Title search results
Showing 141 - 160 of 2541 items
Stalin's Man in Canada
By David Levy. 2011
The key role played by Canadian Communist Fred Rose in atomic espionage is explained here for the first time. Born…
in Lublin, Poland, in 1907, he came to Montreal with his parents, joined the Young Communist League and was elected National Secretary in 1929. A secret member of Gaik Ovakimyan's North American NKVD network, he worked with Jacob Golos, Elizabeth Bentley's employer, in securing Canadian passports for Soviet agents. In 1943 Rose was elected to the federal Canadian parliament from a working class district in Montreal. In September 1945, Soviet embassy clerk Igor Gouzenko defected with documents that revealed an elaborate espionage operation to acquire American atomic research. Fred Rose was a major player in the scheme. Rose was found guilty of conspiring to turn over information about the explosive RDX to the Soviets, and was sentenced to a six-year prison term. He returned to his native Poland in 1953 and died in Warsaw in 1983, a disillusioned witness to the collapse of the Leninist vision he'd lived by. David Levy is a film historian and producer. This is his first work of espionage nonfiction.From She-Wolf to Martyr: The Reign and Disputed Reputation of Johanna I of Naples
By Elizabeth Casteen. 2015
In 1343 a seventeen-year-old girl named Johanna (1326–1382) ascended the Neapolitan throne, becoming the ruling monarch of one of medieval…
Europe's most important polities. For nearly forty years, she held her throne and the avid attention of her contemporaries. Their varied responses to her reign created a reputation that made Johanna the most notorious woman in Europe during her lifetime. In From She-Wolf to Martyr, Elizabeth Casteen examines Johanna's evolving, problematic reputation and uses it as a lens through which to analyze often-contradictory late-medieval conceptions of rulership, authority, and femininity. When Johanna inherited the Neapolitan throne from her grandfather, many questioned both her right to and her suitability for her throne. After the murder of her first husband, Johanna quickly became infamous as a she-wolf—a violent, predatory, sexually licentious woman. Yet, she also eventually gained fame as a wise, pious, and able queen. Contemporaries—including Francesco Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Birgitta of Sweden, and Catherine of Siena—were fascinated by Johanna. Drawing on a wide range of textual and visual sources, Casteen reconstructs the fourteenth-century conversation about Johanna and tracks the role she played in her time’s cultural imaginary. She argues that despite Johanna’s modern reputation for indolence and incompetence, she crafted a new model of female sovereignty that many of her contemporaries accepted and even lauded.Masterful, ambitious, and groundbreaking, this is a major new history of our country by one of our most respected thinkers…
and historians -- a book every Canadian should own. From the acclaimed biographer and historian Conrad Black comes the definitive history of Canada -- a revealing, groundbreaking account of the people and events that shaped a nation. Spanning 874 to 2014, and beginning from Canada's first inhabitants and the early explorers, this masterful history challenges our perception of our history and Canada's role in the world. From Champlain to Carleton, Baldwin and Lafontaine, to MacDonald, Laurier, and King, Canada's role in peace and war, to Quebec's quest for autonomy, Black takes on sweeping themes and vividly recounts the story of Canada's development from colony to dominion to country. Black persuasively reveals that while many would argue that Canada was perhaps never predestined for greatness, the opposite is in fact true: the emergence of a magnificent country, against all odds, was a remarkable achievement. Brilliantly conceived, this major new reexamination of our country's history is a riveting tour de force by one of the best writers writing today.Adoring the Saints
By Joel Sherzer, Yolanda Lastra, Dina Sherzer. 2009
Mexico is famous for spectacular fiestas that embody its heart and soul. An expression of the cult of the saint,…
patron saint fiestas are the centerpiece of Mexican popular religion and of great importance to the lives and cultures of people and communities. These fiestas have their own language, objects, belief systems, and practices. They link Mexico's past and present, its indigenous and European populations, and its local and global relations. This work provides a comprehensive study of two intimately linked patron saint fiestas in the state of Guanajuato, near San Miguel de Allende - the fiesta of the village of Cruz del Palmar and that of the town of San Luis de la Paz. These two fiestas are related to one another in very special ways involving both religious practices and their respective pre-Hispanic origins. A mixture of secular and sacred, patron saint fiestas are multi-day affairs that include many events, ritual specialists, and performers, with the participation of the entire community. Fiestas take place in order to honor the saints, and they are the occasion for religious ceremonies, processions, musical performances, dances, and dance dramas. They feature spectacular costumes, enormous puppets, masked and cross-dressed individuals, dazzling fireworks, rodeos, food stands, competitions, and public dances. By encompassing all of these events and performances, this work displays the essence of Mexico, a lens through which this country's complex history, religion, ethnic mix, traditions, and magic can be viewed.The Last Gang in Town
