman"],"book_id":"9780735224438","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780735224438.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":7.8708,"title":"The Last Kings of Shanghai","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780735224438"},{"authors":["David Welky","Joel Richards","Audible Studios","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9780393354829","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780393354829.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":7.8674,"title":"A Wretched and Precarious Situation","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780393354829"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:pre-columbian history"],"label":"History","score":0.9238,"slug":"history"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:native people"],"label":"People","score":0.0467,"slug":"people"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: History.","Reading lane: Chinese History and Exploration & Discovery.","Publisher: Dundurn Press."]},"llm_signals":null,"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":false,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":38,"goodreads_ratings_count":29,"goodreads_reviews_count":6,"quality_score":0.8602}}