Quill and Quire

History

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A History of Mistresses

By Elizabeth Abbott

If motherhood is the second-oldest profession, mistressdom followed soon after. It is an evocative word, “mistress,” suggesting sensual sophistication and luxury. Elizabeth Abbott’s A History of Mistresses sets out to determine whether the reality matches ... Read More »

November 26, 2003 | Filed under: History

Last Man Out: The Story of the Springhill Mine Disaster

By Melissa Fay Greene

On Oct. 23, 1958, the floors hit the ceilings of the Number 2 coal mine in Springhill, Nova Scotia, in three massive “bumps.” Above ground it felt like an earthquake, and registered as such on ... Read More »

November 26, 2003 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, History

Napoleon’s Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History

By Penny LeCouteur and Jay Burreson

The story goes that during Napoleon’s Russian campaign tin buttons on the French soldiers’ uniforms disintegrated in the cold. The soldiers were too busy holding up their pants to fight. This is history from an ... Read More »

November 25, 2003 | Filed under: History

While Canada Slept: How We Lost Our Place in the World

By Andrew Cohen

International affairs writer Andrew Cohen believes Canada’s presence on the world stage has dwindled dramatically since the decade or so following the Second World War. According to what he refers to as “the three principal ... Read More »

November 25, 2003 | Filed under: History

Ignorant Armies: Sliding into War in Iraq

As I sit writing this review, the U.S. and some of its allies are going to war against Iraq. Journalist Gwynne Dyer predicted this turn of events in his new book, Ignorant Armies. His intention ... Read More »

November 25, 2003 | Filed under: History

Understanding Canadian Defence

By Desmond Morton

On Feb. 12, only weeks before the U.S. war in Iraq, Defense Minister John McCallum announced the deployment to Afghanistan, later this year, of over 1,000 Canadian soldiers for peacekeeping duty. Hours later, Major General ... Read More »

November 25, 2003 | Filed under: History

Because We Are Canadians

By Sgt. Charles D. Kipp

In his foreword to Because We Are Canadians, Pierre Berton mentions the relative scarcity of published memoirs by soldiers who participated in the Second World War. Whereas the literature of the Great War is dominated ... Read More »

November 25, 2003 | Filed under: History

Stone Country: An Unauthorized History of Canada

By George Bowering

What teachers didn’t tell you in Canadian history class – or maybe did tell you but put you to sleep in the process – makes up the bulk of irreverent British Columbia writer George Bowering’s ... Read More »

November 25, 2003 | Filed under: History

Turning Points: The Detroit Riots of 1967, a Canadian Perspective

By Herb Colling

The city of Windsor, Ontario, is often a forgotten footnote in Canadian geography and history, dwarfed by its sister city across the border, Detroit. Herb Colling has rectified that neglected status with a number of ... Read More »

November 25, 2003 | Filed under: History

★ The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake, 1577-1580

By Samuel Bawlf

Did Sir Francis Drake visit Vancouver Island, the Queen Charlottes, and the coast of Alaska 200 years before any other European? Geographer, ex-B.C. politician, and sailor Samuel Bawlf sure makes a strong case for such ... Read More »

November 25, 2003 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, History

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