Reviews (1)

a good read
it is abut the fighting between england and france over canda. it is a read worth your time ... Read more

Reviews (1)

WOW
I was floored by this book. It is diary of a group of men traveling to the yukon in search of gold. I was amazed at the things that they went through. In our relatively easy modren life, It is good to read about what extremes people would go through in the old days. To say that they had a rough journey would be an understatement. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get a feel for what it must have been like to ber part of the gold rush in the Yukon territory. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A good first person account.
This book provides a fairly objective view of the many domestic details of life under German occupation. Fuykschot was a young teen in Utrecht, Holland when her life was dramatically changed during WW2. She describes the struggle to keep warm, clothed, and nourished as basic supplies became increasingly scare. The focus is a personal and familial one as she recalls the events that impacted on her parents and younger sister, and to some extent neighbours and school chums. Hardship abounds but triumph is definite in the satisfying ending of liberation by Canadian troops in 1944. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Hogwash
Here are five girls raised as royalty for most of their lives. Every want was met, they had the latest clothes, latest toys, etc. They were catered to and waited on.

Now, they go to live with their family who are poor farmers. They are expected to be just as the other children. They suddenly have chores. They suddenly aren't looked on as princesses but equals. They don't have a pristine environment.

Poor, poor princesses....Now they are just ordinary. It had to be a shock.

But, to take it out on their parents who fought desparately to regain their custody. They didn't even know anything about the world outside their hospital home. Their parents showed them the real world.

Now, they accuse their father of abusing them, their mother of cruelty. Okay, so they did it after the parents died so that they couldn't defend themselves. Isn't that interesting?

Poor, poor princesses. They're expected to be ordinary, so they resent it and lash out. False memory syndrome, I'll bet.

When does one take responsibility for their own lives despite what happened in the past?

Deepest Regrets
It was only on the 68th anniversary of the Dionne Quints' births that I learned of the passing of the alleged oldest Quint, Yvonne, a cancer victim, on June 23, 2001. While a bit baffled over how such an event could have escaped my notice for nearly a year, I still stand by most of what I said in my previous review, although I realize that monetary compensation may not mean as much to the sisters now.
In earlier times, the death of one of these sisters might have been front page news. But perhaps the fact that Yvonne's passing was apparently an obscure news item, at least in the town where I live, is a sign that the sisters have finally acheived the level of privacy that they have so long desired.

How a Father Won a Battle But Lost the War
I read this book during the past year. I found it to be much more revealing than their 1960s account of their lives, written with James Brough. In "We Were Five", the four remaining Quintuplets used the real names of their siblings, but neglected to come foreward with the charges of sexual abuse leveled at their father in this newer account.
The church officials who could have helped them turned their backs on them, telling them to "submit", and deciding that as long as their father gave monetary support to the Church, he was being a good Catholic. At a time when there was little if any separation of Church and State where the French Canadian government was concerned, there were many other children who experienced the same indignities. It is good that the Dionnes have spoken out on their behalf.
I'm glad that shortly after this account was published, that Yvonne, Annette, and Cecile were finally given $2.8 million dollars in compensation by the Ontario Government. But if there is any real justice, Ontario should be paying them annuity. After all, they didn't ask to become the saviors of Ontario during the Depression, and they only ended up as such by accident of being born Quintuplets and subsequent government manipulation.The Ontario Government made $500 million off of "Quintland" during the thirties. Caged and exploited for the first years of their lives, and tended to by Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, they were eventually reunited with their parents and siblings after lengthy and strenuous custody battles. But while Oliva Dionne may have won the physical custody of his daughters, the loyalties of the three surviving sisters ultimately lie firmly with the Doctor who treated them with more dignity than their parents.
While it is well that these sisters, whose lives I have followed since I was a kid myself, have been compensated, I hope their siblings can make peace with them, although they shouldn't be entitled to their sisters' reward money after the way they treated them. Due to the times in which they were born, they aroused more public interest than they might have in a time of more affluence, and were led on a nightmarish odyssey that included experimentation, exploitation, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, failed marriages, and the early deaths of the two youngest Quintuplets, Emilie, and Marie in 1954 and 1970 respectively.
Their parents will have to answer for their sins in another lifetime, since they are both deceased. But when the three surviving Quintuplets sent a word of warning to the parents of the McCaughey Septuplets about not letting their children suffer the indignities that they did, my respect for them was renewed.
I wish these three remarkable ladies all the best in their remaining years. Their story, so far, as had as fair an outcome as could have been expected. As their mother once said to an American auidience years ago during a vaudeville act, "Dieu Beniesse".--God bless you, Yvonne, Annette, and Cecile.

