Biography: general Books

Book Synopsis“When you educate a girl, you educate a nation.” —Malawian saying The women of Malawi, like many other women in developing countries, struggle to find their way out of poverty and build a better life for themselves and their families. Weaving a Malawi Sunrise tells the story of Memory Chazeza’s quest to get an education and to build a school for young women. Roberta Laurie was one of many who helped Memory realize her vision of seeing young girls become strong and independent women who could care for themselves and their future families. During her time in Malawi, Laurie met several other women, each of whom had a story of her own. Laurie combines these personal accounts with detailed information about the country’s underlying social and political context. Readers interested in Africa, global affairs, women’s studies, development, and international education will give high marks to Weaving a Malawi Sunrise.Trade Review#1 on the Edmonton Journal's Bestsellers list (Edmonton Nonfiction) for the week of November 27, 2015 The Edmonton Journal * The Edmonton Journal *"Roberta Laurie, a former Rotarian, has written a book that is both heart warming and sobering. On the one hand, we read about young women experiencing life changing educational success. On the other hand, we read about the challenges girls and women experience in rural Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world.... [The book] portrays the development of a courageous, visionary leader.... In addition, the book is rich with the history, culture, geography, and politics of Malawi. This material is deftly presented as the context for the development of [the school].... The emphasis on the stories of Memory, Christie, and the students move the narrative forward and capture and hold readers’ interest." [Full article at http://bit.ly/1ZBUFAm] -- Dean Wood * ClubRunner *"Most everyone has a place that inspires reflection and contentment: a Paris café, a salmon run on the Miramichi River, your grandmother’s kitchen table. Roberta Laurie is an Alberta Rotarian who finds her place at a Malawian school for girls. The result is intriguing and joyful. "Weaving A Malawi Sunrise" never patronizes. Laurie is a delightful writer.... "Weaving A Malawi Sunrise" is kind and eloquent, by turn angry and evocative..." [Full article at https://www.blacklocks.ca/review-one-day-at-the-rotary-club] -- Holly Doan * Blacklock's Reporter *"...very highly recommended for academic library Contemporary African Studies reference collections..." -- Julie Summers * Reviewer's Bookwatch *#5 on the Edmonton Journal's Non-fiction Bestsellers list for the week ofJune 03, 2016. * The Edmonton Journal *"Laurie's moving book about gender and education in Malawi chronicles the construction of a girls’ school through the heroic efforts of educator Memory Chazeza and her Canadian collaborators (including the author). The book’s chapters alternate between stories of women the author met in Malawi while working alongside Chazeza, vignettes from Chazeza’s life, and essential sociopolitical context about Malawi. With a gripping narrative and touching personal stories, the book is very accessible... Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and lower-division undergraduates." [Full review at http://bit.ly/1NGTES5] -- C. Pinto * Choice Magazine *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Introduction Abbreviations 1 | The Dream Becomes Reality Solstina 2 | The Warm Heart of Africa Lucita 3 | Education for All Shakira 4 | You Should Work Hard in School Agness 5 | I Should Be Buried Grace 6 | What It Means To Be an Orphan Chifundo 7 | Life in the Village Florence 8 | Canadians Educating African Girls Audrey 9 | A Trip to the Lake Chidothi 10 | The CEAG Girls Estel 11 | Growing Up Basimati 12 | Quietly, Malawi Begins to Starve Henry 13 | A Global Perspective Eunice 14 | The Dream Takes Shape Patience 15 | Atsikana Pa Ulendo Blandina 16 | A Moral Universe Notes Index

