Book Description

When the great cities of North America were being developed, there was little thought to creating “green spaces.” Frederick Law Olmsted combined his childhood love for nature with the structured beauty of the great parks of London and Paris to turn a neglected, swampy area into one of the most acclaimed parks in North America: Central Park in New York City. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Beautiful and Inspiring
The Man Who Made Parks is a beautifully illustrated and inspiring book for children. It tells the story of a brilliant and complicated man in words that children can understand. Olmsted's love of nature, his childhood illness, his mixed feelings about school, and the convoluted path that led him to his special place in American history are all described in the book, as well as his triumph in Central Park and much of what came after that. Mary G. Dabbs marydabbs@hotmail.com

The Man Who Made Parks
The Man Who Made Parks is a beautifully illustrated and inspiring book for children. It tells the story of a complicated man who found his way into American history by way of a convoluted path, but it tells the story in words that children can understand. Olmsted's love of nature, his health problems, his mixed feelings about school, and the difficulties he had finding his special calling are all covered in the book, as well as his triumph in Central Park and some of the highlights of what came after that. Mary G. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Sympathetic -- but sharp-sighted -- bio of polar greats
Sir James Clark Ross went from end of the world to the other in a little wooden ship (or so it seems to me, comparing the expedition craft of the early nineteenth century with the supertankers and aircraft carriers oftoday).

His uncle, Captain John Ross, managed some of the mostsuccessful Arctic winterings-over of his time, as well as suffering some ofthe most appalling privations.(Captain John Ross' operant procedure forthe prevention of scurvy deserves respect and praise.)At the same timeneither of these gents was perfect in every respect, and Captain John Ross'career may be said never to have recovered from a premature decision hemade to abandon a search for the Northwest Passage based on a disputedsighting of a mountain chain (later found to be non-existant) that wouldhave made northerly progress impossible.

This book presents theaccomplishments, and errors, of uncle and nephew in full recognition oftheir human failings and failures of judgment; but appropriately creditsthem for their accomplishments -- which are unexpectedly significant whenseen as a whole.

It also traces the history of the animosity that existedbetween Captain John Ross and Secretary of the Admiralty John Barrow -- arelationship characterized by sometimes truly puzzling venom.It seemspretty funny now to read about the violence and vitriol with which the twoof them spoke of each other in print, and there is probably something to besaid about the cultural environment then versus now; but the conflict wasvery real, and had very real -- sometimes tragic -- repercussions.

Thisbook may be very profitably read either by itself -- for the entertainmentand interest it provides -- or in conjunction with Fergus Fleming's"Barrow's Boys," which also provides a window on the tensionbetween Barrow and Captain John Ross (one is tempted to say, sometimesbetween Captain John Ross and the world).

It is a biography that covers aremarkable span of Polar exploration during the glory years of Royal Navyexpeditions.A readable and intriguing study of the careers of two of theEnglish-speaking world's more influential Polar explorers! ... Read more

Book Description

In 1966, an aspiring singer-songwriter drove a battered funeral car two thousand miles from his native Canada to Los Angeles to seek his fortune in the music business. Thirty-five years later, Neil Young is still going strong, the survivor of an astonishing career that has taken in the Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, numerous collaborations, and more than thirty solo albums. Featuring new and previously unpublished interviews with close friends and musicians, Simmons's book provides startling new insights into Young's music, shedding fresh light on his family life, behind-the-scenes relationships, and health problems. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

whats the beef
I just don't get what some of these complaints are about this book. Yeah it's short but how I understand it is it was meant to be short - an introduction to Neil Young. And that was exactly what I was looking for. I've only just started getting into the man (yeah, I know!) and I didn't want to plough through 600 pages, but this really gave me a lot of insights into his character and his life and made me want to read further. Now I'm going to buy Jimmy macDonoughs book. But if you want something to the point and well written I would recommend this

Slight.
After reading this biography, I've no more insight than I would from reading cd liners. Very little insight into the characters in his life; nothing more than say CS&N's large egos. No interviews from on the scene characters, old band mates for ex. This book does not do justice to its subject.