childhood lost
I think a lot of this book is more than just about the Dionne quints and their lives. How many other poor defenseless young children are brought into this world only to be treated as though they had no right to have been born. The poor souls. They were made to feel guily for having survivied and dividing their family through no fault of their own. I found the most inspiring part of this book to be the introduction by Cecile Dionne who says that after many hard years she has learned that being born and survivng was not her fault and that she should no longer bear any guilt for it. That is a lesson a lot of other people need to learn as well unfortunately. How sad that anyone especially her family members would make her feel that way. A human life is a miracle and a blessing. And the Dionne quints were 5 little blessings. How sad that the joy and innocence and trust of young children is always stripped away,and in the case of the Dionne sisters, in a particularly cruel and unfair way.

Please delete my previous review!
I apologize profusely for making an error and compounding it with wasting your time! I just sent a review (basically saying Amazon.com had made an error) and then realized that I had mixed up the different Dionne books I had read. Please do not make the egg on my face worse by posting my erroneous review. Thank you! I'm sorry that I don't know how else to communicate this to you. ... Read more

Book Description

The World War II intelligence exploits of William Stephenson-the mysterious man known simply as "Intrepid" who is said to be the real-life model for Ian Fleming's James Bond-were celebrated in his lifetime in espionage lore the world over. As head of the British Security Coordination, a predecessor of the CIA, Stephenson was responsible for the hugely successful covert political war against all sources of Axis strength and support. Subsequently, though, some observers questioned certain aspects of Stephenson's career. Others attempted to discredit his reputation or reduce his role in history. He died relatively forgotten. In this fascinating re-examination of the historical record, Bill Macdonald documents Stephenson's clouded early life and unravels the tangled strings of information that run through secret papers and previous books to reveal the astonishing details of the man who said: "Nothing deceives like a document." There were a number of British appointments at the BSC, but essentially, Stephenson contacted his friends, put them to work and had them find staff. They recruited thousands-many of them Canadian women. Included in this volume are many interviews with former members of the BSC: secretaries, cipher clerks, covert operatives and with former BSC agent, British author, Roald Dahl. The True Intrepid weaves its way through deception, treachery, war, espionage and a search for the "true" James Bond. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Thorough and balanced
MacDonald has successfully revealed much of the often clouded life of Intrepid, a man whose primary career goal was - of course - to remain in the shadows. The immensely likeable and non-descript Stephenson (Intrepid) was the penultimate spy: you wouldn't notice him in a crowd and if you did, you'd find yourself charmed and at ease. This side of the man has been overlooked in past books, but MacDonald reveals just how significant this particular trait is to an effective intelligence officer. In Stephenson, readers will learn how charm hid the great depths of intelligence, honor and violent resolve that made Intrepid a name to admire in the history of his profession. MacDonald also offers a highly-readable, compelling look at the events of Intrepid's life, keeping an admirable balance between objectivity and the thrills of a good story. David R. Bannon, Ph.D.; author "Race Against Evil."

Intriguing book on Intrepid
If the 20th century was to be represented by 4 or 5 individuals, William Stephenson would have to be one of them. By this I mean that his life was incredible. He would be worthy of an interesting biography in any of the lives that he led: a scientist, a businessman or a spymaster.

The book goes into much more detail of Intrepid's life, as well as those of some of his associates than the famous Man Called Intrepid book (which is worth reading as well!). This book will inspire and awe anybody! Well researched and well enough written.

A Master Spy
A thoroughly researched and well documented account of the quintessential North American spymaster William Stephenson. New information dispels past myths about a fascinating man who, with the help of his "unknown" agents,played an crucial role influencing the events of the Second World War.

well researched history
This book researches and chronicles in great detail the life of one man who, while obscure and unknown, played a pivotal role in the unfolding of World War 2. This book tells an important history and heightens my appreciation of some of our stories that has never been adaquitely told.

