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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 girl in the green sweater: a life in Holocaust's shadow
By Daniel Paisner, Krystyna Chiger. 2008
In 1943, with Lvov's 150,000 Jews having been exiled, killed, or forced into ghettos and facing extermination, a group of…
Polish Jews sought refuge in the city's sewer system. The last surviving member this group, Krystyna Chiger, provides a first-person account of those fourteen months with her family. Also describes Leopold Socha, a Polish Catholic and former thief, who risked his life to help Chiger's underground family survive, bringing them food and supplies. 2009, c2008.The girl in Saskatoon: a meditation on friendship, memory and murder
By Sharon Butala. 2008
In 1962, Alexandra Wiwcharuk was found murdered on the banks of the Saskatchewan River. Nearly 50 years later, her murder…
still haunts Saskatoon residents, especially those who, like Butala, were Alexandra's friends. Compelled by her memories of Alex, Butala returns to that still-unsolved murder, writing an in-depth investigation of the tragic death, a nostalgic coming-of-age story, and an exploration of the nature of good and evil. Some descriptions of sex and violence. 2008.The gatekeepers: inside the admissions process of a premier college
By Jacques Steinberg. 2003
In the fall of 1999, New York Times education reporter Jacques Steinberg was given the opportunity to observe the admissions…
process at prestigious Wesleyan University. Over the course of nearly a year, Steinberg accompanied admissions officer Ralph Figueroa on a tour to assess and recruit the most promising students in the country. The Gatekeepers follows a diverse group of prospective students as they compete for places in the nation's most elite colleges. Some strong language. 2002.The fog of war: censorship of Canada's media in World War Two
By Mark Bourrie. 2011
The Canadian government censored the news during World War II for two main reasons: to keep military and economic secrets…
out of enemy hands and to prevent civilian morale from breaking down. But in those tumultuous times - with Nazi spies landing on our shores by raft, U-boat attacks in the St. Lawrence, army mutinies in British Columbia and Ontario, and pro-Hitler propaganda in the mainstream Quebec press - censors had a hard time keeping news events contained. Now, with freshly unsealed World War II press-censor files, many of the undocumented events that occurred in wartime Canada are finally revealed. c2011.The doctor will not see you now
By Jane Poulson. 2002
Autobiography of Dr. Jane Poulson, the first blind person in Canada to become a practising doctor. Poulson suffered from diabetes…
and because of the disease, lost her sight and then experienced severe heart problems. Nonetheless she was an extremely accomplished doctor, published widely in leading medical journals, and showed great courage and endurance to all who knew her. She wrote this book during the last two years of her life. 2002.The end of ignorance: multiplying our human potential
By John Mighton. 2007
Mighton conceives of a world based on the assumption that each child has the potential to be successful in every…
subject. He argues that by recognizing the barriers that we have experienced in our own educational development, by identifying the moment that we became disenchanted with a certain subject and forever closed ourselves off to it, we will be able to eliminate these same barriers from standing in the way of our children. 2007.The damned: the Canadians at the battle of Hong Kong and the POW experience, 1941-45
By Nathan M Greenfield. 2010
Fall, 1941. Almost 2,000 members of the Royal Rifles and Winnipeg Grenadiers were sent to bolster the British garrison at…
Hong Kong, but in the seventeen day battle for the colony following the attack on December 8, the Canadians suffered grievous losses. The second part of their story describes how the Canadians survived the horrendous conditions of Japanese POW camps. Some descriptions of sex, explicit descriptions of violence and strong language. 2010.The clouded leopard: travels to landscapes of spirit and desire
By Wade Davis. 1998
Davis examines the link between the diversity of our biological landscape and cultural diversity. He argues that the more we…
destroy the biological landscapes of the Earth, the more we cause diverse cultures to assimilate with the more mainstream cultures. Davis uses his travels around the world to illustrate his argument and shares stories of his time spent with a variety of peoples throughout the world. c1998.The guns of victory: a soldier's eye view, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, 1944-45
By George G Blackburn. 1996
Blackburn continues the story of the First Canadian Army's 4th Field Regiment. After the battle for Normandy, they pursue the…
German army through the Netherlands and Belgium, opening the Scheldt estuary. They endure the bitter winter of 1945, then fight in the Battle of the Rhineland through to ultimate victory. Some strong language and some descriptions of violence. 1996.The guns of Normandy: a soldier's eye view, France 1944
By George G Blackburn. 1995