WHAT??
I was very excited to get started on this book but about 15 pages into it, it states that Neil was at Woodstock and mentions CSN as "sidekicks". It was very wrong. I was truly dissapointed.

Small but perfectly Formed
I'll lay my cards on the table, I am what is commonly called a Neil Young obsessive so I wouldve been driven to buy the book whatever it was like. So no surprise I have a library full of, how shall I put this politely, mouse food. When I bought Sylvie Simmons' book on Neil Young I was a bit disappointed on first viewing to see that it wasn't very long - I've always loved her writing in MOJO magazine, especially of course when she's written about Neil Young, so I would have loved something the length of the Jimmy McDounough book (which I also bought). But do you know what? She packed more information and real insight into that short space than McDounough did into his huge tome (and actually I liked that too). So I'd say to any Neil Young fan, check Miss Simmons' book out, you won't be disappointed ... Read more

Book Description

Edith Iglauer has been a journalist for four decades, working for The New Yorker, Harper's, The Atlantic Monthly and other publications. This book is a lively retrospective of her writings, from the 1940s when she covered Eleanor Roosevelt's press conferences, through the 1960s when she was present at the founding of Canada's first Inuit co-operative society, through the 1970s and 1980s when she fell in love with a west coast Canadian fishermen and made her new home in his part of the world.The collection is a tribute to an internationally respected journalist who approaches each new subject, a "stranger next door," with intelligence, humour and a rampant curiosity. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A Gripping Memoir
This book ranks among the best--Farley Mowat's "And No Birds Sang", included--about a Canadian's experiences during the Second World War. It is, however, not always a light-hearted account, and by no means a glorification of war. As is readily clear, McIntosh--like many of his peers--was not an overly enthusiastic participant, yet undertook his duty with much courage. Terror in the starboard Seat is a fine testament to this courage as well as the sacrifice that so many made in order to rid the world of Naziism.

Canadians are different
Perhaps it comes from living next door to Americans, but Canadians have a knack for staring tragedy in the face and remembering something to laugh about afterwards. It's little wonder that many of the funniest modern comedians, from John Belushi to Peter Jennings, are Canadians.

World War II produced "the greatest generation," says Tom Brokaw, who wasn't there. Dave McIntosh was there, flying 41 combat missions in the navigator's seat of a Mosquito night fighter, and he calls it "the scardest generation." It takes common sense to be afraid; fear is often the one element that provides the extra margin of caution needed for survival.

It helps explain why the 24 Mossies of 418 Squadron achieved the highest scores in RCAF history, with 105 aircraft destroyed in the air, 74 on the ground, 9 probables, 103 damaged and 83 V-1s destroyed. Not bad for planes built of Ecuador balsa, Alaska spruce, Canadian birch and fir, and English ash, often by furniture makers. The twin engine Mosquito had a crew of two, but it carried the same weight of bombs as a B-17 and could fly at 400 miles an hour.

Granted, McIntosh volunteered for the RCAF. He schemed to get into 418 City of Edmonton squadron, which flew night intruder missions. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, one of Canada's highest awards for valor. He wasn't looking for a safe and comfortable seat to sit out the war. Most veterans who've been in actual combat have little to say; those who do talk often emphasize the humor. One of their favorite songs had the lines, "When the compass course is west, that's the time that I love best" -- in other words, heading home, away from the enemy. It's little wonder he took until 1980 to write this book.

It's a different kind of war memoir. Americans brag, Brits keep a stiff upper lip, Germans are betrayed heroes, Russians are 'zhlobi' -- crude and uncouth. Canadians are like hockey players in a power play on the goal -- all of the above, and then some. It has the same mood as 'The Corvette Navy' by J. B. Lamb, the loneliness of fighting men who are trivialized by everyone not in combat. Only the Canadian military trains "zombies." There's a common feeling the government compromises anything to avoid upsetting anyone on the home front -- an attitude American soldiers didn't acquire until the Vietnam.