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Book SynopsisIn Metis Pioneers, Doris Jeanne MacKinnon compares the survival strategies of two Metis women born during the fur trade—one from the French-speaking free trade tradition and one from the English-speaking Hudson’s Bay Company tradition—who settled in southern Alberta as the Canadian West transitioned to a sedentary agricultural and industrial economy. MacKinnon provides rare insight into their lives, demonstrating the contributions Metis women made to the building of the Prairie West. This is a compelling tale of two women’s acts of quiet resistance in the final days of the British Empire.Trade Review"[These two women's] individual paths provide interesting parallel stories about Metis women who survived and thrived as the Canadian west transitioned from the fur trade to a more sedentary agricultural economy. Marie Rose’s family was French-speaking Metis and a few served as Louis Riel’s soldiers. Isabella was from the English-speaking Metis stock. Both were born in 1861 and both married non-Indigenous men in unions that were influenced, or arranged outright, by their families. Both families had a strong history in the fur trade; Marie Rose’s were free traders and Isabella as part of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Both were community builders who later relied on their influence and circle of acquaintances for support after they became widows and fell on hard times. And the stories of both women showed how the Metis people continued to make significant contributions to the Canadian west even after the fur trade ended, an area of historical study that MacKinnon thinks is rife for discovery...." [Full article at http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/books/lady-belle-and-marie-rose-new-book-showcases-pioneering-metis-women-in-alberta] -- Eric Volmers * Calgary Herald *"MacKinnon's book offers readers an in-depth look at the contributions each of the two women made to the growth of Canada's west, but more than that, it is a book about courage, resilience, determination and strength of character. The book was written to tell the truth..." -- John Copley * Alberta Native News *“The cultural bridging demonstrated by the two women subjects of this book is both evident and significant.” -- Wayne Holst * Colleagues List II *"Whether or not the two women were ever in the same room together, their individual paths provide interesting parallel stories about Metis women who survived and thrived as the Canadian west transitioned from the fur trade to a more sedentary agricultural economy…And the stories of both women showed how the Metis people continued to make significant contributions to the Canadian west even after the fur trade ended, an area of historical study that MacKinnon thinks is rife for discovery." -- Eric Volmers * Strength and Resilience: Documenting how pioneering Metis women in Alberta survived beyond the fur trade *"This book deals with the lives of two frontier women - Isabella Lougheed and Marie Rose Smith. They both were Metis but their histories were miles apart. ... The author has found a rich source of history in these two women and offers them in a detailed account of their lives." * Alberta History *Self-fashioning is also a focus of Doris Jeanne MacKinnon’s Metis Pioneers, as she details the lives of two Métis women born in 1861, during the time when the fur-trade culture into which they both were born transitioned into a new settler-colonial economy.... The book aims to explain how two Métis women fashioned themselves as respectable homesteading pioneers, transforming a birth identity that was increasingly scorned as incoming settlers swamped more inclusive fur-trade sensibilities after the Riel Resistance in 1885." Canadian Literature, November 30, 2018 [Full review at http://canlit.ca/article/first-lives] -- Margery FeeTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Note on Terminology Note on Sources Note on Names Introduction 1 - Being and Becoming Metis 2 - The Ties That Bind 3 - Gracious Womanhood 4 - With This Economy We Do Wed 5 - Trader Delorme’s Family 6 - Queen of the Jughandle 7 - Fenced In 8 - Many Voices—One People Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFour years after Therese Greenwood and her husband moved to Fort McMurray, Alberta, their new community was shattered by one of the worst wildfires in Canadian history. As the flames approached, they had only minutes to pack, narrowly escaping a fire that would rage for weeks, burn more than 85,000 hectares and force 80,000 people to flee.Trade Review# 1 on Edmonton Non-Fiction Bestsellers list, April 3, 2019"One of the greatest treasures in life may be to understand both where we have come from and who we have come to be. It seems that Therese’s reflections gave her some of those insights. Perhaps reading and reflecting with her might do the same for us." -- Bob Trube"...as evacuation orders were imposed and as the highway out of town swelled with traffic... [Greenwood] gathered an assortment of objects, from deeply meaningful mementos to items that initially appeared more random... Each of the objects she has retained is carefully considered and contextualized over a number of chapters that fuse past and present, family memories and local histories.... In this surprisingly gripping and deeply moving account, Greenwood considers how we re-establish normalcy in the wake of profound loss." [Full review at https://canlit.ca/article/precarious-places/] -- Heidi Tiedemann Darroch * Canadian Literature *"Greenwood's book, What You Take With You, is an amalgamation of life lessons on the resilience needed to recover emotionally and mentally following the May 2016 [wildfire] disaster.... The book analyzes what Greenwood took from her home as authorities began ordering the evacuation of Fort McMurray. She had only 15 minutes to grab what she needed.... Greenwood said each object she took in the frenzy of evacuation had a subconscious and special meaning for her.... Each chapter of her book explains the life lesson tied to these objects and how Greenwood applied those lessons to the aftermath of the fire." [Full article at https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/book-recounting-2016-fort-mcmurray-wildfire-nominated-for-award-1.5096318] -- Sarah Williscraft * Fort McMurray Today *Table of ContentsPrologue 1 Before 2 The Go Bag 3 The Rolling Pin 4 The Plaster Saint 5 The Sleigh Bells 6 The Beating Heart 7 The Bible and the Bee Book 8 The Cat Photo 9 The Breda Needlepoint 10 The Flattop and The Dobro 11 The Wedding Mirror 12 The Quilt 13 The Award 14 After Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisFurther Confessions of a Small Press Racketeer is a continuation of the columns and essays that comprised Stuart''s 2005 release, Confessions of a Small Press Racketeer. Again, equal parts literary memoir, reckless tirade, and unsolicited advice for the aspiring writer, Further Confessions is drawn largely from Stuart Ross''s notorious Hunkamooga column, his blog entries, essays for subTerrain magazine and other online venues. We bring them together here in their collected brilliance: alternately snarky, sincere, touching, honest, and always opinionated, Stuart''s confessions are essential reading for any literary confessional. This volume offers its readers a roller-coaster journey into the mind of one of Canada''s most committed small press activists. Praise for Confessions of a Small Press Racketeer, vol. 1: Confessions of a Small Press Racketeer is a wonderful book-funny, outrageous, and acute. I''ll even say it''s the best short-essay collection about the writing life I''ve read in ages. (Lynne Van Luven, Malahat Review) For a quick and dirty breath of fresh air, it''s difficult to beat renegade urban poet Stuart Ross''s latest effort, Confessions of a Small Press Racketeer ... No reformed baby boomer or slumming trust-funder, Ross has the battle scars and knows poetry isn''t about flowers and meadows, it''s about blood and guts. (Stephen Knight, Quill & Quire) The book is a must for anyone working as a poet in Canada, with standout pieces on the politics ofwriting for free, open mic readings, poetic bitterness, chapbook and zine publishing, and the requisite but never-funnier grouch advice to young poets, salubriously titled Stop Bugging Me Already!'' (Prairie Fire) ...no pulled punches here ... this is writing that works because, as with all good confessions, it''s from the heart but comes by way of the brain. (Vancouver Review)

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Book SynopsisFool's Gold: The Life and Legacy of Vancouver's Official Town Fool is the second release in Jesse Donaldson's 49.2: Tales from the Off Beat, an ongoing series dedicated to celebrating the eccentric and unusual aspects of Vancouver. In Fool's Gold, Donaldson explores the legacy of Joachim Foikis. On April 1, 1968, a tall, bespectacled, 35-year-old former social worker named Joachim Foikis received $3,500 from the Canada Council for the Arts in order to finance a unique, self-imposed mission unseen since Elizabethan England: reinvent the vanished tradition of "Town Fool." The 35-year-old Foikis, who held two university degrees (one in economics from the University of Berlin, and the other in literature from the University of British Columbia), was already well known throughout the city for his off-kilter antics. His aim, according to interviews with The Sun and The Province, was "to spread joy and confusion" while at the same time "mock the four pillars of society: money, status, respectability, and conformity." Praise for Donaldson's previous book, This Day in Vancouver: "Donaldson combed through archives all around the city and consulted with experts of all stripes to put together the book. The result is a fascinating read - it's everything you never knew about Vancouver and didn't think to ask. Once you flip through this book, you'll never look at the city the same way again." (The Province)

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Book SynopsisFrom the street, New Westminster's Hollywood Hospital didn't look like much - just a rambling white mansion, mostly obscured behind the holly trees from which it took its name. But, between 1957 and 1968, it was the site of more than 6000 supervised acid trips, as part of the burgeoning (and controversial) field of psychedelic psychiatry. Under the care of Medical Director J Ross MacLean, and ex-spy/researcher Al "Captain Trips" Hubbard, it became a mecca for alcoholics, anxiety patients, and unhappy couples (as well as celebrities like Andy Williams), its unorthodox methods boasting a success rate of nearly 80%. But the same media attention that brought the hospital to prominence also assured its downfall, as prohibition forces drove their work underground for more than 50 years. Written by 49.2 regular Jesse Donaldson and academic historian Erika Dyck, The Acid Room takes readers into the hospital's inner sanctum, charting its meteoric rise and fall as it opened up brave new worlds in medicine, and put Canada at the forefront of a movement that is only now being fully explored.