By Aaron Chapman. 2016
Decades before organized crime syndicates brought sensational drug wars to Vancouver, street gangs held sway over its unruly east side.…
None was considered tougher or more feared than the Clark Park gang, a wild, two-fisted crew of characters from Vancouver's post-1960s counterculture. In 1972, after a number of headline-making riots and clashes with police―including an infamous altercation outside a Rolling Stones concert―the Clark Parkers became the target of a secret undercover police squad. Their hostile interactions culminated in a notorious police shooting, resulting in the death of a Clark Park gang member. Combining meticulous research with a keen flair for storytelling, The Last Gang in Town features previously unpublished photos and police documents, as well as testimonials by surviving gang members and police officers who speak for the first time on the subject. The book is a compelling portrait of early-1970s Vancouver and an intriguing and sensational history that puts the spotlight on the after-dark underbelly of the city's not-so-distant criminal past.Passages: Welcome Home to Canada
By Shyam Selvadurai, Anna Porter, Alberto Manguel, M. G. Vassanji, Nino Ricci, Michelle Berry, Ying Chen, Brian D. Johnson, Dany Laferriere, Ken Wiwa, Moses Znaimer. 2002
Foreword by Michael Ignatieff, Preface by Rudyard Griffiths, The Dominion Institute. Without departure, there is no arrival -- this is…
the experience of some of Canada's best-known émigré authors and public figures, shared in Passages: Welcome Home to Canada. In first-hand accounts, these celebrated writers explore the excitement and anguish of uprooting to a new country. Childhood memories, familiar streets, the aromas of local cooking, long-cherished plans -- to leave all this behind can only be traumatic. And yet, to find a haven from oppression and danger, a place to carve out a new identity and put down new roots -- this is a thrill only an emigrant can know. In Passages we see this terrible pain and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for growth in delicate balance. Alberto Manguel discovers the quiet pleasure of citizenship after years of cosmopolitan wandering. Ken Wiwa looks for a fresh start, far from the shadow of his martyred father in Africa. Nino Ricci, having grown up in an old-world Italian community transplanted to rural Ontario, describes his passage into the larger world, where other families don't bake their own bread or slaughter their own pigs. Shyam Selvadurai tells of his flight from the intolerance of his native Sri Lanka, where, as a Tamil and a homosexual, he found himself unwelcome. Moses Znaimer describes his parents' hair-raising escape first from Hitler and then Stalin, a series of adventures through Eastern Europe and Central Asia and finally across the Atlantic. Introduced by Michael Ignatieff, Passages explores what it means to be a foreigner, what it means to be a writer and what it means to be a Canadian -- and what it means to be all three at once. Contributors: Michelle Berry * Ying Chen * Brian D. Johnson * Dany Laferriere * Alberto Manguel * Anna Porter * Nino Ricci * Shyam Selvadurai * M. G. Vassanji * Ken Wiwa * Moses Znaimer.Fodor's Toronto: with Niagara Falls & the Niagara Wine Region
By Fodor'S Travel Guides. 2017
Written by locals, Fodor's travel guides have been offering expert advice for all tastes and budgets for more than 80…
years. Fodor’s correspondents highlight the best of Toronto, including superb museums and art galleries, outstanding global cuisine, and the edgy spirit of Queen West. Our local experts vet every recommendation to ensure you make the most of your time, whether it’s your first trip or your fifth.This travel guide includes:· Dozens of full-color maps · Hundreds of hotel and restaurant recommendations, with Fodor's Choice designating our top picks· Multiple itineraries to explore the top attractions and what’s off the beaten path · Major sights such as the CN Tower, Historic Distillery District and St. Lawrence Market· Side Trips from Toronto including Niagara Falls, Stratford, Southern Georgian Bay, The Muskokas and Niagara Wine Region· Covers: Harbourfront and the Islands, Old Town and Distillery District and Dundas Square AreaInside the Law: Canadian Law Firms in Historical Perspective
By Carol Wilton. 1991
Law firms are important economic institutions in this country: they collect hundreds of millions of dollars annually in fees, they…
order the affairs of businesses and of many government agencies, and their members include some of the most influential Canadians. Some firms have a history stretching back nearly two hundred years, and many are over a century old. Yet the history of law firms in Canada has remained largely unknown. This collection of essays, Volume VII in the Osgoode Society's series of Essays in the History of Canadian Law, is the first focused study of a variety of law firms and how they have evolved over a century and a half, from the golden age of the sole practitioner in the pre-industrial era to the recent rise of the mega-firm. The volume as a whole is an exploration of the impact of economic and social change on law-firm culture and organization. The introduction by Carol Wilton provides a chronological overview of Canadian law-firm evolution and emphasizes the distinctiveness of Canadian law-firm history.Dissing Elizabeth: Negative Representations of Gloriana
By Julia M. Walker. 1998
