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The Duel: Diefenbaker, Pearson and the Making of Modern Canada
By John Ibbitson. 2023
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLEROne of Canada’s foremost authors and journalists, offers a gripping account of the contest between John Diefenbaker and…
Lester Pearson, two prime ministers who fought each other relentlessly, but who between them created today’s Canada. John Diefenbaker has been unfairly treated by history. Although he wrestled with personal demons, his governments launched major reforms in public health care, law reform and immigration. On his watch, First Nations on reserve obtained the right to vote and the federal government began to open up the North. He established Canada as a leader in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, and took the first steps in making Canada a leader in the fight against nuclear proliferation. And Diefenbaker’s Bill of Rights laid the groundwork for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He set in motion many of the achievements credited to his successor, Lester B. Pearson.Pearson, in turn, gave coherence to Diefenbaker’s piecemeal reforms. He also pushed Parliament to adopt a new, and now much-loved, Canadian flag against Diefenbaker’s fierce opposition. Pearson understood that if Canada were to be taken seriously as a nation, it must develop a stronger sense of self. Pearson was superbly prepared for the role of prime minister: decades of experience at External Affairs, respected by leaders from Washington to Delhi to Beijing, the only Canadian to win the Nobel Prize for Peace. Diefenbaker was the better politician, though. If Pearson walked with ease in the halls of power, Diefenbaker connected with the farmers and small-town merchants and others left outside the inner circles. Diefenbaker was one of the great orators of Canadian political life; Pearson spoke with a slight lisp. Diefenbaker was the first to get his name in the papers, as a crusading attorney: Diefenbaker for the Defence, champion of the little man. But he struggled as a politician, losing five elections before making it into the House of Commons, and becoming as estranged from the party elites as he was from the Liberals, until his ascension to the Progressive Conservative leadership in 1956 through a freakish political accident. As a young university professor, Pearson caught the attention of the powerful men who were shaping Canada’s first true department of foreign affairs, rising to prominence as the helpful fixer, the man both sides trusted, the embodiment of a new country that had earned its place through war in the counsels of the great powers: ambassador, undersecretary, minister, peacemaker. Everyone knew he was destined to be prime minister. But in 1957, destiny took a detour.Then they faced each other, Diefenbaker v Pearson, across the House of Commons, leaders of their parties, each determined to wrest and hold power, in a decade-long contest that would shake and shape the country. Here is a tale of two men, children of Victoria, who led Canada into the atomic age: each the product of his past, each more like the other than either would ever admit, fighting each other relentlessly while together forging the Canada we live in today. To understand our times, we must first understand theirs.John Turner: An Intimate Biography of Canada's 17th Prime Minister
By Steve Paikin. 2022
In this masterful and engaging biography, acclaimed journalist Steve Paikin brings to life John Turner (1929-2020), one of the most…
glamorous and successful politicians in Canadian history. Born in England, raised in BC, Turner was a champion sprinter and a Rhodes scholar who captured the national imagination as escort for Princess Margaret on her 1959 Canadian tour. Elected to Parliament in 1962, he served in Prime Minister Lester Pearson's cabinet and as Pierre Trudeau's attorney general, minister of justice, and finance minister. In 1984, he won a hotly-contested Liberal leadership contest and served a brief four months as Canada's seventeenth prime minister before falling to Brian Mulroney in a Progressive Conservative landslide. In this surprisingly candid and personal book, Paikin draws on unprecedented access to Turner's personal and public papers to show how he struggled to meet the towering expectations that came with his abundant gifts, and keep his faith in Canadian democracy despite the challenges of his own careerRogers v. Rogers: The Battle for Control of Canada's Telecom Empire
By Alexandra Posadzki. 2024
A riveting, deeply reported account that takes us inside the dramatic battle for control of Canada’s largest wireless carrier, and…
