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The blind mechanic: the amazing story of Eric Davidson, survivor of the 1917 Halifax Explosion
By Marilyn Elliott, Janet Kitz. 2018
Eric Davidson was a beautiful, fair-haired toddler when the Halifax Explosion struck, killing almost 2,000 people and seriously injuring thousands…
of others. Eric lost both eyes-a tragedy that his mother never fully recovered from. Eric, however, was positive and energetic. He also developed a fascination with cars and how they worked, and he later decided, against all likelihood, to become a mechanic. Assisted by his brothers who read to him from manuals, he worked hard, passed examinations, and carved out a decades-long career. Once the subject of a National Film Board documentary, Eric Davidson was, until his death, a much-admired figure in Halifax. Written by his daughter Marilyn, this book gives new insights into the story of the 1917 Halifax Explosion and contains never-before-seen documents and photographs. Winner of the 2019 The Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award (Non-Fiction). 2018.Girls need not apply: field notes from the Forces /
By Kelly S. Thompson. 2019
At eighteen years old, Kelly Thompson enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces. Despite growing up in a military family --…
she would, in fact, be a fourth-generation soldier -- she couldn't shake the feeling that she didn't belong. From the moment she arrives for basic training at a Quebec military base, a young woman more interested in writing than weaponry, she quickly realizes that her conception of what being a soldier means, forged from a desire to serve her country after the 9/11 attacks, isn't entirely accurate. A career as a female officer will involve navigating a masculinized culture and coming to grips with her burgeoning feminism. In this compulsively readable memoir, Thompson writes with wit and honesty about her own development as a woman and a soldier, unsparingly highlighting truths about her time in the military. In sharply crafted prose, she chronicles the frequent sexism and misogyny she encounters both in training and later in the workplace, and explores her own feelings of pride and loyalty to the Forces, and a family legacy of PTSD, all while searching for an artistic identity in a career that demands conformity. When she sustains a career-altering injury, Thompson fearlessly re-examines her identity as a soldier. 2019.A cave in the clouds: a young woman's escape from ISIS /
By Badeeah Hassan Ahmed. 2019
Captured by ISIS, known locally as Daesh, Badeeah was among hundreds forced into a brutal human trafficking network made up…
of women and girls of Ezidi ethnicity, a much-persecuted minority culture of Iraq. Badeeah's story takes her to Syria where she is sold to a high-ranking ISIS commander known as Al Amriki, the American, kept as a house slave, raped, and routinely assaulted. Only the presence of her young nephew Eivan and her friend Navine, also prisoners, keeps her from harming herself. In captivity, she draws on memories and stories from her childhood to maintain a small bit of control in an otherwise volatile situation. Ultimately, it is her profound sense of faith and brave resistance that lead her to escape with Eivan and reunite with family. Since her escape, Badeeah has brought her harrowing story of war and survival to the world's stage, raising awareness about the little-known acts of genocide against her culture and the strength of a people unknown to many around the world. 2019.Stories of the Saints: Bold and Inspiring Tales of Adventure, Grace, and Courage
By Carey Wallace. 2020
Performing Miracles. Facing Wild Lions. Confronting Demons. Transforming the World. From Augustine to Mother Teresa, officially canonized as St. Teresa…
of Calcutta, discover seventy of the best-known and best-loved saints and read their riveting stories. Meet Joan of Arc, whose transcendent faith compelled her to lead an army when the king’s courage failed. Francis of Assisi, whose gentleness tamed a man-eating wolf. Valentine, a bishop in the time of ancient Rome, who spoke so often of Christ’s love that his saint’s day, February 12, has been associated with courtly love since the Middle Ages. St. Thomas Aquinas, the great teacher. Peter Claver, who cared for hundreds of thousands of people on slave ships after their voyage as captives. And Bernadette, whose vision of Mary instructed her to dig the spring that became the healing waters of Lourdes. Each saint is illustrated in a dramatic and stylized full-color portrait, and included in every entry are the saint’s dates, location, emblems, feast days, and patronage. Taken together, these stories create a rich, inspiring, and entertaining history of faith and courage. For kids age 10 and up. A perfect gift for Confirmation.The Queer Evangelist: A Socialist Clergy's Radically Honest Tale
By Cheri DiNovo. 2021
Cheri DiNovo went from living on the streets as a teenager to performing the first legalized same-sex marriage in Canada…