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Book SynopsisWhat does it mean to be exiled? For the landmarks of your past to disappear?In 1943, Wanda Gizmunt was ripped from her family home in Poland and deported to a forced labour camp in Nazi Germany. At the end of the war, she became one of millions of displaced Europeans awaiting resettlement. Unwilling to return to then-Soviet-occupied Poland, Wanda became one of 100 young Polish women brought to Canada in 1947 to address a labour shortage at a Quebec textile mill. But rather than arriving to long-awaited freedom, the women found themselves captives to their Canadian employer. Their treatment eventually became a national controversy, prompting scrutiny of Canada’s utilitarian immigration policy. Wanda seized the opportunity to leave the mill in the midst of a strike in 1948. She never looked back, but she remained silent about her wartime experience. Only after her death did her daughter-in-law assemble the pieces of Wanda’s life in Poland, Nazi Germany, and finally, Canada. In this masterful account of a hidden episode of history, Faubert chronicles the tragedy of exile and the meaning of silence for those whose traumas were never fully recognized. Trade Review“With so many refugees facing similar hardships today, Wanda’s War sheds light on past periods of turmoil and dislocation. As survivors pass away it falls on this generation to recover and bear witness. Faubert is a witness to the witnesses, to the many who could not speak or chose not to speak. A powerful and moving story.” -- Gwen Strauss, author of The Nine

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Book Synopsis"Why do we fall ill? How do we get better? When his two-year-old develops epilepsy, Shane Neilson, a doctor, struggles to obtain timely medical care for his son. 'Saving' shares his familys journey through the medical system, but also Shanes own personal journey as a father who feels powerless when faced with his childs illness. It entwines these stories with Shanes personal history of mental illness as a child and his professional experience with disability. By exploring the theme of family, Shane Nielse manages to show that, over time, it is possible to not only escape the wreckage of the past, but to celebrate living with disability in the present."Trade ReviewShane Neilson is a brilliant writer and his work deserves to be better known. There hasnt been such a poignant and harrowing memoir of fatherhood in Canada since Ian Browns The Boy in The Moon. Karen Connelly, author of The Change RoomSaving, Dr. Shane Neilsons brilliant, breathless memoir of his quadruple role of father-doctor-patient-and-husband is a heart-stopper. The compassionate physician catapults us into his young sons epileptic seizures, his delicate daughters responses in poems with suicidal thoughts, his own epilepsy and inherited mental illness and, last, the work-life see-saw with his level-headed veterinarian wife. Stunningly candid, this story of a young family whiplashed by the very medical system Neilson is part of lets vulnerability triumph as illnesses and remedies spin. Where is the line between devotion and self-care? It shifts hourly in Neilsons profound book. Much gets saved in Saving: four splendid, embattled livesplus sanity, creativity, and wonder. Molly Peacock, author of The Analyst and The Paper GardenTable of ContentsTABLE OF CONTENTSLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSZEE KAZ PUT AWAY YOUR TOYS THE RECOVERY POSITION CODA BIBLIOGRAPHYDISCLAIMER

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Book SynopsisOn a dreary morning in April, 1893, John Marshall, a Portuguese immigrant and successful farmer on Sumas Prairie in British Columbia, was found lying sprawled across the veranda of his farmhouse, his body cold and lifeless. The farmers face was a mess, his nose smashed in and cracked blood covering his forehead around a jagged black hole. The shocked and unfortunate neighbour who discovered the body rushed to Huntingdon railway station to summon the authorities. An autopsy, coroners inquest and murder investigation followed. Only two days later, a local handyman named Albert Stroebel was arrested for Marshalls murder. Stroebel was an unlikely killer: short and physically disabled, locals considered him a harmless boy who seemed much younger than his 20 years. The young man the community knew was not capable of murder, and they were shocked to imagine that he could have killed the man who had treated him like family. But something had gone tragically wrong on the night Marshall died. Unravelling the mystery would take nine months and two lengthy trials that seized the attention of local communities on both sides of the Canadian-American border, splitting them into pro- and anti-Stroebel factions. Newspapers devoted page after page of coverage and throngs of spectators squeezed into the courtroom galleries. The first trial in New Westminster ended with the jury hopelessly deadlocked, the second in Victoria found him guilty and set an impending date for his execution. The heaviest hitters of BCs political and legal establishment took part including former and current premiers, an Attorney General, and a future Supreme Court justice. When the second trial ended with a guilty verdict and death sentence many in the public howled in protest, convinced that a young man had been condemned to die for a crime he did not commit. And the dramatic events would not stop there. With the condemned man sitting on death row, the case would take more twists and turns that would lead Albert Stroebel to the shadow of the gallows.

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Book SynopsisOn a cold night in February, 1884, just metres north of the border on Sumas Prairie, BC, an Indigenous boy named Louie Sam was lynched by a mob of mounted vigilantes. The vigilantes had ridden up from Nooksack Valley in Washington Territory, hell-bent on avenging the murder of one of their neighbours, which they had pinned on Sam. The American origin of the mob, and the fact Sam''s murder was one of only two recorded lynchings in Canadian history, have led historians and writers to represent it as an isolated and foreign incident -- disconnected from people and events north of the border and an aberration from the norm of Canadian history. When placed within the historical context of that time and place, the vigilante murder of Sam no longer appears to be an isolated and foreign incident. Rather, it emerges as the result of a series of events and causes on both sides of the border, with the active participation of locals in both BC and Washington Territory. DEADLY NEIGHBOURS takes a closer look at the lynching, and in so doing reveals a more complex and disturbing chronicle of the deadly grip the leading White settlers in Nooksack and Sumas held over the area -- and most notably, over their Indigenous neighbours.

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Book SynopsisThe biography of esteemed Te Rarawa elder and tohunga tarai waka (master canoe builder) and celestial navigator Hec Busby. Hec remains one of the few active waka taua builders and he is responsible for the completion of more than a dozen waka taua (war canoes) for iwi around Aoteraora New Zealand. He is widely acknowledged as the pre-eminent holder of lore relating to many aspects of waka culture and is often consulted for his expert opinion. His navigation knowledge, initially learnt directly from Hawaiian navigator Nainoa Thompson of the Polynesian Voyaging Society (Hawaii based) and internationally renowned master navigator Mau Piailug from Satawal, Micronesia, has since been passed on to the next generation of navigators through an ongoing series of wananga.

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Book SynopsisNgoingoi Pewhairangi was a highly respected leader from Te Whanau-a-Ruataupare at Tokomaru Bay who was passionate about the revitalisation and flourishing of the Maori world. She actively introduced initiatives in education, language and the arts and was a Maori leader of note, receiving a QSM for her services to Maori. She is also widely remembered for her beautiful song compositions, which are performed today. This biography describes her considerable achievements across many areas, her work for others, her humility and perseverance, and it brings her to life through stories from her peers, former students and family. Mainly in English with some te reo Maori text.Trade Review'A fantastic piece of social history' - Paul Diamond for Radio New Zealand, 28 July 2008.Table of ContentsList of illustrations ix, He Hokinga Mahara - Na Parekura Horomia xiii, He Hokinga Mahara - Na Katerina Mataira xix, He Hokinga Mahara - Na Rawinia Higgins xxiii, Preface - Ka Noho Au i Konei xxv, Nga mihi xxix, He Whakarapopototanga xxxiii, He Kupu Whakataki - Ehara Tenei i Te Maunga Nekeneke xxxv, Mai i te Poho o te Tikanga 1, He Pa Harakeke 23, Te Kura Tuarua o Nga Kotiro o Turanganui a Kiwa 49, Tuakina Mai Ra Nga Akoranga 71, Kia Kaha Nga Iwi Pupuritia 97, To Reo Whakarongo 117, He Whatu Taniko, He Whatu Tangata 143, Rere Atu Taku Poi 167, Ma o Mahi ka Kitea Koe E te Ao, E To Iwi Maori 201, He Kupu Tuku Iho Mo Tenei Reanga 231, He Kupu Whakamutunga 249, Appendix One: Historical Context 255, Appendix Two: Samples of Ngoi's Writing 257, Glossary 263, Contributions 267, Bibliography 269, Index 273.