paints a broader picture of the cutthroat telecom industry, the labyrinth of regulatory and political systems that govern it, and the high-stakes corporate games played by the Canadian establishment. Alexandra Posadzki’s ground-breaking coverage in the Globe and Mail exposed one of the most spectacular boardroom and family dramas in Canadian corporate history—one that has pitted the company’s extraordinarily powerful chairman and controlling shareholder, Edward Rogers, against not only his own management team but also the wishes of his mother and two of his sisters. Hanging in the balance is no less than the pending $20 billion acquisition of Shaw Communications, a historic deal that promises to transform Rogers into the truly national telecom empire that its late founder, Ted Rogers, always envisioned. Based on deeply sourced, investigative reporting of the iconic $30 billion publicly traded telecom and media giant, Posadzki takes us inside a company that touches the lives of millions of Canadians, challenging what we thought we knew about corporate governance and who really holds the power. Rogers v. Rogers is also a story of family legacy and succession, of an old guard pushing back at the new guard, and of a company struggling to find its footing in the wake of its legendary founder’s death. At the heart of it all is a dispute between warring factions of the family over how they each interpret the desires of the late patriarch and the very identity of the company that bears their name.Outspoken: My Fight for Freedom and Human Rights in Afghanistan
By Sima Samar. 2024
The impassioned memoir of Afghanistan's Sima Samar: medical doctor, public official, founder of schools and hospitals, thorn in the side…
of the Taliban, nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, and lifelong advocate for girls and women."I have three strikes against me. I’m a woman, I speak out for women, and I’m Hazara, the most persecuted ethnic group in Afghanistan."Dr. Sima Samar has been fighting for equality and justice for most of her life. Born into a polygamous family, she learned early that girls had inferior status, and she had to agree to an arranged marriage if she wanted to go to university. By the time she was in medical school, she had a son, Ali, and had become a revolutionary. After her husband was disappeared by the pro-Russian regime, she escaped. With her son and medical degree, she took off into the rural areas—by horseback, by donkey, even on foot—to treat people who had never had medical help before.Sima Samar's wide-ranging experiences both in her home country and on the world stage have given her inside access to the dishonesty, the collusion, the corruption, the self-serving leaders, and the hijacking of religion. And as a former Vice President, she knows all the players in this chess game called Afghanistan. With stories that are at times poignant, at times terrifying, inspiring as well as disheartening, Sima provides an unparalleled view of Afghanistan’s past and its present. Despite being in grave personal danger for many years, she has worked tirelessly for the dream she is convinced is an achievable one: justice and full human rights for all the citizens of her country.Acclaimed journalist Simon Shuster gives us the first inside account of the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the perspective of…
President Volodymyr Zelensky and his team, who granted him unprecedented access. Time correspondent Simon Shuster chronicles the life and wartime leadership of Volodymyr Zelensky from the dressing rooms of his variety show in Ukraine to the muddy trenches of his war with Russia. Based on four years of reporting; extensive travels with President Zelensky to the front; and dozens of interviews with him, his wife, his friends and enemies, his advisers, ministers and military commanders, The Showman tells an intimate and eye-opening story of the President's evolution from a slapstick actor to a symbol of resilience, revealing how he managed to rally the world's democracies behind his cause. The book's early chapters offer the first detailed account of Zelensky's life in a nuclear bunker in the opening weeks of the invasion and the circumstances of his wife's escape to safety with their children. Later, as the Russians retreat from Kyiv, we see Zelensky and his team emerge from the bunker and lead Ukraine in a series of crucial victories. The result is a riveting, up-close picture of the invasion as experienced by its number one target and improbable hero. Clear-eyed about the President's early failures as a peacemaker and his willingness to silence political dissent, the book offers a complex picture of a man struggling to break what he sees as a historical cycle of oppression that began generations before he was born. Even as the war drags on, Zelensky lays out his vision for its future course and, through his actions, demonstrates his strategy for countering the Russians and keeping the West on his side. The Showman, as a work of eyewitness journalism, provides an essential perspective on the war defining our age. As a study in leadership and human resolve, its appeal is timeless and universal. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobookI am ruth bader ginsburg (Ordinary People Change the World)
By Brad Meltzer. 2024
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the 32nd hero in the New York Times bestselling biography series for ages…