Can be boring, but an exiting book about an exiting man
Pretty good, the exiting history of Sir William Stephenson, from his birth to his death. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Jack Todd made a fateful decision in 1969. A farm boy from a time and place where the obligation to serve in the military was taken for granted, Todd had just completed basic training at an army post near Seattle when he opted to take a Vietnam-veteran friend's advice and slip across the border into British Columbia rather than risk his life fighting in an unpopular war. His life in Canada was by no means easy; he spent time on Skid Row among fellow deserters and draft evaders, many of them parasitical criminals, and, although he was a veteran journalist, he had to start from scratch at a Vancouver paper, slowly winning the acceptance of his colleagues.

Todd renounced his American citizenship, which made him one of a handful of Vietnam-era deserters to have been ineligible for the general amnesty offered during Jimmy Carter's presidency--he could not even return to the United States for his mother's funeral. In this graceful memoir, Todd revisits what he calls his "absurd decision" to leave his country. Absurd, in part, because he later discovered he would not have been sent to Vietnam at all, but was instead slated to serve as a military journalist in Germany. For that decision he has many regrets, although he has clearly made a good life for himself in his adopted country. The cost was perhaps too great, though: "The effect of forced exile is felt not in any sudden tearing away but in the corrosive loss, over a period of time, of too many of the things that make you who you are." --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (12)

A profound American Story!
Jack Todd had always assumed he would have to fight in the Vietnam War - all the men in his family had fought in WWII or Korea - except that he was getting more & more troubled by America's role in this one.

When Jack's oldest school friend returns from the jungle & urges him to dodge the draft, Jack stuffs down his disquiet & enters the army. He almost completes basic training when the love of his life does a long-distant rejection that sends him into a tailspin out of which he makes a fateful decision.

It has taken this writer 30 years to come to terms with the guilt & shame of his desertion, to break his silence & tell his controversial, important & profoundly American story. Perhaps becoming one of Canada's most successful journalists & remarkable writers has given him the perspective & strength to tell this most difficult of tales.

If you are at all interested in how a deserter made his decision & then went along with it - read this book!

If, on the other hand, you have an aversion to anyone who deserted during the Viet Nam War - you had better avoid it!

Not an "easy" read although this author does have a way with words & scoops you along for the ride of a lifetime. It's like seeing inside of a man's mind - how he saw the world then & what he did about it.

If you want to read a master storyteller - then grab a copy - it is one disturbingly powerful memoir of a strange & dangerous time.

Breaking the Silence
Between 50,000 and 100,000 young men and women fled northward to Canada during the Vietnam War era. Yet, their voices have remained largely silent during the past three decades while a significant body of literature concerning the war experience has been evolving. Jack Todd has broken that silence with the publication of Desertion: In the Time of Vietnam, a moving memoir of a young man who followed his conscience to Canada in 1970 and waged his own private "war" as an exile in search of himself in an unknown land.

This intensely personal account follows Todd from childhood growing up in a small Nebraska town to a promising career at the Miami Herald to basic training at Fort Lewis, Washington. Six weeks into basic training, Todd begins to contemplate flight northward as the dehumanization of the military experience and a growing antiwar conviction convince him to reluctantly leave his country. The decision is not made without Todd's painful acknowledgement of loss ("family, country, career, the woman I love") and moral agonizing over leaving his homeland of 23 years ("It's not that I live in America or that I am American. We are indistinguishable. You grow up the way I did, you don't know where your country leaves off and you start."). Ambivalence haunts him ("One instant I'm leaning one way, the next moment I've swung in the opposite direction. It's like watching a compass needle waver back and froth, back and forth, until it settles on true north.") until the morning early in 1970 when a friend escorts him over the Canadian border to freedom, and there is no turning back.

The memoir concentrates primarily on Todd's life as an exile in a country "that is so much like home that every morning when you get up you have to remind yourself that this is not home, that home is now a place where you can no longer go." Starting in Vancouver he drifts from city to city, on the verge of homelessness much of the time, never staying in any one place long enough to make lasting relationships or discover the security of stability. "The only constant seems to be this endless flight, running on and on and getting no place at all," he writes.

Even as Todd attempts to create a new life in this strange territory, he struggles to write about the exile experience in prose that is both poetic and poignant. "I worry at the theme of exile," he writes, "the meaning of existence on what is, for me in this endless winter, the wrong side of a three thousand-mile border."