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Book SynopsisDoes an exciting weekend for you mean scrubbing all the grouting in your bathroom with a toothbrush? Have you ever felt the urge to kidnap the cable guy and tie him to the bed like Kathy Bates in Misery because you are terrified the TV will stop working once he's gone? Do you ponder marrying the Albanian builder who has just fitted alcove shelving because he's brought you more happiness in three days than your useless ex-boyfriend brought you in three years? Are you engaged in endless rows with call centre staff called Keeley who hang up on you because you are 'shouting and hysterical'? Are you convinced the entire world is engaged in a conspiracy to drive you insane, especially the automated phone system that generates ten text messages whenever you try to book a minicab?Do you write to-do lists that need paginating, and include items such as 're-mortgage house, get pregnant, climb Kilimanjaro'?Welcome to Melissa Kite's life. If you answered yes to three or more of these questions, clearly you too are a desperate single woman trying to survive in the modern world. If not, congratulations: you will have a good laugh reading this book.Trade Reviewa cut above the rest of this genre, thanks to her (Melissa's) caustic wit, making this entertaining and strangely cathartic. * Glamour Magazine *an endearing modern-day Bridget Jones. * Easy Living *an exasperatingly funny memoir. * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisVicky Unwin had always known her father – an erstwhile intelligence officer and respected United Nations diplomat – was Czech, but it was not until a stranger turned up on her doorstep that she discovered he was also Jewish.So began a quest to discover the truth about his past – one that perhaps would help answer the niggling doubts she had always had about her ‘perfect’ father. Finally persuading him to allow her to open a closely guarded cache of family books and papers, Vicky discovered the identity of her grandfather: the tormented author and diplomat Hermann Ungar, hugely controversial in both life and in death, who was a protégé and possible lover of Thomas Mann, and a friend of Berthold Brecht and Stefan Zweig. How much of her father’s child was Vicky – and how much of his father’s child was he? As Vicky worked to uncover deeply buried family secrets, she would find herself slowly unpicking the lingering power of ‘survivors’ guilt’ on the generations that followed the Holocaust, and would learn, via a deathbed confession, of the existence of a previously unknown sister.Together, the sisters attempted to come to terms with what had made their father into the deeply flawed, complex, yet charismatic man he has always been, journeying together through grief and heartache towards forgiveness.Trade Review'Vicky Unwin has written a personal history which highlights our very current, global concerns with identity and our place in the world. It is an intimate exploration of family – and the damage that can be passed from every generation to the next. A fascinating read, filled with secrets and suspense.' JoAnne Richards, prize-winning South African author of The Innocence of Roast Chicken‘The Boy from Boskovice tells the compelling story of a daughter’s quest to find out the disturbing truth of who her own father really was ... This is an intimate narrative, cleverly woven, which sees the author courageously coming to terms with her father’s legacy. –Sarah Helm, author of If This is a Woman'In her engaging memoir, Vicky Unwin approaches her family’s hidden history with all the care of an archeologist and bears out Faulkner’s assertion that, “No man is himself, he is the sum of his past.' – Peter Godwin, author of Mukiwa: A WhiteBoy in Africa and When a Crocodile Eats the Sun "A fascinating, rich tale, which explores the infinite complexity of human nature when squeezed by the forces of history.” — Michela Wrong, author of Do Not Disturb

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Book SynopsisIt was just one remote hilltop in an unnamed war in the late 1990s, but it would send out ripples that are still felt today, foreshadowing the chaos of 21stcentury conflicts in the Middle East. The hill, in Lebanon, was called the Pumpkin; 'flowers' was the military code word for casualties.Part memoir, part reportage and part haunting elegy for lost youth, award-winning writer Matti Friedman's powerful account follows the band of young soldiers - the author among them - conscripted out of high school into holding this remote outpost, and explores how the task would change them forever. Pumpkinflowers is a lyrical yet devastating insight into the day-to-day realities of war, and a powerful coming-of-age narrative. Raw and beautifully rendered, this essential chronicle casts an unfl inching look at the nature of modern warfare, in which there is never a clear victor and innocence is not all that is lost.Trade Review"Matti Friedman's haunting war memoir reminds one of Michael Herr's unforgettable Vietnam memoir, Dispatches. It, too, is destined to become a classic text on the absurdities of war. Evocative, emotionally wrenching, and yet clear-eyed and dispassionate, Pumpkinflowers is a stunning achievement." - Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and New York Times bestselling author of The Good Spy; "Inspiring, heartbreaking, illuminating." - Yossi Klein Halevi, author of Like Dreamers; "Riveting. Pumpkinflowers is both an historical jigsaw puzzle and an examination of Israel's fraught national identity." - Siobhan Fallon, author of You Know Where the Men Are Gone; "A haunting yet wry tale of young people at war, cursed by political forces beyond their control, that can stand alongside the best narrative nonfiction coming out of Afghanistan and Iraq." - Kirkus Reviews; "The collective portrait [of young Israeli soldiers] puts Pumpkinflowers on a par with Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried - its Israeli analog." - New York Times; "A book about young men transformed by war, written by a veteran whose dazzling literary gifts gripped my attention from the first page to the last." - Wall Street Journal; "Pumpkinflowers is a sad, lyrical book-proud and fierce on its own terms. Friedman's prose is elegant and concise, yet it is studded with gems from the Talmud and Torah that only a writer deeply learned in the Jewish tradition could offer. His memoirs of his time in the mist and the mountains of Lebanon are full of haunting insights into what it means to be a soldier. It will be remembered as a classic." - Prospect

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Book SynopsisListed by the Sunday Times as one of the five best political books of 2015. Welfare states have spread across the globe, transforming modern civilisation. But the take-over is often going badly. In Marseilles, armed drug gangs dominate the social housing estates. In America, an outstandingly rich country, 45 million people are dependent on food stamps. In Britain, the NHS has one of the worst records for cancer care in the advanced world. Many countries are raising more in taxes but nevertheless getting deeper into debt because of their burgeoning welfare states. All around the world, behaviour is being damaged by welfare state dependency while governments become more and more like Big Brother, telling us what we must do. James Bartholomew travelled around the world seeing how cultures and lives are being changed - seeing what is going wrong but also looking for countries where they are making a better job of it. His book is an unparalleled investigation in which he tells the story of the people and places he visited. He takes the reader on a journey, which includes burnt-out cars in France, a tough-minded benefits office in Singapore and innovative hospitals in Spain.The narrative is supplemented with many photos and graphs that demonstrate and explain. The book is like a window on the modern world.