Sidney Seid, a San Francisco Jew who joined the RCAF before Pearl Harbour, was the driver (pilots were never called pilots) for McIntosh. Seid loyally stayed with the Canadians even though he could have doubled his pay by in the US forces. It wasn't an easy life. McIntosh tells of one crew that spent its ops circling off the coast of Holland, afraid to cross into enemy territory, faking complete combat reports including targets visited, burning bombers, fires, weather, the whole thing. It was one way to cope with the terror of facing the enemy.

Canadian aircrews flew operations, or "ops." The American "missions" sounded too much like a crusade. On one occasion, on night ops over Holland, McIntosh and his driver suddenly heard a English voice in their earphones, "Waggle your wings . . . or you'll burn." The driver waggled. Wildly. "OK, son" the voice added. A British night fighter had found them in the dark; had they been caught by a German plane, they wouldn't have heard the bullets hit.

No wonder McIntosh was scared. But, as he told an army friend just back from the D-Day landings, "At least when I'm shot at I can run away at 400 miles an hour." His friend replied, "Hell, that's nothing, you should see me." Yet, for more than 41 ops -- if they were chasing Buzz Bombs, or only went a short distance over Europe, it was only half an op -- they went back again and again.

Any veteran will sympathize. Non veterans can only wonder how they did it.

McIntosh, who became a Canadian Press reporter after the war, presents a vivid story of the deadly realities of war. It's too good of a story ever to be made into a movie; but then, life is generally far better than any movie. So is this book.

Reads like a novel. Great page-turner.
This book kept me up until 4 in the morning, laughing, crying. It's got it all. RCAF navigator McIntosh wrote with pathos and honesty. He puts you right inside the Mosquito with his Jewish/American pilot, with whom he had a kind of Butch & Sundance relationship, all that same kind of loyalty and snappy reparte. This is one of the best WWII books I've ever read. Just like with a great suspense novel, you'll find yourself really whipping those pages over. And yet, I was sorry it had to end. ... Read more

Book Description

When William Kurelek was young, he went into the bush to work as a lumberjack twice. Realizing that the traditional life of a lumberjack was disappearing, he decided to record in pictures and text a job that helped to make Canada the country it is. Kurelek takes readers through a day in the bush, from the first wake-up to breakfast, to the different phases of cutting wood, to how the men spent their free time. Hardship and pleasures were shared in the creation of these unforgettable paintings. ... Read more

Book Description

The day Canada entered World War I, William Lighthall and his adventurous friends departed the staid halls of McGill University.In a burst of patriotism they set out to join the Royal Canadian Dragoons.None of them expected the war to last more than three months.Seeing his first aeroplane, Lighthall decided to join the Royal Flying Corps.He did not know he would serve years in France, Mesopotamia, and Macedonia before his transfer would be granted. ... Read more

Book Description

This book offers readers a concise introduction to Atwood's published novels and the central themes motivating her writing. The volume starts with an overview of the author's biography and the relationship of her writing to relevant literary traditions. Because Atwood is internationally renowned, many commentaries ignore the Canadian roots of her work. Cooke corrects this oversight by sketching the ways in which her work is shaped by, and has shaped, the Canadian literary scene. As the author of a full-length Atwood biography, Cooke is able to summarize feminist, Canadian nationalist, and postmodern influences on Atwood's work and on her development as a writer. The book offers close scrutiny of three illustrative works: Cat's Eye as the artist novel, The Handmaid's Tale as a dystopian novel, and The Blind Assassin as a villainess novel. ... Read more

Book Description

A popular history of the multi-ethnic mining cultures that thrived in North America from 1900-1950.The stormy history of Eastern European and Chinese immigrants in hardrock mining camps has never fit into the comfortable cliches of official history.Angus unearths the dark sides of this history--the wild tales of bootleggers, mobsters, and prostitution rings--and opens up a new perspective on our history and culture.Louis Palu's stunning photography explores landscapes of memory--the immigrant graveyards of the Porcupine--and moves in compelling counterpoint to the text. ... Read more