By the time the war ends in 1975 Todd feels as if he has been "fighting it one way or another" for the past eight years since becoming a "late convert to the antiwar movement in 1967." Although draft dodgers and deserters are granted amnesty after the war, "it is too late for me," writes a deeply regretful Todd, who earlier made the "absurd decision" to renounce his American citizenship during a period of deep disillusionment. "I have given up my country, my citizenship, my profession, my family, my belief in myself, my true love, everything but my life. For this I will be called a coward," he writes, "and perhaps the people who say that are right. I feel it's the hardest, bravest thing I ever did, but it's not for me to judge." Todd stops short of claiming to be a casualty of war, but does place himself among many others of his generation who were "very different people after we had passed through that fire."

Today Todd is an award-winning journalist for the Montreal Gazette who has "spent half a life on each side of the border" and feels both American and Canadian "in roughly equal parts," although the Wildcat Hills of Nebraska, where he returns to visit as an outsider, will always be considered home "even if there aren't too many people out here who would care to claim me."

Todd's compelling story has waited more than a quarter of a century to be told and undoubtedly took much courage to write. Desertion is a different kind of war story than many that are included in the Vietnam War literary canon, but it is nevertheless a war story. Breaking the silence of desertion, Todd has created a story of conscience, bravery, remorse, and ultimately, hope.

Born In The U.S.A.
Toward the end of his treacly memoir, Jack Todd lists all the things he lost when he deserted the Army and fled the country during the Vietnam War, or as he so euphemistically moans, was "forced into exile". Country. Citizenship. Profession. Family. Love. He acknowledges that he will be called a coward and perhaps "... the people who say that are right". Well, if the shoe fits, wear it.

Todd aspired to be a Marine Corps officer but couldn't handle the training and washed out within weeks. Like so many spurned lovers his ardor turns to hatred. He makes an obscene parody of the Marine Corps hymn and describees perfect Marine material as "muscular nineteen-year olds with low foreheads and thick shoulders. Dumb and strong". He tries to ward off the draft by waving his unqualified separation papers from the Corps like a talisman but has no luck; he was inducted into the Army but fled to Canada before he was finished recruit training, motivated less by principle than by the fact that his girlfriend had broken up with him.

Excuses, excuses, excuses. His mother, his girlfriend, his best friend all told him to flee to Canada (Mr. Todd, much later, was afraid to return to the United States for his mother's funeral for fear of being arrested) so he went. Even when he renounces his American citizenship and becomes a Canadian he finds someone to blame-Richard Nixon. Mr. Nixon can be blamed for many things but causing a deserter to swear allegiance to a foreign country is not one of them.

A coward?
If you're not afraid of ideas and opinions that may differ from your own, read this book.

Is it cowardly, or un-American, to avoid a war if you truly feel it is wrong? The U.S. government does not rule by divine right. Our country was formed as a direct result of Americans revolting against what they considered to be unjust government. If it is our obligation, today, to blindly follow our government's "authority", then it was equally the obligation of our fore-fathers to do so in the 1700's. How many Americans think the Fathers of the Revolution were traitors for not submitting to the authority of their government?

After WWII, many Germans said, "we were just following orders...". It was not a legitimate excuse then, no has it ever been. We each have the power of reason, the power to judge right from wrong, and it is our moral and ethical obligation to exercise that power. It is NEVER right to turn that power over to someone else - not to the government, not to Ronald Reagan or to Bill Clinton, not to religious "authority" - not to anyone! "Desertion" is an account of one young man, an average American, exercising this power. Jack Todd's account of his stuggle in determining what his duty was is well worth reading!

If you want to read a tremendous account of soldiers selflessly answering the call to arms for what they knew was a just cause, read "We Were Soldiers Once...And Young". Whether you thought the war was right or wrong, these men were laying their lives on the line, doing their duty as they saw it, no matter what the personal consequences. That in and of itself deserves respect.

On the other hand, if you want to read a great story about an American avoiding a war he knew to be unjust, read "Desertion". That action, when motivated by a desire to do the right thing, is also deserving of respect. It is possible for people to hold opposing opinions about the same issues. We shouldn't feel the need to ridicule or persecute those that hold beliefs different than our own (although, unfortunately, THAT seems to be the American Way).

JFK said, "War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today." Apparently, from reading some of the reactions to this book, that day still lies in the distant future.