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Book SynopsisKatharine Campbell's father Sholto Douglas was the hero of her childhood, an unconventional senior commander in the Royal Air Force, described as 'a gloriously contentious character'. Following childhood abandonment and poverty, Sholto rose through the ranks of the fledgling RAF in the First World War before taking on a crucial role in the Second as head of Fighter Command and going on to serve as military governor in Germany in the war's devastating aftermath. But when Katharine was five years old, he began to be stolen away by strange night-time wanderings and daytime distress - including vivid flashbacks to his time signing death warrants in post-war Germany. The doctors called it dementia, but decades later, Katharine started researching her father's story and realised that she had observed the undiagnosed consequences of post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD is a hot topic today. We're aware of the front-line soldier suffering from 'shell-shock' - but what about the senior officer giving the orders, who may be carrying hidden wounds accumulated over many years? We don't expect our military leaders to have PTSD, nor is it something they often recognise or acknowledge in themselves, yet this secret burden likely affects a surprising number of those making important tactical decisions. A thought-provoking insight into the damage done by military conflict, Behold the Dark Gray Man is the story of a daughter's search to understand the impact of war upon one of its most charismatic senior commanders.Trade Review"Hugely powerful. An exploration of fatherhood, heroes, war and trauma from an intensely personal point of view." - Dan Snow, historian and broadcaster "A fascinating and humbling account, lovingly written by his daughter, of the life of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sholto Douglas, a truly inspiring and compassionate man. Katharine's narrative interweaves the story of Sholto's achievements as a high-ranking military officer with his battle with what we now recognise as post-traumatic stress disorder. Although Sholto's story illustrates how far we have progressed in our understanding of mental health both within the Services and in society in general, it also underlines why we must continue to work to reduce the stigma of mental illness - a burden which can affect the best of us, at any time, and for reasons which might not always be apparent." - Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston KCB CBE ADC, Chief of the Air Staff "Through the fierce battles in the skies of the First and Second World Wars, to the traumatic signing of death sentences at Nuremberg and then onto the chairmanship of BEA, Sholto Douglas knew the highs and depths of professional and family life. Katharine Campbell's brilliant book is a most compelling account of her father's battles with the enemy without and the enemy within." - General Lord Dannatt GCB CBE MC DL, former Chief of the General Staff

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Book Synopsis'Jim Fraser has been at the forefront of forensic science in the UK for decades... A superb story of real-life CSI.' Dr Richard Shepherd, bestselling author of Unnatural Causes'Powerful... Fascinating' Independent Most murders are not difficult to solve. People are usually killed by someone they know, there is usually abundant evidence and the police methods used to investigate this type of crime are highly effective. But what about the more difficult cases, where the investigation involves an unusual death, an unusual killer, or is complex or politically charged? In these cases, bringing the accused before the courts can take many years, even then, the outcome may be contentious or unresolved. In this compelling and chilling memoir, Jim Fraser draws on his personal experience as a forensic scientist and cold case reviewer to give a unique insight into some of the most notable cases that he has investigated during his forty-year career, including the deaths of Rachel Nickell, Damilola Taylor and Gareth Williams, the GCHQ code breaker.Inviting the reader into the forensic scientist's micro-world, Murder Under the Microscope reveals not only how each of these cases unfolded as a human, investigative and scientific puzzle, but also why some were solved and why others remain unsolved or controversial even to this day.Trade ReviewPowerful... Fascinating * Independent, 'Books of the Month' *Jim Fraser has been at the forefront of forensic science in the UK for decades... A fascinating insight into complexities of real-life criminal investigations from their start, often at a blood-stained scene, through the complex laboratory processes to their conclusion in the court room... Totally enthralling. -- Dr Richard Shepherd, bestselling author of Unnatural CausesIn this fascinating account of what really went on behind the scenes of Britain's most famous murder cases, Fraser slides not just the evidence, but the whole criminal legal system, squarely under his forensic microscope. Everyone interested in justice - how it works, and how it fails - should read this compelling book. -- Sarah Langford, bestselling author of In Your DefenceIn this engrossing and accessible professional memoir, Jim Fraser opens his forensic files and offers the reader a fascinating insight into some of the most notorious cases that he has worked on during his lifetime. -- David Wilson, Emeritus Professor of Criminology Birmingham City UniversityThis is a page-turning read but also an educational resource: the public, police, lawyers, judges, scientists should all read it. It is a raw account of the fragility of justice: a concept many talk about but few understand. And it is about truth: the limitations of our own judgments, science and the law. It is probably one of the most important criminal justice texts of our time... For those working in the criminal justice system, it should be mandatory reading. -- Simon McKay, BarristerThis "personal history of homicide" is the latest in a recent spate of excellent books from the forensic profession... Fraser microscopes in on the information contained in tiny details, explains the correct way to handle it, and shows how it can affect an investigation's outcome. * Strong Words *Absolutely fascinating... Murder Under the Microscope should be on every crime writer's shelf. -- Sam Blake, bestselling author of The Dark RoomTable of Contents0: Introduction 1: Robert Black, the Killer of Childhood 2: The Many Roads to Justice 3: The Chillenden Murders 4: The Trials of Michael Stone 5: The Murder of Wendy Sewell 6: The Murder of Damilola Taylor 7: Silent Testimony - 'Every Contact Leaves a Trace' 8: The Mystery Sweatshirt 9: On Wimbledon Common - the Murder of Rachel Nickell 10: Operations Edzell and Ecclestone 11: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics 12: The Cryptic Death of Gareth Williams 13: If In Doubt, Think Murder 14: The Killer of Little Shepherds

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Book SynopsisMatthew Dennison's elegant and magisterial biography of Her late Majesty, updated following the death of Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles III. 'A worthy and balanced overview of the Queen's life. Dennison is especially good on her childhood... quietly, tactfully, tastefully reverent.'The Times The death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022 was more than just a moment of profound sadness; her passing marked the end of an era in our national life – and the final closing of the Elizabethan Age. For millions of people, both in Britain and across the world, Elizabeth II was the embodiment of monarchy. Her long life spanned nearly a century of national and global history, from a time before the Great Depression to the era of Covid-19. Her reign embraced all but seven years of Britain's postwar history up to the accession of her son King Charles III; she was served by fifteen UK prime ministers from Churchill to Truss, and witnessed the administrations of fourteen US presidents from Truman to Biden. In this brand-new biography of the longest-reigning sovereign in British history, Matthew Dennison traces her life and reign across an era of unprecedented and often seismic social change. Stylish in its writing and nuanced in its judgements, The Queen charts the joys and triumphs as well as the disappointments and vicissitudes of a remarkable royal life; it also assesses the achievement of a woman regarded as the champion of a handful of 'British' values endorsed – if no longer practised – by the bulk of the nation: service, duty, steadfastness, charity and stoicism.Trade ReviewA worthy and balanced overview of the Queen's life. Dennison is especially good on her childhood... Quietly, tactfully, tastefully reverent' * The Times *Anyone who wants a rapid, lucid, well-organised dash through the Queen's seven decades on the throne couldn't do better * Daily Telegraph *An elegant new biography * OK! Magazine *Dutiful and modest – a superb portrait of Her Majesty * Sunday Telegraph *An engaging retelling of a remarkable life of selflessness and service * Choice Magazine *[It] deftly weaves together a wealth of sources, painting the late monarch as a dedicated and humble public servant, with a pragmatic approach to her work * Independent *This balanced and brilliantly written biography is an extremely detailed depiction of the Queen's life * Harper's Bazaar *

