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The great escape: the untold story
By Ted Barris. 2014
On the night of March 24, 1944, eighty airmen crawled through a 400-foot-long tunnel, code-named "Harry," and dashed from Stalag…
Luft III, the infamous WWII German POW camp. It became known as The Great Escape. The breakout had taken a year to plan, involved 2,000 POWs, and prompted a massive manhunt across occupied Europe. All but three escapees were recaptured, and on Hitler’s orders, fifty were murdered. The author recounts this battle of wits and determination through the voices of those involved, assembles original interviews, memoirs, letters and diaries to reconstruct the Great Escape’s untold story. Bestseller. 2014.The girls of Atomic City: the untold story of the women who helped win World War II
By Denise Kiernan. 2013
At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents. But to most of the…
world, the town did not exist. Thousands of civilians—many of them young women from small towns across the South—were recruited to this secret city, enticed by solid wages and the promise of war-ending work. Kept very much in the dark, few would ever guess the true nature of the tasks they performed each day in the hulking factories in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains. That is, until the end of the war—when Oak Ridge’s fateful secret was revealed. Bestseller. 2013.The Great Dominion: Winston Churchill in Canada, 1900-1954
By David Dilks. 2005
Winston Churchill's connection with Canada ("the Great Dominion", as he called it) spanned more than half a century: at Winnipeg…
he heard the news of Queen Victoria's death, in Ottawa in the dark days of 1941 he proclaimed his confidence in victory, and in 1952 had to concede that the result of victory had been far less satisfying than he had wished. No other Commonwealth country sparked such detailed knowledge or lifelong interest. 2005.The great hill stations of Asia
By Barbara Crossette. 1998
In 1997 this New York Times journalist traveled across Asia, visiting the classic hill towns built by several colonial powers.…
She recalls her journeys to these remote locations, discusses their history, and describes how each has evolved since being inherited by an independent nation. 1998.The generals: the Canadian army's senior commanders in the Second World War
By J. L Granatstein. 1993
Granatstein's study of life at the top during the Second World War centres on the most senior ranks in the…
Canadian Army. Men like Andrew McNaughton, Harold Crerar, Thomas Burns and Guy Simonds had not only to win military campaigns, but also command the sympathies of bureaucrats and powerful politicians. None, however, forgot they were fighting a war, and that their decisions directly affected the lives of Canadian soldiers. 1993.The Great Depression 1929-1939
By Pierre Berton. 1990
Berton describes the follies and tragedies of the decade-long Depression and criticizes the political leaders who failed to take the…
bold steps necessary to deal with unemployment, drought and despair. He portrays the ordinary people who struggled to survive, and denounces the wealthy businessmen who stretched the laws and took advantage of their employees. Bestseller 1990. Nominated for the 1993 Torgi Award.The golden spruce: A True Story Of Myth, Madness And Greed
By John Vaillant. 2005
In 1997, when a shattered kayak and camping gear are found on an Alaskan island north of the Canadian border,…
they reignite a mystery surrounding a shocking act of protest. The author braids together the strands of this mystery and brings to life the historical collision of Europeans and the Haida and the harrowing world of logging. Canada Reads 2012. Winner of the 2005 Governor General's Award for Non-fiction. Bestseller. 2005.The great adventure: how the Mounties conquered the West
By David Cruise, Alison Griffiths. 1996
Amidst public outcry, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald created the North West Mounted Police to bring law and order to…
one of the most dangerous places in North America -- the Canadian West. Using original sources, the authors portray the first Mounties, some three hundred untrained young men, who were sent west to drive out whiskey smugglers and outlaws, and pacify the Indians. Some strong language. c1996.The great escape
By Paul Brickhill. 2000
The Great Escape tells how more than six hundred men in a German prisoner of war camp worked together to…
achieve an extraordinary break-out. Every night for a year they dug tunnels, and those who weren't digging forged passports, drew maps, faked weapons and tailored German uniforms and civilian clothes to wear once they had escaped. All of this was conducted under the very noses of their prison guards. When the right night came, the actual escape itself was timed to the split second - but of course, not everything went according to plan... 2000.The ghosts of Medak Pocket: the story of Canada's secret war