Sickening cowardice and narcissism
Why books like this continue to get published is beyond me. The author is a not very interesting sad case. Having washed out of Marine Corps OCS he turns against the entire United States and its armed forces. The story is one of personal cowardice in search of a moral justification which the author is pathetically unable to provide. Why publishers remain obsessed with deserters and antiwar protestors remains a mystery to me; I'd rather read about the heroism of the men who served in Vietnam. I'd like to invite the author to come to any of the many military unit reunions held every year in the US to celebrate the brotherhood and comradeship of those of us who answered our country's call in its hour of need, some reluctantly but all did their duty. Come and see what you missed; the hollow sense of shame that pervades your book will be easier to understand. ... Read more

Book Description

The Cradle Crew, one of the youngest bombing crews in the Royal Canadian Air Force's Six Group, flew Handley Page Halifax bombers during World War II. Author Ken Blyth recalls their training, raids over enemy targets, being shot down over Germany, prison camp, and, at war's end, release by the Russians.

The majority of the prisoners in Stalag Luft 1, says the author, were Americans. Colonel Hubert Zemke, the senior-ranking American officer, had been shot own while flying a P-47 Thunderbolt, sometime during November 1944. Group Captain Cecil Weir was the senior-ranking officer of the British, Australian, and Canadian forces in the camp. He and Zemke worked well together.

At 1:00 a.m. on 30 April 1945, the Germans abandoned Stalag Luft 1, just ahead of the advancing Russian tanks, cavalry, and guerilla troops, who were "hell bent for the Baltic." Ken Blyth and his fellow prisoners awoke that morning to find themselves no longer under armed guard and comparatively free. It was later that the world would learn that Adolf Hitler had committed suicide on 30 April 1945, in his bunker at the Reichschancellery in Berlin.

To maintain protection and order for the prisoners until they could be rescued by the Allies, Colonel Zemke became the camp's commanding officer, assisted by Group Captain Weir. In essence, Stalag Luft 1, without the German troops, was an "Allied island" surrounded by their enemy, the German countrymen.

"Frankly," states Blyth, "the Cradle Crew members . . . consider themselves very fortunate to be alive today." ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Great Book About Canadian Airmen/POW's in World War II
As a historian, I am aware of few books that tell the story of the air war over Europe from the Canadian perspective. 'Cradle Crew' is such a book, and it's a good one that I highly recommend. Written by Ken Blyth, a Canadian who became the pilot of one of the youngest air crews to fly over Europe in the war (thus the name 'Cradle Crew'), this story tells of the entire air crew experience, from enlistment through combat. But it goes much farther, for Blyth and his crew were shot down over Europe and ended up spending time in a German Stalag as POW's. Therefore, the book not only gives the reader an excellent, well-written perspective on the Canadian aircrew experience in the war, but is also a memoir of a POW. Blyth is a strong writer, and his story is engaging and never dull. This is an excellent book, and an important addition to the literature on the air war over Europe. It is invaluable as one of few Canadian books on the subject. Filled with interesting and rare photos of crew life, aircraft, and German Stalags, this is a must-have for any aviation history lover, and should be in every Canadian's bookshelf as a record of how the men from up north helped defeat Hitler and save the world not so many years ago.

Great story!
I really enjoyed reading Blyth's account of his escapades during WWII. It is one of those "slice of life" books where you can really get a good understanding of his (and his crew's) time in the RCAF and the war. For any students who are studying the treatment of POWs in the different wars, this book would give them valuable insight into the German's treatment of POWs in WWII. Enjoyable!

This book is easy to read and hard to put down!
This book was great because it gave wonderful insight to what it was like during WWII. There is such detail about everything the author experienced from flying night raids, his capture and the surroundings at the POW camp. I really enjoyed all the different stories about his crew and other POWs. The author is a great storyteller!! ... Read more

Book Description

This book is a survey of the life writings by and about Canadian missionaries at home and abroad, over the last one hundred and thirtyyears. Ageneral missionary history of Canada appears first, tointroduce separatechapters on the forms and themes of this body ofliterature. The criticalproblems presented by writing that hasresisted modern and post-moderndevelopments are discussed. Partialand fictional life writing, as well asmarginal forms, are alsoexplored. The book concludes with general statementsabout the wholeof this literature and its effects. The first attempt at a comprehensive bibliography of Canadian missionary life writing isappended. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An excellent history of what life was like in the 1930's
T found this book readable and informable. I read it to find out what life was like on the prairies during the depression. The book painted an accurate and vivid account. I loved the discriptions of the grasshopper plagues. I appreciated the account of life in the relief camps. It is very difficult to get such information. I would like to read more books by this author. ... Read more

