History

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Building Canada: People and Projects That Shaped the Nation

If it is true, as Mackenzie King once said, that while some countries have too much history Canada has too much geography, then this book from University of Western Ontario history professor Jonathan Vance is ... Read More »

January 9, 2006 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, History

Santa Claus: A Biography

By Gerry Bowler

This Christmas, Santa won’t bring every child a pony or an MP3 player. But let the disappointed take comfort: at least he no longer brings vinegar-soaked birch rods to the unlucky or badly behaved. Gerry ... Read More »

November 21, 2005 | Filed under: History

Beyond the Promised Land: The Movement and the Myth

By David F. Noble

The ancient Greeks felt the need to poison Socrates for his unorthodox philosophical beliefs. We don’t go quite that far any more, but being a gadfly still has its disadvantages. Just ask David F. Noble.The ... Read More »

November 18, 2005 | Filed under: History

The Lion, the Fox & the Eagle: A Story of Generals and Justice in Rwanda and Yugoslavia

By Carol Off

The peacekeeper has become a Canadian icon, a source of national pride common enough to turn up in jingoistic beer commercials. But those who read Carol Off’s new book may wonder just what there is ... Read More »

November 11, 2005 | Filed under: History

Ghost Empire: How the French Almost Conquered North America

By Philip Marchand

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, born 1643 in Rouen, France, God rest his weary bones, wherever they are, may have found solace in the words of his countryman and near contemporary Michel Eyquem de ... Read More »

October 26, 2005 | Filed under: History

Court Lady and Country Wife: Two Noble Sisters in Seventeenth-Century England

By Lita-Rose Betcherman

Lita-Rose Betcherman’s Court Lady and Country Wife brings to life two royal sisters with very little in common. Lucy and Dorothy Percy were bound simply by a father imprisoned in London’s infamous Tower during the ... Read More »

October 26, 2005 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, History

Curse of the Narrows: The Halifax Explosion 1917

By Laura M. MacDonald

Reading Curse of the Narrows, Laura Mac Donald’s meticulous depiction of the 1917 Halifax Explosion, reminded me of the awe I felt at the magnitude of last year’s tsunami. The explosion, the result of a ... Read More »

October 25, 2005 | Filed under: History

Lady Franklin’s Revenge: A True Story of Ambition, Obsession, and the Remaking of Arctic History

By Ken McGoogan

Some memorable historical figures worked hard at achieving greatness, others were born to it. Then there’s Sir John Franklin, who had the good fortune to die dramatically and leave behind a remarkable spouse dedicated to ... Read More »

October 25, 2005 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, History

The Politics of Bones: Dr. Owens Wiwa and the Struggle for Nigeria’s Oil

By J. Timothy Hunt

G-8 leaders and rock stars quick to deliver facile platitudes about the plight of Africa’s poor would do well to read Toronto journalist J. Timothy Hunt’s account of Dr. Owens Wiwa’s struggle for justice in ... Read More »

October 21, 2005 | Filed under: History

War Law: Understanding International Law and Armed Conflict

By Michael Byers

It’s an ironic twist that terms such as international law and the laws of war have found a new lease on life through their constant violation in the U.S. invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and ... Read More »

October 11, 2005 | Filed under: History