in 2001. This story of one queer kid will hopefully inspire other young people (queer and not) to resist the system and change it.Two Pieces of Cloth: One Family's Story of the Holocaust
By Joe Gold. 2021
Torn apart by war. Reunited through faith. In this remarkable true story of the Holocaust, we follow David Goldberger from…
the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, back to Budapest where his wife, Aurelia, and infant son are hiding under false Christian identities. By the time he is liberated by the allies, Goldberger weighs a skeletal sixty-five pounds and is told to wait for the Slovakian legion to rescue him. With the threat of typhus looming, Goldberger instead escapes with a group of men to Hannover. There, he is given two pieces of wool cloth-the key to rebuilding his future as he searches for his wife and child. Drawn from survivor testimony, personal conversations, and archival documents, and vividly brought to life by Goldberger's son Joe Gold, Two Pieces of Cloth bears witness to the horrors of the Holocaust, while serving as a testament to the power and resilience of the human spirit.On Foot to Canterbury: A Son’s Pilgrimage (Wayfarer)
By Ken Haigh. 2021
Barefoot Soldier
By Johnson Beharry. 2006
Born in 1979 in Grenada as one of eight children, living in a two-bedroom hut, surviving on meagre meals of…
beans and rice and walking barefoot, three miles to school. At 13 Johnson Beharry quit school and worked as a decorator and labourer. In 1999 he scraped together the airfare for England and joined the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. He served six months in Kosovo, three months in Northern Ireland and then went to Iraq. On 1 May 2004, Beharry helped assist a foot patrol caught in a series of ambushes. His vehicle was hit by multiple rocket propelled grenades but he drove through the ambush and extracted his wounded colleagues from the vehicle, all the time exposed to further enemy fire. He was cited on this occasion for 'valour of the highest order'. While back on duty on 11 June 2004, a rocket propelled grenade hit Beharry's vehicle incapacitating his commander and injuring several of the crew. Despite his very serious head injuries, Beharry took control of his vehicle and drove it out of the ambush area before losing consciousness. He required brain surgery for his head injuries, and he was still recovering when he was awarded the VC in March 2005.Vlad the Impaler: The Real Count Dracula
By Enid A. Goldberg, Norman Itzkowitz. 2007
Loyalty meant nothing to Vlad Dracula, a Transylvanian prince who'd sacrifice anything to stay in power. He ruled with a…
thirst for blood so terrible that the most famous vampire in literature was named after him.Grigory Rasputin
By Enid A. Goldberg, Norman Itzkowitz. 2007
Theodore Roosevelt
By Theodore Roosevelt.
The firsthand account of the life of adventurer, scholar, war hero, and twenty-sixth president of the United States Theodore Roosevelt.There…
must be the keenest sense of duty, and with it must go the joy of living. Here, in his own words, Theodore Roosevelt recounts his remarkable journey from a childhood plagued with illnesses to the US presidency and beyond. With candor and vivid detail, this personal account describes a life guided by a restless intelligence, a love for adventure, and an unflagging duty to his country. Roosevelt sheds light on his wide array of roles, from New York police commissioner, where he waged a battle against corruption, to cattle rancher in the Dakotas to assistant secretary of the US Navy under William McKinley to leader of the legendary Rough Riders at the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, when he led the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry to victory in the Battle of San Juan Hill. These extraordinary accomplishments earned Roosevelt national fame and set the stage for his ascent to the White House. As twenty-sixth president of the United States, he ushered in the Progressive Era with his domestic policies, such as the Square Deal, and trust-busting of monopolies, such as Standard Oil. He was a war hero, scholar, statesman, adventurer, and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography provides unique insight into the truly remarkable life of one of America’s most beloved presidents. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.Wellington: The Iron Duke
By Richard Holmes. 2003
In this compelling biography, Richard Holmes charts the life of the Duke of Wellington, Britain's greatest soldier. He follows Wellington's…
remarkable career, from the ruins of his family seat in Ireland and the plains of India where he first gained his reputation as a brilliant commander, to the horrors of the Peninsular War and Waterloo. Holmes sees Wellington as a brilliant figure, idealistic in politics, War and Waterloo. Holmes sees Wellington as a brilliant figure, idealistic in politics, cynical in love, a man of enormous courage and iron duty often sickened by the horrors of war.His Holiness The 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje: A Biography