Book Description

Growing up in remote central Canada, Larry O'Connor was spellbound by the country farther north--the unknowable white expanses, the harsh lives of its indigenous peoples and animals, and the exploits of its legendary explorers. A memoir of self-discovery, Tip of the Iceberg samples the history and lore of the frozen wastes as it reveals a young man's journey across his family's past.

O'Connor is the kind of child the Eskimos might have left to the elements: undersized, frail, an outsider. Yet he is willful, driven to lift the pall that emanates from his father to blanket the entire family. Underlying the physical coldness of place is an emotional chill. O'Connor's father is a stern, secretive man, barely knowable to his son, misunderstood by those around him. While father and son are poles apart in their temperament, O'Connor senses the traces of a hidden, softer man in his father, a man who retreats to a lockbox of memorabilia in the middle of the night. O'Connor pushes on in his quest.

O'Connor's spare and elegant prose conveys the heartbreaking weight of the unspoken and unseen: relatives who never call or visit, photographs locked in a cedar chest, forgotten obituaries in back issues of the local newspaper. In eerie counterpoint, O'Connor mixes fact and fable about narwhals, the midnight sun, and the elusive Northwest Passage with details of the two lives--the maturing son and distant father. At the same time O'Connor ponders the spirit-killing ethos of his working-class town: Do your duty and mind your business, no showing off and no complaining.

The effect is cumulative, subtle, and inexorable. Tip of the Iceberg is a remarkable story, perfectly modulated by O'Connor's exquisite style and infused with the kind of deep humanity that comes from understanding and forgiveness. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

A Beautiful Memoir
What a beautiful memoir! The setting, a small town in central Canada, was almost exotic to me. The writing is poem-like, clean and meditative. With his gentle voice, Mr. O'Connor takes you to the world of the sensitive boy whose longing and wonder towards his mysterious father is so vividly felt. The beautiful images in the book will remain with me for a long time. I highly recommend this special work.

Two Paths in the North
I work with the author. So much for full disclosure. And I had been told by another colleague before I read it that his book was wonderful. I wasn't prepared, though, to be overwhelmed, and I was: by the richness of its style, the honesty of its emotion, the entertainment of its anecdote, the relief of its humor amid pain and personal discovery. O'Connor travels two paths in search of answers about the emotional chill in his childhood home in Canada and the strange allure of cold climes. This yields on one side beautifully drawn pictures of smalltown life in which O'Connor's growing self-awareness and his tracking of family history coalesce. On the other, its offers perfectly rendered vignettes and lore about famous explorers, plain life and survival in the frigid north. Sometimes the juxtaposition seems impossibly apt, yet never forced. Along each trail run themes in varying proportions of love and hurt, sacrifice and estrangement, distance and intimacy, ambition and constraint. Through it all runs a classically balanced voice, blunt and eloquent and wry in confronting simple or hard truths. There is finally and happily about the book a physical irony in which I regretted its ending so soon but relished the knowledge that I could always find time to return time and again to a book as modest in size as it is grand in reward.

Son looks to the north
O'Connor's beautiful language is as smooth as ice, as clean as fresh snow. This is a haunting, mysterious story of family secrets, which the author tells partly through direct memoir narrative and partly through metaphorical history and legend of the far north. I found the scenes of O'Connor's boyhood to be particularly well drawn: the ways in which he conjures child logic and perception are magical. Touching, strange, cathartic.