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Book SynopsisMore tales of a country fireman, from the author of ALL FIRED UP. Perfect for fans of HEARTBEAT or the brand new TV series ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL.It's the early 1980s and rookie fireman Malcolm Castle is set to take on the biggest challenge of his life. After three years bouncing around in the back of the country fire-engine, he's about to start driving it! At just 22-years-old - less than half the age of many of his colleagues - he's set to thunder through the narrow streets of one of England's most beautiful medieval towns and speed out across the glorious Shropshire countryside. But while his responsibilities are changing fast, almost everything else in Malcolm's life stays the same. Despite facing his fair share of car accidents, house and farm fires, he still seems to spend an awful lot of time answering a string of unlikely and unexpected emergency calls. He rescues shortsighted dogs from frozen lakes, newborn lambs from flooded golf-courses, a pair of angry cows from a busy dual carriageway - and even a hot-footed hamster from a burning cage. Backed up by a heartwarming cast of fellow firemen, Malcolm's enthusiasm for his job and his life are as infectious as ever. So whether it is cats up trees or trees on cars, follow Malcolm as he takes to the wheel for another crazy year in the country fire brigade.Told with the same gentle humour as his first book, ALL FIRED UP, and full of even more extraordinary real-life anecdotes, Shropshire's longest-serving fireman is back - a little older, a little wiser, and even more convinced he has the best job in the world.Trade ReviewCastle relates all (the book's) incidents with humour where appropriate, compassion where needed, and enthusiasm for his work shining out on every page: his fellow fire fighters are portrayed with genuine affection and this account of service in what he calls 'the best job in the world' is a real pleasure to read. * SHROPSHIRE STAR *

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Book SynopsisFROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCA'A remarkable book . . . brilliant comic writing' THE TIMES'An enthralling picture of family life . . . devotion to Gerald, the man' KIRKUS REVIEWS'Du Maurier has no equal' DAILY TELEGRAPH Sir Gerald du Maurier was the most celebrated actor-manager of his day, knighted for his services to the theatre in 1922. He was also a father to one of the most enduring writers of the twentieth century. Published within six months of her father's death, this frank biography was considered shocking by many of his admirers, but it was a huge success, winning Daphne du Maurier critical acclaim and launching her career.In Gerald: A Portrait, Daphne du Maurier captures the spirit and charm of the charismatic actor who played the original Captain Hook. It amusingly recalls his eccentricities, sense of humour and sensitively portrays the darker side of his nature and bouts of depression.Trade ReviewA remarkable book . . . brilliant comic writing * The Times *An enthralling picture of family life, affectionate, candid; and the portrait is painted in honesty and devotion to Gerald, the man * Kirkus Reviews *Du Maurier has no equal * Daily Telegraph *A remarkable book . . . brilliant comic writing * The Times *

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Book SynopsisFew champions have astonished the world as much as Lance Armstrong. A cancer survivor who went on to win the Tour de France an unprecedented seven times, he is an inspiration to millions. Now the full story can be told. With complete access to Armstrong, and to his inner circle, and drawing on interviews with family members and training partners, coaches and celebrities, team-mates and rivals, friends and foes, sportswriter John Wilcockson tells of those who helped Armstrong along the way - including his mother Linda, his ex-wife Kristin and one-time fiancée Sheryl Crow - and explores the traits of character that made Armstrong unique. The story of Lance Armstrong is one of brutal, painful effort, of natural brilliance, of relentless ambition, of extraordinary glory. His achievement is all the more stunning for its unconventionality: a boy from small-town America who beat the world. Brash and fiercely competitive, Armstrong has never been without close friends or bitter enemies. His achievements have been dogged by accusations of doping, accusations of secrecy, and by questions about how triumph on such a grand scale could be possible - questions that are addressed head on in LANCE ARMSTRONG. Tracing the highs and lows, and bringing alive the drama of the races in which Armstrong smashed expectations time after time, LANCE ARMSTRONG gives the complete story of a matchless champion.Trade Review'The incredible story of the triumph of mind over body. Truly inspiring' * Time Out *Praise for 23 DAYS IN JULY * : *A must-read for all cycling fans. * BBC Sport *Sport is about the assertion of the will and that makes Armstrong the greatest athlete practising his trade * The Times *Captures the thrill of a race persistently immersed in controversy and rumour. * Irish Times *Fascinating ... Wilcockson manages to penetrate the psychological depths of the race's stars. * British Cycling *

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Book SynopsisFor ten years Gary McKinnon became the unwilling focus of Anglo-US diplomatic relations. A computer systems analyst living in London, he firmly believed that the US government was withholding vital information about the presence of UFOs. The unremarkable lives of he and his mother Janis changed dramatically one morning in March 2002 when Gary phoned to tell her that he had been arrested and spent four hours at his local police station being interviewed about hacking into US government computers. Paul J McNulty, the then U.S Attorney for Virginia, announced that Gary was indicted in Alexandria, Virginia on November 12th that year, and simultaneously announced that the United States intended to extradite him. Two years later, on 7 October 2004, the US government filed a request for Gary's extradition and on 7 June 2005 he was arrested. Extradition to the US seemed certain and so, fearing that Gary would take his own life rather than face being taken away to face seven counts of up to ten years each, Janis's extraordinary battle began. Janis Sharp spent the following ten years and seven months fighting her son's extradition. In October 2012 she finally won her battle and in December 2012 the Crown Prosecution Service announced that Gary would not face charges in the UK either. These two announcements were a spectacular victory for Janis and spoke volumes about her relentless fight to save Gary's life. Saving Gary McKinnon is the true story of a mother's fight to save her son from living out the rest of his life behind bars. The US judiciary had all the might of the world's greatest power. But it had not reckoned on Gary's mother.Trade Review"A compelling read" Trudie Styler "The inside story of one of the great political, legal and human dramas of the last decade... a remarkable story told be a remarkable woman." Duncan Campbell, The Guardian "[It] is impossible not to be touched by her determination to convince the system to take notice of the little people who so often get lost in it... Bravo Janis!" Sian Griffiths, The Sunday Times "It is a fascinating read: inspiring, shocking... Equally, it comes as no real surprise that Sharp's book has an option to be turned into a film." Stefanie Marsh, The Times

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Book SynopsisThis is an account of the author's investigation, on behalf of the Canadian government, into the life and ideas of the eccentric genius Nikola Tesla. This is a completely revised and redesigned edition, with a new introduction by the former head of the Tesla Museum, a new chapter and a selection of photographs of Tesla and his work in search of the holy grail of electricity - the transmission of power without loss. As a student in Prague in the 1870s, Tesla "saw" the electric induction motor and patented his discovery, -the first of many inventions whose plans seem to have come to him fully fledged. He worked for the Edison company in Paris before emigrating to the US and battling with Thomas Edison himself to ensure that alternating, rather than direct current, became the standard. He sold his patent in the induction motor for $1 million dollars to George Westinghouse, who used this system for the Niagara Falls Power Project. Moving to Colorado Springs, Tesla worked on resonance, building enormous oscillating towers in experiments which still intrigue today. In later life Tesla became a recluse, bombarding newspapers with eccentric claims, including energy transmissions to other planets. Though he died alone and virtually forgotten, rumours gradually grew that Tesla had made further remarkable discoveries. In an attempt to replicate his experiments, people still build Tesla towers and puzzle over the possible link with low-frequency broadcasts which can supposedly disrupt the weather and affect the human mind.