Blackburn follows the Canadian Army through its landing on the Normandy beaches after the D-Day attacks, and to the battles…
at Falaise and Caen. Blackburn presents a detailed description of the lives of the Canadian soldiers who fought in the battles. Some strong language.The double vision: language and meaning in religion
By Northrop Frye. 1991
The diary of Ma Yan: the struggles and hopes of a Chinese schoolgirl
By Lisa Appignanesi, Ma Yan, Pierre Haski. 2005
Ma Yan is a teenager from Ningxia, China, a drought-stricken rural area. Education can be the difference between a life…
of crushing poverty and a better future, but money is scarce. Ma Yan's diary chronicles her struggle to escape hardship and bring prosperity to her family, through her persistent, sometimes desperate, attempts to continue her schooling. Grades 4-7 and older readers. 2002, 2004. Uniform title: Journal de Ma Yan.The crack in the teacup: the life of an old woman steeped in stories
By Joan Bodger. 2000
Gestalt therapist, story-teller, teacher, writer, children's book editor, director of the first Headstart Program in New York State, Joan Bodger…
is a woman whose life has always been intertwined with stories. Her biography depicts how a life -- and a century -- can be shaped and given meaning by personal mythology, how the power of stories can repair a shattered life. While describing her own life she also includes sharp observations of the nuances of class, racial prejudice, and regional and national differences. Some strong language. 2000.The boy on the beach: my family’s escape from Syria and our hope for a new home
By Tima Kurdi. 2018
Alan Kurdi's body washed up on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea on September 2, 2015, and overnight, the political…
became personal, as the world awoke to the reality of the Syrian refugee crisis. Tima Kurdi first saw the shocking photo of her nephew in her home in Vancouver, Canada. Tima recounts her idyllic childhood in Syria, where she grew up with her brother Abdullah and other siblings in a tight knit family. A strong willed, independent woman, Tima studied to be a hairdresser and had dreams of seeing the world. At twenty two, she emigrated to Canada, but much of her family remained in Damascus. As Tima struggled to adapt to life in a new land, war overtook her homeland. Caught in the crosshairs of civil war, her family risked everything and fled their homes. Tima worked tirelessly to help them find safety, but their journey was far from easy. Although thwarted by politics, hounded by violence, and separated by vast distances, the Kurdis never gave up hope. And when tragedy struck, Tima suddenly found herself thrust onto the world stage as an advocate for refugees everywhere, a role for which she had never prepared but that allowed her to give voice to those who didn't have an opportunity to speak for themselves. Bestseller. 2018.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.The bias of communication
By Harold A Innis. 1991
A collection of essays by historian Harold Innis on the role of media in the creation of history. Discusses the…
concepts of medium, bias, monopoly of knowledge, empire, and the oral tradition. This edition includes a new introduction to Innis' career, the development of his ideas, and an assessment of his influence on the study of communications theory and Canadian history. 1991, c1951.The Bin Ladens: an Arabian family in the American century
By Steve Coll. 2008
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Ghost Wars" (DC26423) outlines the history of the Arabian Peninsula's Bin Laden family. Begins with patriarch…
Mohamed Bin Laden, an illiterate Yemeni bricklayer who established a building company in Saudi Arabia in 1931 and fathered fifty-four children. Charts the path of son Osama. Some descriptions of violence. Bestseller. c2008.The beautiful and the damned: a portrait of the new India
By Siddhartha Deb. 2011
In 2004, Deb returned to India from New York and discovered that sweeping change had overtaken the country, due to…
the globalization of its economy, the relaxation of trade rules, and the growth in technology. Visiting the metropolises, small towns, and villages, as well as both gated suburban communities and camps for displaced peasants, Deb offers a view of the changes in landscape and urban geography, creating a narrative of the people who make up the world's second-most populous nation. Some strong language, some descriptions of sex and some descriptions of violence. c2011.Presents discoveries about the 9/11 terrorist attack, the emergency response, and insights into the inner workings of the US government,…
including the decision-making process at the top levels, the miscommunication between the FBI and CIA, and the fatal oversights made by the Bush administration before the attacks. It also explores the investigation process itself, placing the 9/11 investigation into historical context, and asks who will be held responsible for the intelligence and leadership failures revealed by the investigations. And perhaps most importantly, will the 9/11 investigation help prevent such a tragedy from happening again? Some descriptions of violence. 2004.