Book Description

Ann Walsh has selected fourteen captivating stories written by accomplished authors from across Canada for this historical anthology. Each of the stories focuses on a "first time" historical experience, such as the meeting between natives and Europeans at Fort St. James; the ships carrying filles du roi as brides for the settlers of New France; the first elections in which women in Canada were allowed to vote; the first gourmet meal cooked in a CPR rail camp for Cornelius Van Horne; a mine disaster in the Crowsnest Pass, with the subsequent introduction of safety lamps for the miners; and an account of the "Home Children" first sent to Canada during the nineteenth century, supposedly for a better life, but often to work in slave-labour conditions.The volume also contains an appendix with substantial accounts of the historical context of each story.The contributors are Ann Walsh, Barbara Haworth-Attard, Beverley Brenna, Constance Horne, Margaret Thompson, Anne Metikosh, Carolyn Pogue, Margaret Florczak, Jean Rae Baxter, Catherine Goodwin, Victoria Miles, Susan Lee, Laura Morgan and Cathy Beveridge.A vibrant introduction to Canada, from the mid-seventeenth century to the 1930s, through the eyes of some of its youngest participants. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great stories from a fascinating career in journalism.
"The Right Place At The Right Time" is an excellent professional memoir that has the merit of being both entertaining and informative. From his early days of working as a sub-editor for the Reuters internationalnews service in London, to the pioneering way he later helped to break themold of network television's pack journalism, Robert MacNeil tellswonderful stories from one of the most interesting periods of the 20thcentury.

MacNeil was there when the Belgian Congo was granted itsindependence and--like many developing African nations unprepared for theend of colonial rule--fell into tribal feuds and warfare. He reported fromthe front lines of the Cold War in Berlin as the Wall was being built, andwas in Cuba during the missile crisis. He was there at the assassination ofPresident Kennedy and (in all probability) even met Lee Harvey Oswald justminutes after the shooting. MacNeil covered the 1964 presidential campaignsof Barry Goldwater and Lyndon Johnson, fought the Nixon Administration toprevent the federal government from interfering with freedom of the presson public television, and ultimately gave up a comfortable job with the BBCto launch what would later become the "MacNeil/Lehrer Report."

During the most turbulent years of the 1960s, it is clear that MacNeilwas haunted by the escalating body count of the Vietnam War, and hisdisillusion with the conflict in Southeast Asia runs throughout this booklike a subtext that puts many of the breaking news events into a sort ofspecial perspective. For a man who has interviewed everyone from CharlieChaplin to the Ayatollah Khomeini (before the fundamentalist revolution inIran), it is remarkable how his focus keeps returning to the Vietnam Warand what it did to America at home and overseas.

Accordingly, "TheRight Place At The Right Time" is full of colorful, often funny,sometimes heartbreaking, stories about the people touched by events beyondtheir control. MacNeil has a keen eye for how the broadcasting business canilluminate or distort the facts of a particular case, and he goes toconsiderable effort not to let his work slip into the cliche of staleformula punditry. For the most part, he succeeds. His criticism of moderntelevision news as being obsessed with style over substance is especiallydevastating. He demonstrates a respect for the intelligence of his viewersthat seems rare among the media today.

If MacNeil's book has a fault, itis that the author never ventures into the realm of a true autobiography.The man himself is something of a cipher. While it is admirable that he hasnot indulged in the type of confessional, introspective New Journalism thatis so fashionable and trendy among writers now, MacNeil is so reservedabout protecting his privacy that he says more about one of his oldgrade-school teachers than he does about his family. Even Walter Cronkite'srecent autobiography told the reader more about his wife and children thanMacNeil does at any point in this account. After a while, it tends todeprive him of a human dimension. You learn something of his politicalleanings (liberal), for example, but he never includes more than a passingreference to any part of his domestic life, and that makes him come acrossas rather bloodless and remote.

Nevertheless, that small quibble aside,"The Right Place At The Right Time" is one of those few booksthat really does have something important to say, and does so with graceand wit to spare. The short chapters fly by quickly. And when you reach theend, you may even realize that MacNeil has not only provided food forthought, but also left you looking at the broadcasting industry in waysthat you haven't before. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

A Man's Adventure, A Nation's Fate
First of all, I should say that my primary reason for reading this book was not because of some particular interest in the story of Two-Gun Cohen. My first attraction to this book grew from my interest in the history of China, and particularly modern China, which I date from the Macartney's mission in 1783. This book did not disappoint. It is a very useful addition to the study of China in the period from the 1911 revolution through the Communist revolution of 1949 and beyond. It gives very little insight into the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), but there is lots of stuff written on that period.