Dissing Elizabeth focuses on the criticism that cast a shadow on the otherwise celebrated reign of Elizabeth I. The essays…
in this politically and historically revealing book demonstrate the sheer pervasiveness and range of rhetoric against the queen, illuminating the provocative discourse of disrespect and dissent that existed over an eighty-year period, from her troubled days as a princess to the decades after her death in 1603.As editor Julia M. Walker suggests, the breadth of dissent considered in this collection points to a dark side of the Cult of Elizabeth. Reevaluating neglected texts that had not previously been perceived as critical of the queen or worthy of critical appraisal, contributors consider dissent in a variety of forms, including artwork representing (and mocking) the queen, erotic and pornographic metaphors for Elizabeth in the popular press, sermons subtly critiquing her actions, and even the hostility encoded in her epitaph and in the placement of her tomb. Other chapters discuss gossip about Elizabeth, effigies of the queen, polemics against her marriage to the Duke of Alençon, common verbal slander, violence against emblems of her authority, and the criticism embedded in the riddles, satires, and literature of the period.Fathers and Sons
By M. E. Mcmillan. 2013
This book traces the rise of the political dynasty in the Middle East and, in the process, provides the context…
for the current Arab uprising. The author shows that a father-to-son transfer of power has no basis in Islam, and yet the idea of dynastic power became entrenched in the Middle East.The Last Knight: The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern Era
By Norman F. Cantor. 2004
There may not be a more fascinating a historical period than the late fourteenth century in Europe. The Hundred Years'…
War ravaged the continent, yet gallantry, chivalry, and literary brilliance flourished in the courts of England and elsewhere. It was a world in transition, soon to be replaced by the Renaissance and the Age of Exploration -- and John of Gaunt was its central figure. In today's terms, John of Gaunt was a multibillionaire with a brand name equal to Rockefeller. He fought in the Hundred Years' War, sponsored Chaucer and proto-Protestant religious thinkers, and survived the dramatic Peasants' Revolt, during which his sumptuous London residence was burned to the ground. As head of the Lancastrian branch of the Plantagenet family, Gaunt was the unknowing father of the War of the Roses; after his death, his son usurped the crown from his nephew, Richard II. Gaunt's adventures represent the culture and mores of the Middle Ages as those of few others do, and his death is portrayed in The Last Knight as the end of that enthralling period.Royal Romances: Sex, Scandal , and Monarchy in Print, 1780–1821
By Kristin Flieger Samuelian. 2010
This text explores the reception of the royal family during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and its representation in…
fiction, poetry, and the popular press. Samuelian finds that popular response to the royal family has reflected the public's belief in their right of access to the private life of royalty.Charles I and the Aristocracy, 1625-1642
By Richard Cust. 2013
This is a major new study of Charles I's relationship with the English aristocracy. Rejecting the traditional emphasis on the…
'Crisis of the Aristocracy', Professor Richard Cust highlights instead the effectiveness of the King and the Earl of Arundel's policies to promote and strengthen the nobility. He reveals how the peers reasserted themselves as the natural leaders of the political nation during the Great Council of Peers in 1640 and the Long Parliament. He also demonstrates how Charles deliberately set out to cultivate his aristocracy as the main bulwark of royal authority, enabling him to go to war against the Scots in 1639 and then build the royalist party which provided the means to fight parliament in 1642. The analysis is framed throughout within a broader study of aristocratic honour and the efforts of the heralds to stabilise the social order.A Dutch Homesteader On The Prairies: The Letters of Wilhelm de Gelder 1910-13
By Herman Ganzevoort, Willem De Gelder. 1973
The letters in this volume, found in the original Dutch in the archives of the Netherlands Emigration Service in Holland,…
form a unique chronicle of one European homesteader in Saskatchewan from 1910 to 1913. They were written by Willem dr Gelder whose experience as a homesteader was typical of that of hundreds of thousands of newcomers to the prairies in the greatest years of western expansion just before the First World War. As a European immigrant he was able to write from a special perspective often ignored in Anglo-Saxon accounts of western development. Minute and perceptive observations of daily life are contained in his letters; together with the recollections of friends and neighbours who spoke well of him, this volume forms the portrait of a singular man who personified the toughness and persistence of the western pioneer. De Gelder was born in the 1880s in Doorn, the son of a well-to-do banker, and received all the benefits of birth in an upper-class home, including a university education. He came to Canada in 1910 and by the 1920s he had become a successful homesteader owning a half-section of land, meeting his bills, and joining in the community life. But in 1922 he rented out his land, went to the Netherlands to see his family, and returning to Canada he disposed of his homestead – and vanished. This book traces the compass of his life in Canada, revealing the doubts and fears which culminated in his disappearance; it highlights the anguish that all immigrants, new and old, suffered when they took the crucial step of beginning a new life.Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert
By Davin De Kergommeaux. 2012
Davin de Kergommeaux takes readers on a journey through the first systematic presentation of Canadian whisky: how it's made, who…
makes it, why it tastes the way it does, its history, and the rich, centuries-old folklore surrounding it. Join whisky authority Davin de Kergommeaux on a pan-Canadian journey from British Columbia to Nova Scotia, celebrating the diversity of Canada's unique spirit. With his conversational and accessible tutelage, de Kergommeaux offers readers a carefully researched, reliable, and authoritative guide to Canadian whisky that is, quite simply, not available anywhere else. Not only a book describing the history and culture of the spirit, Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert is also an informed exploration of taste. For the first time, whisky consumers -- experts and novices alike -- can approach Canadian whisky with a connoisseur's appreciation of its rich subtleties.Image Wars: Kings and Commonwealths in England, 1603-1660
By Kevin Sharpe. 2010
Spin and photo opportunities may appear to have emerged onto the political scene only recently, but in fact image and…
its manipulation have always been vital to the authority of rulers. This book, the second in Kevin Sharpe's trilogy exploring image, power, and communication in early modern England, examines its importance during the turbulent seventeenth century. From the coronation of James I to the end of Cromwell's protectorate, Sharpe considers how royalists and parliamentarians--often using the same vocabularies--sought to manage their public image through words, pictures, and performances in order to win support and secure and enhance their authority.Writing the Monarch in Jacobean England
By Jane Rickard. 2015
King James VI and I's extensive publications and the responses they met played a key role in the literary culture…
of Jacobean England. This book is the first sustained study of how James's subjects commented upon, appropriated and reworked these royal writings. Jane Rickard highlights the vitality of such responses across genres - including poetry, court masque, sermon, polemic and drama - and in the different media of performance, manuscript and print. The book focuses in particular on Jonson, Donne and Shakespeare, arguing that these major authors responded in illuminatingly contrasting ways to James's claims as an author-king, made especially creative uses of the opportunities that his publications afforded and helped to inspire some of what the King in turn wrote. Their literary responses reveal that royal writing enabled a significant reimagining of the relationship between ruler and ruled. This volume will interest researchers and advanced students of Renaissance literature and history.Startle and Illuminate: Carol Shields on Writing
By Carol Shields, Anne Giardini. 2016
In the course of her extraordinary career, which included the novels The Stone Diaries, Larry's Party, The Republic of Love…
and Unless, as well as poetry, short stories, biography and plays, Carol Shields was unfailingly encouraging of other writers. She read and commented on her friends' manuscripts. She taught writing classes and she spoke and wrote on the craft of writing. Her own discipline rarely faltered. Her daily practice was to write a new page, then edit the page written the day before, then repeat, until, after a year or so, her book was finished. Now in her own words, as clear and straightforward as a glass of water, comes Startle and Illuminate, the best possible guide to the writing process, from conception to publication. This essential work, drawn by her daughter and grandson from her voluminous correspondence with other writers, essays, notes, comments, criticism and lectures, is a last gift from one of our finest novelists meant for both aspiring and established writers. It helps answer some of the most fundamental questions about writing: such as, why we write at all, whether writing can be taught, what keeps a reader turning the pages, and how a writer knows when a work is done. For Shields's devoted readers, Startle and Illuminate reveals her own thoughts on why we read--to be the other, to touch and taste the experience of the other; and why we write--for the joy of the making, to reimagine our world, to discover patterns and uncover forms that echo our realities as well as interrogate them, to imagine alternate worlds. It is a beautiful legacy.The Foreign Relations of Elizabeth I
By Charles Beem. 2011
This collection brings together provocative essays examining various facets of Elizabethan foreign affairs, encompassing England and The British Isles, continental…
Europe, and the Islamic world. As an entirely domestic queen who never physically left her realm, Elizabeth I cast an inordinately large shadow internationally. This volume reveals a ruler and her kingdom more connected and integrated into the wider world than is usually acknowledged in conventional studies of Elizabethan foreign affairs.Tudor Queenship
By Anna Whitelock, Alice Hunt. 2010
This book brings together a selection of recent, cutting-edge research which, for the first time, challenges commonplace arguments about Mary…
and Elizabeth's relative successes or failures in order to rethink Tudor queenship.