By Carol Off. 2004
In 1993, Canadian peacekeepers in Croatia were plunged into the most significant fighting Canada had seen since the Korean War.…
In September 1993, in a tiny corner of Croatia known as Medak Pocket, a unit of Canadian peacekeepers planted themselves between besieged Serbs and the advancing Croat army, driving them from the area under United Nations protection. The soldiers should have returned home as heroes, but instead, they arrived under a cloud of suspicion and silence. Descriptions of violence and some strong language. 2004.Although Canada is a young nation, its Catholic Church boasts a thousand-year history. The author, a Bishop, presents this history…
through vignettes of women and men whose presence, vision, daring, determination, compassion, and action planted the Canadian Church from sea to sea. He also provides a look at the Church today. 2002.The follow: a true story
By Linda Spalding. 1998
The author recounts her expedition into the forests of Borneo in search of a reclusive primatologist, who has devoted her…
life to protecting orphaned orangutans. Describes the beauty of the island, the local society, and the despoilment of natural resources through poaching, deforestation, and misguided ecotourism. 1998.The fourth power: a grand strategy for the United States in the 21st Century
By Gary Hart. 2004
Hart, a former senator and presidential candidate, fears that containment of communism has been supplanted by a blatant strategy of…
empire as the basis of American foreign policy. He rejects what he regards as the unilateral efforts by the current administration to promote geopolitical interests. As an alternative, Hart proposes a foreign policy designed to advance the "fourth power" - that is, the power of core American values, including representative government and individual liberty. 2004.The first tycoon: the epic life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
By T J Stiles. 2010
T J Stiles tells the dramatic story of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, the combative man and American icon who did more…
than perhaps any other individual to create modern capitalism. From Vanderbilt's humble birth during the presidency of George Washington to his death as one of the richest men in American history, we see how the Commodore helped to launch the transportation revolution, propel the Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan and invent the modern corporation. 2010.The fighting Newfoundlander: a history of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment (Carleton library series ; #209)
By G. W. L Nicholson. 2006
When the First World War began, Newfoundland had been without any kind of military organisation for more than half a…
century, so public-spirited citizens immediately formed themselves into a Patriotic Association, and within sixty days had recruited, partially equipped and dispatched 537 officers and men overseas. Nicholson details the harrowing experiences of the Newfoundland Regiment at Gallipoli, Beaumont Hamel, the Third Battle of Ypres and Cambrai, for which they were granted the title "Royal" - the only army unit to receive such a distinction during World War I. Some descriptions of violence. 2006.The forgotten Labrador: Kegashka to Blanc-Sablon
By Cleophas Belvin. 2006
Recounts the history of the Quebec part of the Labrador coast. Describes the arrival of the Aboriginals and the activities…
of the Breton and Basque fishermen, and the French- and English-speaking merchants from Quebec City who controlled the region for more than one hundred and fifty years. Chronicles the early pioneers and their descendants and how they dealt with the precariousness of the fisheries, and explores the role of the Anglican and Catholic missionaries. 2006.The fix: soccer and organized crime
By Declan Hill. 2010
The first American: the life and times of Benjamin Franklin
By H. W Brands. 2000
Biography of one of America's founding fathers, incorporating correspondence and anecdotes of his contemporaries. Franklin was heralded as a leading…
inventor and scientist, author, and diplomat as well as a bon vivant. In exploring Franklin's conversion from British loyalist to revolutionary, Brands seeks out the genius behind the man. 2000.The far land
By Eva MacLean. 1993
Eva MacLean left her settled, Presbyterian Ontario life behind to accompany her young minister-veternarian husband to the "wilds" of northwestern…
B.C. in the early 1900s, during times of mining rushes and railroad-building. 1993.The far-off hills
By Rita Anton. 1979
Following her husband's death in 1976, Anton spent several years in India as a volunteer Jesuit Lay Missionary. Having travelled…
extensively in India, she presents a realistic look at this nation in transition. 1979.