I have not read anything else by this author, so I cannot make comparisons to his other work, but I will say one thing: I like a guy who does his homework. This book is nothing if not well researched. That is, in fact, it's main strength. I used to be a country school teacher-believe me, I have heard every excuse in the book for why the homework wasn't done. And I have become weary in recent years of "historians" who pretend to be writing history, but in fact have no interest in what actually happened. Ever go to a library and try to get Gore Vidal's "Lincoln?" It's in the fiction section. Or how about Oliver Stone, who openly admits (without any sense of shame) that he plays loose with the facts? That kind of stuff sells to a nation of people who are products of the American public school system. But for those who really care about what actually happened, a higher standard must prevail. Daniel Levy holds to that standard, and even helps to establish it, because his careful workmanship serves as an example to those who would address the same period. Bottom line: this is just very good history.

Now to the story. This book addresses the question of who Cohen is in comparison with how he presented himself, or allowed himself to be presented. Cohen was not the "mover and shaker" that he is sometimes said to be. But he was not just a worthless pretender, either. As I see it, Cohen distinguished himself in two areas: He was a very good body guard for Sun Yat Sen, and he also had the dubious distinction of being a first rate gun runner. Other than that, he doesn't seem to have been able to get by without some kind of a hustle. He started life as a petty crook, and this set a pattern that really prevented him from having dependable, gainful employment when the chips were down. I don't mean that he could never get away from the life of crime. What I mean is that, because he took the easy way out as a youth, he never took the time to learn a trade. I always encourage young people to develop a marketable skill that they can fall back on if they ever need to. This is something Cohen never did, and there was a time in his later life when it really would have come in handy. While Sun Yat Sen was alive, Cohen was riding high. But after he died, and especially after World War II, Cohen suffered a long period of marginal or nonexistent employment. Nothing wrong with being an adventurer, but it really helps if you have a trade skill to take you through the dry periods.

Toward the end of his life, Cohen did manage to secure some very good work as a consultant because of his contacts in China. These connections, by the way, were genuine. It would be grandiose in the extreme to suggest that Cohen shaped the future of China. But he was well acquainted with some of those who did. That part of his self-presentation was not made up.

I gave this book five stars because it was so well researched. But it is also a very personal story of a man that I think, in some way, we all aspire to be. I respect Cohen for daring to step out and discover a world that so many of his peers shied away from. He was not satisfied with the ordinary. And he was in many ways a very likeable, if sometimes pathetic person. This was a very enjoyable book. It is not as quick a read as some others, partly because the author went to great lengths to verify his assertions. But I think any honest reader will find it to be a worthy contribution to the literature.

Two Gun Cohen
Two Gun Cohen is bigger than life. Like most biographies it is not a fast reading book, but it is a great book for anyone interested in the history of western Canada, China or interested in Jewish biography. I read the book after visiting places in England where Two Gun Cohen spent his youth,in the cities of western Canada where he spent his youth and China where he spend his mid life. The book is not for anyone that is not interested in history or biographies of unusual people. For me it was a great book; I wish that it was still available in hard cover, I am buying two addional copies for two friends of mine.

Two-Gun, A Factually Complete Biography, With Extras!
I long ago heard of Two-Gun Cohen, and was pleased when I found out that there was finally a biography of him. Daniel Levy has crafted a clear, well written account of Cohen and taken the time to delve deeply into his life. I was amazed at what Levy uncovered, from Cohen's World War I medical files (I am surprised that such material still survives), to the dossiers the State Department kept on him and the depositions chronicling Cohen's various court visits. More importantly, Levy obviously took pains to get Cohen's life right and to track down those who knew him well. For by going through his encyclopedic footnotes and seeing all the people he spoke to, one realizes that if Levy solely relied on the cold documentary history of records and newspaper clips, Cohen would have come across as a less interesting and much rougher character. What Levy has presented us with is a well-rounded view of this adventurer, and written a riveting and graceful history of an amazing man.