Nicely Done
What a fascinating story! And so well written. It brilliantly brings the author's world to life in all its wonderful and awful detail. The people are portrayed so artfully, both as individuals and collectively, that you feel you are among them. And the central story is beautifully touching.

transporting and moving
I thought this was just beautifully done. The father, both of the parents, are so well-drawn in it. And the alternation of northern lore with the author's personal story works perfectly: O'Connor's voice is so specific and true, you stay with him as he swings between eskimo legends, a natural history of the northern parts of the continent, and a wildly funny drunken bar room contretemps, easily finding meaningful connections between it all. The main story is wrenching with a beautiful payoff. Read this book! ... Read more

Book Description

Emulating the circuitous tales told by his mother's relatives, the Goodyears of Newfoundland, David Macfarlane weaves the major events of the island's twentieth century-the ravages of tuberculosis; the great seal-hunt disaster; the bitter Confederation debate; and above all, the First World War-into his own tale of the ill-starred fortunes of his family.He brings to life a multi-generational cast of characters who are as colorful as only Newfoundlanders can be.With humor, insight, and genuine love for these heroes and charlatans, pirates and dreamers, he explores the meaning of family and the consequences of forgotten history. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Poignant and beautifully observed
I am ashamed to say that although I have lived in Canada for 37 years, I knew nothing about Newfoundland's history and consequently nothing about Newfoundland's participation in the First World War. A university lecturer recommended this book to me, and I heartily recommend it to anyone with an interest in the First World War (and in Newfoundland, more broadly). It is a beautifully written, poignant book which compares favourably with Robert Graves' Goodbye to All That and in some ways is better than Graves; it has none of Graves' cynicism.

This book inspired me to visit Beaumont Hamel on the Somme, where so many men from Newfoundland lost their lives on 1 July 1916. In the rest of Canada, 1 July is considered a day for celebration, because the country came into being on that date in 1867. Now I understand why Newfoundlanders cannot and will not celebrate 1 July as a holiday. For them, it is a day of mourning.

Ironically, for us on the west coast of Canada, Beaumont Hamel is easier to reach than Newfoundland. Having visited the former, I hope one day to visit the latter.

An excellent overview of how WWI affected Newfoundland
This is a great novel about how a war can affect a family, the family business and the province for many years after the war.Before WWI Newfoundland was a the oldest and thriving member of the British Empire (they joined Canada in 1949). When they were called to war they sent their best sons, and they sent all of them. In one battle on July 1st, the Royal Nlfd Regiment was almost completely wiped out. This has effected the economy and liveihood of the island for years. The RNR monuments of a bellowing caribou on the battlefields of France are a testiment of their valour.While the rest of Canada celebrates Canada Day on July 1st, to the Newfoundlanders it is a day of mourning and rememberance the RNR and the sacrafices they made.This book is a great testimony to the brave Newfoundlanders and their families during that time.

An amazing read
This is an amazing book: history, biography, auto-biograhy, philosphy all combined into a powerful tale of family character (and characters)that stays with you. In essence, a simple reflection on long past lives from a little corner of the world, Newfoundland, all wound up in the Great War, it becomes a haunting tour-de-force of the power of great events on everyday people.

The chapter "Fire" is in itself a small masterpiece and one I find reading again and again even now two years after the first read.

I picked this book up by sheer accident in a small bookstore in Banff and have been thankful for my good fortune of discovering this gem.

Its Subtitle Says It All
Pitifully few Americans are even aware of Canada's participation in World War I.Fewer still know Canada suffered horrible casualties which it honors on Rememberance Day, a deeply felt, painfully observed day of mourning.

David MacFarlane's father was the only one of six brothers to survive World War I.Unlike them, he didn't go to France.One of his two sisters served as a nurse there, too.

The Danger Tree traces the lives of these siblings from Newfoundland and the effects of the war on the survivors and the survivors' descendants.It is in part a memoir and in part a carefully researched work of journalism by a gifted "light" columnist for The Globe and Mail in Toronto.

The ordinary deaths of these ordinary young men from a hard-working Scots family surviving in a very tough environment have found a memorial in MacFarlane's writing.But of greater significance is MacFarlane's insistance that the effects of their deaths, the effects of the First War, live today.

It occurs to me that The Danger Tree is a book one should read immediately after Robert Graves' Goodby to All That.For MacFarlane adds dimensions of time and distance to the soldier's pain.MacFarlane is a fine writer, but Graves was a great one.Still, the two books sit comfortably together on my shelves.