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Book SynopsisFord's novel, "Parade's End", has been acknowledged as one of the great British novels about World War I. This book features a selection of Ford's other writings about the war, and should shed light on the tetralogy. It includes reminiscences, an unfinished novel, stories, and excerpts from letters.

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Book SynopsisPeter Cook has been a pivotal figure within the architecture world for over half a century. He first came to international renown in the 1960s as a founder of the radical, experimental group Archigram, winners of the 2002 RIBA Royal Gold Medal. He is also former Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, and Emeritus Professor and former Chair of the Bartlett School of Architecture (University College London).Suffused with Peter’s infectious energy, enthusiasm and charm, this intriguing memoir explores major themes in architecture through the lens of his life and work. Taking the reader on a journey through his colourful and wide-ranging career, it touches on his early years and architectural education, his relationships with key figures within the architecture community and his work teaching and lecturing internationally. It also provides an inside account of his leadership of the Bartlett, for which he is frequently credited as a central figure in rescuing the reputation of a once-ailing, now world-famous, school of architecture. Featuring full-colour images of his most famous drawings, including Archigram’s ‘Plug-in City’, and built works, such as the Kunsthaus Graz in Austria and the Vienna Economics and Business University’s Department of Law and Central Administration Buildings, this book is a window into the life of one of architecture’s most celebrated rebels.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements About the author Introduction 1. The provincial 2. The experience of London 3. “This’ll upset them”: The Archigram years 4. Becoming European 5. An evolving London base 6. The school as orchestra 7. Los Angeles 8. To the east, west and beyond 9. Drawing and building Answers to unspoken questions Timeline Image credits

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Book SynopsisSince the mid-1800's Te Kingitanga has been a force in New Zealand society. The Maori King movement combines spiritual and political elements which conserve the ""turangawaewae"" (standpoints) of the past with practical leadership in the contemporary Maori world. This collection of 14 biographies of leaders has been put together to celebrate the settlement of the Tainui claim and the royal apology given by Queen Elizabeth to the Tainui people in 1995.

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Book SynopsisOur house was a single-fronted cottage in the slum area of Carlton. There were no distinctive features to differentiate it from most of the small cottages ... Zelda D'Aprano, a working-class woman at the forefront of the Women's Liberation Movement in Australia, shows in her autobiography the same raw spirit she evidenced when chaining herself to the Commonwealth Building in Melbourne to protest unequal pay on 21 October 1969. The life of a remarkable woman who often battled alone for what women today take for granted. Zelda is a moving, down-to-earth recounting of the past, an insightful criticism of how society is structured and reminds us of the exuberance of the Women's Liberation Movement.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements vii Author's Note viii Preface ix Zelda 1 Afterword 305 Appendices 401 Further Acknowledgements 407

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Book SynopsisIn this one-of-a-kind anthology, lesbian sisters from several countries explore their relationships with one another. Through their words and photographs, both well-known and less-famous siblings reveal the many faces of lesbian sisterhood. Here is a fascinating chronicle of what it is like to grow up, come out, laugh, cry, work and live together, as sisters in a family and as lesbians in a world.

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Book SynopsisA moving and often amusing collection of fiction, poetry and autobiography by top-selling and award-winning authors. Tales of blood and bloodlines – Irish grandmothers, ma’s and da’s, the Famine and the Troubles. Whatever the form, these are the stories, the music, the whispering dreams and the voices that ache to be heard. There is wildness and daring in these voices. They call up legions out of the sea and set fires alight. They hang out over garden fences, move restlessly, are dotey, beaming, weeping, powerful.Trade Review"A nice big fat value-for-money anthology with an extremely broad range." --Margie Cronin, "Refractory Girl

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Book SynopsisWhen Doris Kartinyeri was a month old, her mother died. The family gathered to mourn their loss and welcome the new baby home. But Doris never arrived to live with her family – she was stolen from the hospital and placed in Colebrook Home, where she stayed for the next fourteen years. The legacy of being a member of the Stolen Generations continued for Doris as she was placed in white homes as a virtual slave, struggled through relationships and suffered with anxiety and mental illness.Trade Review"A story of courage and survival, powerfully demonstrating how the human spirit can soar despite all the injuries and injustices which threaten to drag it down." --Lowitja O'Donoghue

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Book SynopsisI had thought once that I felt most at home in a plane in mid-air, but that isn’t true. I belong to India and to the West. Both belong to me and both reject me. I have to make sense of what has been and what there is.Suniti Namjoshi traverses the cultures of the East and of the West. She muses on the patterns of her life, and of the impact of colonisation, both the resistances and the acceptances of it. Growing up a princess in the ruling house of Maharashtra, the two most important relationships in her life were with her grandmother, the Ranisaheb, and with Goja, the servant woman who slept beside her bed.When she was ten her test pilot father was killed in an air accident and Suniti was sent away to boarding school. After working in the Indian Civil Service for some years, she decided that she wanted to be a poet and she moved to the West. In the US and Canada she became just another brown-skinned immigrant without the privileges of her childhood.Trade Review"Suniti Namjoshi is an inspired fabulist." --Marina Warner

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Book SynopsisKath Williams was a trade unionist, and a communist, before taking on the mantle of feminist after World War II. With a trade unionist ex-husband who was elected to Federal Politics opposing her left wing campaigns, Kath emerged as a feisty and quietly determined woman. Her campaign of conviction was the major force behind the achievement of equal pay for women.

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Book SynopsisCalifornia Gold Country historian George Hoeper reveals what promises to be the final piece to the 100-year-old puzzle of the infamous stagecoach robber Black Bart. For over eight years the mysterious and very polite Charles Boles (alias Black Bart) plagued Wells Fargo & Co. with a string of at least 28 stagecoach robberies. During theis time, Bart, who operated on foot with an unloaded shotgun and never robbed stagecoach passengers or drivers, soon became something of a folk legend. Between robberies Bart would live the life of a boulevardier in San Francisco, hobnobbing with the city''s best. In 1888 he disappeared from the Palace Hotel in Visalia, CA, never to be heard from again. Speculation has placed Bart in many places, including the Eastern Seaboard, Mexico and Japan, but according to information Hoeper has uncovered, it is more likely the legendary Black Bart met his demise in the dry Nevada wasteland and today rests in a sandy, unmarked grave.