It Was So Dull That I Couldn't Finish It
It's rare when I...(leave a)...biography unread. But I gave upabout halfway through what should have been much more fascinating andreadable. Instead, Daniel Levy writes a rather dull portrait ofCohen, making him into just another hoodlum. There's no verve or excitement here, despite the criminal life Cohen leads in Canada or the revolutions he sees in China. It also doesn't help that this book is rife with bad grammar and sentence structure. Didn't anyone edit this?

A dull book all the way to the point when I said, "enough!" END

Informative and Intriguing
Levy does a remarkable job of telling the story of Two-Gun Cohen, from his humble roots as an immigrant Jewish youth in London to his early days in Canada to his glory days in China as a bodyguard for Sun Yat-Sen. It is the remarkable tale of a self-made man that reads in large part like a "boy's adventure" story of the mid-1900s -- except that the whole thing is true. Some may take issue with Levy's debunking the many myths that Cohen erected around his life, but such scholarship does noting to diminish the character, charm and accomplishments of the man. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent writing
"In For A Penny, In For A Pound" by Howard Hewer, sub-titled: "The Adventures And Misadventures Of A Wireless Operator In bomber Command". Stoddard Publishing, Toronto, Canada, 2000.

This book recounts the experiences of T. W. H. Hewer as a young man and a wireless operator in the Royal Canadian Air Force. As a young teenager, Howard Hewer had dreams of flying Spitfires, so he enlisted in the Canadian Air Force, which decided, at that moment, they had a greater need for radio operators than for pilots. He was shipped to Calgary for training in radio operations. Hewer then tells the story of his training as an enlisted radio operator, and his experience during bombing raids on Nazi held Europe. He retired as Wing Commander.

Young Hewer was well aware of the cultural differences between the British and the Canadians. He devotes an entire chapter (Chapter 6, "Yatesbury Wireless School - Collision of Cultures) to describe the class-conscious Brits and the young Canadians being trained in England. Throughout the book, these cultural differences will pop up, and, in some instances, be of major importance. In Chapter 19, (A Fine Line To Mutiny), it would appear that the British wanted a level of discipline that neither the Australians nor the Canadians wanted to accept. Admittedly, it as an Australian who first threw down his rifle and refused to drill, but Hewer appears to have approved of the group's refusal to exercise and drill. He later implies that this "mutiny" was responsible for the delay of his commissioning as an officer.

This book is not just the usual recounting of the terrors of flying bombers into German held Europe. There is that, of course, but Hewer narrates a story that involves the European Theatre, flying to Malta, on to Egypt and then a trip, in a ship, around Africa. In South Africa, when warned to avoid certain down town areas because the Boers still remembered the Boer war and therefore were "hostile" to the British, Hewer relies on his "Canada" shoulder flash. He and a Canadian compatriot slip into a down town hotel and are feted by the old Boers with free beer and lunch.

An interesting anecdote related by Hewer deals with the dance halls. He was on a balcony and looked down at the dancers, who reminded him of a field of moving daisies. . It seems that the ladies had all used peroxide to become blondes and their roots were slowly growing out in their darker colors. As Hewer glanced down, the whirling locks appeared as daisies in the wind. This remembrance, alone, makes the book worth reading.

An exciting, touching account about life in Bomber Command
Howard Hewer has done a wonderful job in bringing us his life in Bomber Command as a wireless operator flying in the belly of Wellington bombers. From his nights flying over Berlin to the bombing of North Africa to his time spent convalescing after a crash (when he went on some of his most dangerous missions), Hewer spares few details in providing a colorful first-hand account. Anyone with even a passing interest in war memoirs, or who truly enjoys the view of the world from 10,000 feet, should read this book. Without a doubt the best memoir I've read in a long time. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

one of the greatest women's adventures of all time
This is one of the greatest women's adventures of all time, and for sure, one of the greatest womens memoirs of the gold rush era. Anna de Graf is a favorite of all our readers of Gold Rush Women. ... Read more