By Tsering Namgyal Khortsa. 2013
A fascinating and riveting life sketch of one of the most respected spiritual leaders of our times which also…
delves deep into the various facets of Buddhism The seventeenth Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje is the leader of the Karma Kagyu School one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism Born in 1985 in eastern Tibet to nomadic parents he was recognized as the reincarnation of the sixteenth Karmapa who passed away in the US in 1981 He became the first Tibetan reincarnation to be recognized by both the Dalai Lama and the Chinese Government The 15-year-old monk made headlines when he escaped to India in 2000 Currently living near Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh India the Karmapa is widely seen as an important spiritual leader of the twenty-first century Over the past decade and a half he has grown up into a formidable leader and an impressive orator Behind the fa ade of scandals and controversies surrounding the Karmapa is an extraordinary young man full of charisma and intelligence Yet few know who the Karmapa is and what he believes in What are his teachings and what is his vision for the world How is he restoring his 900-year-old Tibetan Buddhist institution of which he is the head In a unique mixture of biography travelogue and reportage the author brings alive the life of the Karmapa who is grappling with immense challenges to modernize spirituality while keeping its essence alive Here is a timely volume that is highly relevant today given the worldwide attention on the developments in Tibet and its impact on BeijingOur Man in Hibernia: Ireland, The Irish and Me
By Charlie Connelly. 2010
Each year on St Patrick's Day eighty million people around the world celebrate their Irish ancestry. Millions more don leprechaun…
hats and down pints of Guinness in the annual high-fiving of Ireland and the Irish. Charlie Connelly was one of them. He thought he had a good idea of what Ireland was all about. He was, after all, practically Irish. He had a bodhran and everything. Then, when he was least expecting it, he went to live there. Our Man in Hibernia follows Charlie's adventures among the Irish. Immersing himself in Ireland's language, music and literature, he learns how closely the rose-tinted image he'd grown up with matches the reality, and explores the land, from the small patch of Connemara bog that changed the world to the Holy Tree Stump of Rathkeale. From defining moments of the country's history - the Great Famine and the Easter Rising - to its quirkier phenomena, such as the National Ploughing Championships and the Rose of Tralee, in Our Man in Hibernia Charlie Connelly paints an evocative, entertaining and witty portrait of Ireland today.Francisco Pizarro: Destroyer of the Inca Empire
By John Diconsiglio. 2009
Loyal Service: Perspectives on French-Canadian Military Leaders
By Lieutenant-General J H P M Caron, Roch Legault, Colonel Bernd Horn. 2007
French Canadians have a long, proud history of serving their nation. From the earliest beginnings, French Canadians assisted in carving…
out and defending the nascent country. They were critical as defenders and as allies against hostile Natives and competing European powers. In the aftermath of the conquest, they continued, albeit under a different flag, to defend Canada. Loyal Service examines the service of a number of French-Canadian leaders and their contributions to the nation during times of peace, crisis, and conflict spanning the entire historical spectrum from New France to the end of the twentieth century.Mani: Travels In Southern Peloponnese (New York Review Books. Classics)
By Patrick Fermor. 2006
This is Patrick Leigh Fermor's spellbinding part-travelogue, part inspired evocation of a part of Greece's past. Joining him in the…
Mani, one of Europe's wildest and most isolated regions, cut off from the rest of Greece by the towering Taygettus mountainZigzag: The incredible wartime exploits of double agent Eddie Chapman
By Nicholas Booth. 2011
Eddie Chapman was a womaniser, blackmailer and safecracker. He was also a great hero - the most remarkable double agent…
of the Second World War. Chapman became the only British national ever to be awarded an Iron Cross for his work for the Reich. He was also the only German spy ever to be parachuted into Britain twice. But it was all an illusion: Eddie fooled the Germans in the same way he conned his victims in civilian life. He was working for the British all along. Until now, the full story of Eddie Chapman's extraordinary exploits has never been told, thwarted by the Official Secrets Act. Now at last all the evidence has been released, including Eddie's M15 files, and a complete account of what he achieved is told in this enthralling book.Portrait of Orkney
By George Brown. 1989
Catherine the Great: Empress of Russia
By Zu Vincent. 2009