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Book SynopsisHe came to California with the great Gold Rush, but instead of riches, Isaiah W. Lees discovered his great talent for solving crimes and catching criminals. He captured stage robbers in Missouri, tracked con men to New York and caught the notorious eastern bank robber, Jimmy Hope in the middle of a San Francisco heist. San Francisco in the 1850''s, was the gateway to the gold fields, a city filled with adventurers, outlaws, con men and desperadoes of every description. In 1853 Isaiah Lees was appointed the first Chief of Detectives on the new Police Force and during nearly fifty years he acquired an amazing record. An innovator of police methods, Lees easily eclipsed such legendary lawman as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp. When he retired as chief in 1900, the San Francisco Chronicle stated that "in point of service, no one has ever equalled the record of Lees." He was the right man, in the right place, at the right time, and this is his exciting, true story, told here for the first time.

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Book SynopsisFranz (Frank) Oberle was nine years old when his family was relocated from Germany to Poland. Once there, he was taken from his parents to an isolated school where adolescents were being indoctrinated into the Hitler Youth. As the tide of war changed, he became a refugee fleeing the Russian advance, arriving in Dresden as the city became the target of the most horrific Allied bombing of the war. Surviving on grass and stolen eggs, Franz and a friend walked 800 kilometres to his ancestral village on the edge of the Black Forest, only to find that his parents had not returned and to face rejection from his remaining family. But the indominable Franz survived amid the disillusioned populace of Germany and, with his youthful sweetheart, dreamed of a new life in a new land. With the blessing of his beloved Hanna (Joan), he set off for Canada, promising to send for her when he was able to provide for her. Their subsequent life together in BC has encompassed tragedy and pure joy, hard work and hard times, failure and triumph, as Frank Oberle rose from self-educated immigrant to acclaimed federal politician. Set against the backdrops of the Second World War and the raw British Columbia frontier, Finding Home covers Frank''s fascinating life story up until the time he visited Germany after a decade in Canada. Rich in detail, drama and humour, this is a love story, an inspirational saga and a book that sings the song of the Canadian immigrant.

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Book SynopsisAn unflinching memoir that honours the girls and women that influenced Kirkpatrick as they are forced to deal with life crisises that are often kept out of sight in modern society birth, illness war and death.

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Book SynopsisBiography of one of the most colorful, some might say eccentric, people the Canadian West has thrown out who also happens to be a climber. At a time when most men are thinking of retirement from strenuous activities, Don was busy setting records: the first person to climb all the 11,000 foot peaks in the Canadian Rockies and Columbia Mountains and the oldest person to climb Mount Logan, Canada''s highest mountain. Apart from Don''s climbing achievements, for which he received the Banff Mountain Festival''s Summit of Excellence Award in 1990, Don is renowned for his idiosyncrasies which the author and Don''s friends have documented in hilarious detail.

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Book SynopsisCanada has an exciting legacy of courageous women who pushed through gender barriers and often exercised great daring, forging new paths and opportunities for other women. This collection of stories tells of strong, determined women whose dreams and experiences changed the shape of Canadian history and culture: Roberta Bondar, the first Canadian woman astronaut to go into space. There she studied the effects of weightlessness on humans Jeanne Mance, co-founder of the city of Montréal and a revolutionary in health care Catherine Schubert, mother of three children and about to give birth to a fourth, scaled the Rockies on her journey to the gold fields of BC Thanadelthur, a Chipewyan woman who negotiated peace between her people and the Cree, ending a long and bloody feud Marie-Anne Lagimodiére was the first white woman to raise her family on the wild prairie of the Canadian West, and she became the grandmother of Louis Riel Faith Fenton, teacher by day and journalist by night, is best known for her journey over one of the toughest trails to the Klondike Emily Carr, a true visionary and one of Canada''s most famous artists, was happiest when she found a remote Native village to capture on canvas in her unique style E. Pauline Johnson-Tekahionwake, daughter of a Mohawk chief and an English woman, spent endless hours in her canoe writing haunting poems about a vanishing way of life Sharon Wood, the first North American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest taking the more difficult West Shoulder route.

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Book SynopsisWe want women leaders today as never before. Leaders who are not afraid to be called names and who are willing to go out and fight. I think women can save civilization. Women are persons. -Emily Murphy, 1931 Emily Murphy and four other determined women took their fight to be legally declared persons all the way to the Privy Council in Britain, and in 1929 they won. Almost eight decades later, Canadian women continue to challenge their limits. Great Canadian Women honours the legacy and continuing struggle of women of talent and courage who, from all walks of life and vocations, have contributed significantly to Canada''s evolution. These women and countless others have ignored or conquered society''s strictures to fulfil their destinies and change forever their country: Marion Orr, who ferried fighter planes to England during World War II and established flight schools in Ontario Louise Arbour, the controversial Supreme Court Justice who was appointed United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2004 Anne Murray, known as Canada''s Songbird and the first Canadian artist to have an American gold record Barbara Frum, the dedicated newscaster and journalist for CBC Radio who pioneered the popular and influential current affairs program As It Happens Rene Caisse, inventor of Essiac, a herbal remedy that has been touted as a cure for cancer Helen Huston, a medical missionary who brought health care and a hospital to the people of Nepal Charlotte Whitton, the brash and colourful mayor of Ottawa; the first woman to hold such an office in Canada Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, a national organization that promotes peace and disarmament to the international community. And many more...

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Book SynopsisThese women have never followed the rules. From the earliest days of Canada''s history to the newspaper headlines of today, these women fought for their beliefs and made a difference. Read about: Kate Ryan, the original Klondike Kate, frontier nurse and the first female member of the North West Mounted Police Naomi Klein, journalist, author of the international bestseller No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, and anti-globalization activist Nell Shipman, silent film actress, producer and director who did her own stunts and was the first woman ever to do a nude scene in Back to God''s Country, the most successful Canadian silent film ever made Jenny Smillie Robinson, Canada''s first female surgeon who operated in a private residence because no hospital allowed her privileges Penny Hoar, Rhinoceros Party candidate, comedienne, and sexual renegade Alanis Obomsawin, documentary filmmaker and humanitarian activist Cougar Annie, Clayoquot Sound pioneer who survived four husbands, chased off cougars with a shotgun and cleared a still-surviving two-hectare garden out of the wilderness Daurene E. Lewis, who was elected as North America''s first black woman mayor in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia Mina Hubbard, who trekked across Labrador in 1905 to complete the voyage that killed her husband, Leonidas Hubbard, and prove that he had not been responsible for the failure of his expedition. And many more...

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