A brilliant book. ... Read more

Book Description

This is an illustrated children's biography of 19th-century explorer John Rae, a Scotsman who opened up vast tracts of land in the Canadian Arctic and may have been the true discoverer of the Northwest Passage. He discovered the fate of the failed Franklin Expedition and evidence of cannibalism on the bones he found, but was disgraced by a slanderous campaign against his name, which resulted in a century of subsequent obscurity. Rae was one of the first Europeans to show respect for Inuit customs and to take inspiration from their Arctic survival skills. John Wilson brings this fascinating man and his times to life in an exciting narrative full of survival stories, shipwrecks and scandals. The book is illustrated with sketches, maps and archival photos. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A remarkable and recommended biography
The latest in the outstanding "Stories of Canada" series from Napoleon Publishing, Discovering The Arctic: The Story Of John Rae by John Wilson is an enthralling black-and-white history for young readers detailing the efforts of 19th century explorer John Rae. Black-and-white photographs nicely illustrate this amazing tale of one of the first Europeans to respect Inuit customs and who learned from their survival skills when he found himself dealing with harsh Arctic terrain. Rae's dramatic exploits, terrible findings, and vehement enemies are spoken of in clear terms that bring this remarkable and recommended biography to vivid life. ... Read more

Book Description

Flo Anderson and her husband Trevor worked as lightkeepers for 20 years, at Lennard Island and then at Barrett Rock, McInnis Island, Green Island and Race Rocks. In this extraordinary memoir Anderson speaks candidly about the challenges of learning to live on an exposed, isolated island where precipitous cliffs and gale-force winds were everday hazards. She also describes the profound joys of living with family in a wild and natural place.Imagine yourself living in complete isolation. Imagine living where there are no stores or mail delivery, no doctors; where there are no schools, leaving you responsible for your children's education; and where treacherous cliffs and gale-force winds are a part of everyday life. This is the life of a lightkeeper as it is vividly recorded by Flo Anderson in her book Lighthouse Chronicles: Twenty Years on the BC Lights. The frustration and the exhilaration, the lonesome seclusion and the peaceful solitude - it's all here in this memoir of one woman's experience of living on the lights and raising her family there.In 1961 Anderson, her husband Trevor and their four children left a life of relative comfort and convenience in Vancouver and moved to Lennard Island, a rocky, windswept light station off the west coast of Vancouver Island. The Andersons worked as lightkeepers for the next twenty years, at Lennard and then at Barrett Rock, McInnis Island, Green Island (BC's northernmost lighthouse) and Race Rocks (BC's southernmost).In Lighthouse Chronicles Anderson captures the essence of this lifestyle. She speaks candidly about the challenges of learning to live on an exposed, isolated island the size of a city block, where, to get through the day, a family has no one to depend upon - except each other. She describes the essential, exacting work of lightkeeping, which will soon become a lost art. She also describes the profound joys of living with a family in a wild and beautiful place - enjoying the tranquillity of hidden coves and private beaches, looking out over a storm-tossed sea blanketed with foam, and watching her children discover, firsthand, the natural wonders of the BC coast. ... Read more

Book Description

A fresh and fascinating look at the Evelyn Dick murder trial and the intriguing mystery of her disappearance.

The "torso" murder trial of young attractive Evelyn Dick grabbed headlines in 1946 and 1947. Her husband John's head and limbs had been sawed from his body and burned up in her furnace. After she was sentenced to hang, up-and-coming lawyer J.J. Robinette appealed her case, won her a new trial and then an acquittal. But, when police found the decayed remains of Evelyn's newborn baby encased in cement in a suitcase in her attic, the best Robinette could do for her was a manslaughter conviction and eleven years in prison.

Evelyn Dick was released with a new identity in 1958. Since then, rumors, stories and sightings have abounded. Where did she go and what happened to her? Writer producer Brian Vallée, after crisscrossing the country, conducting several dozen interviews and tirelessly researching old newspaper files and thousands of pages of transcripts and police reports, answers many of the questions that surround this mysterious case. The result is a lively, spine-tingling account of the case itself and Evelyn Dick's surprising new life. With much of the material never before published, The Torso Murder is a captivating, chilling true story. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Interesting Reading
If you've seen the movie, or know of the case, this book provides some interesting information. It is relatively well-written, contains pictures, and is easy to read. I recommend it. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

One of the best I have ever had the pleasure of reading!!
Well oreganized and easy to read. Being of micmac heritage, I was able to really enjoy the old stories and visit the old places and hear the old voices. Excellant research efforts by authors. This is one of those books I plan on passing along to my kids! Lionel Little Eagle 3/1/99 ... Read more