5 to 9. Before Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the judge, she was a young Jewish girl growing up in Brooklyn, inspired by books, past female trailblazers, and her mother to make the world a better, more just place to be. So even when people turned her away—for being a girl and for being Jewish—she never stopped fighting for equal treatment for everyone by pushing back against unjust laws and the beliefs around them. This friendly, fun biography series inspired the PBS Kids TV show Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. One great role model at a time, these books encourage kids to dream big. Included in each book are: A timeline of key events in the hero’s history Childhood moments that influenced the hero Facts that make great conversation-starters A virtue this person embodies: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s perseverance to create justice and equality is highlighted. You’ll want to collect each audiobook in this dynamic, informative series!The thorny rose of Texas: an intimate portrait of Governor Ann Richards
By Mike Shropshire. 1994
Born during the Depression, Ann Richards overcame alcoholism and other problems to win the highest political office in Texas. This…
in-depth biography is based on approximately two hundred interviews with Richards' family and close friends, political allies and critics. Strong languageRevenge: how Donald Trump weaponized the US Department of Justice against his critics
By Michael Cohen. 2022
"When Michael Cohen's secret payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels on behalf of Donald Trump made Cohen look like a…
liability to the by-then-President of the United States, the end to their decade-long relationship came swiftly - with a knock on the door from the FBI. Soon, Cohen would find himself imprisoned - even though he had plenty of evidence to show he was innocent of most of the charges. Meanwhile, with the release of the Steele Dossier, Cohen also found himself battling endless news reports citing the Dossier's claims that he'd had clandestine dealings with Russia - reports that only mounted despite his exoneration by the Mueller Report. In a story now being echoed in recent breaking news stories about IRS persecution of other Trump foes such as former FBI head James Comey and others, Cohen details - in his inimitable blunt language, with absolutely no holds barred and naming names - his attempt to clear his name and tell the truth about Donald Trump. Chillingly, he also makes clear what happens when you try to speak truth to power, and the power knows no bounds." -- Provided by publisherLeonard Calvert and the Maryland adventure
By Ann Jensen. 1998
Supreme power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court
By Jeff Shesol. 2010
Beginning in 1935, a series of devastating decisions by a conservative majority Supreme Court left much of FDR's agenda in…
ruins. The pillars of the New Deal fell in short succession and democracy itself stood on trial. In February 1937, Roosevelt struck back with an audacious plan to expand the Court to fifteen justices and to "pack" the new seats with people who shared his belief in a "living" Constitution. AdultThe White Ship: conquest, anarchy and the wrecking of Henry I's dream
By Charles Spencer Spencer. 2020
"The sinking of the White Ship in 1120 is one of the greatest disasters England has ever suffered. In one…
catastrophic night, the king's heir and the flower of Anglo-Norman society were drowned and the future of the crown was thrown violently off course. In a riveting narrative, Charles Spencer follows the story from the Norman Conquest through to the decades that would become known as the Anarchy: a civil war of untold violence that saw families turn in on each other with English and Norman barons, rebellious Welsh princes and the Scottish king all playing a part in a desperate game of thrones. All because of the loss of one vessel - the White Ship - the medieval Titanic." -- Provided by publisherHope and hard truth: a life in Texas politics
By Mary Beth Rogers. 2022
"Mary Beth Rogers has led an eventful life rooted in the weeds of Texas politics, occasionally savoring a few victories-particularly…
the 1990 governor's race when, as campaign manager for Ann Richards, she did the impossible and put a Democratic woman in office. She also learned to absorb her losses-after all, she was a liberal feminist in America's most aggressively conservative state. Rogers's road to a political life was complex. Candidly and vulnerably, she shares both public and private memories of how she tried to maintain a rich family life with growing children and a husband with a debilitating illness. She goes on to provide an insider's account of her experiences as Richards's first chief of staff while weaving her way through the highs and lows of political intrigue and legislative maneuvering. Reflecting on her family heritage and nascent spiritual quest, Rogers discovers a reality at once sobering and invigorating: nothing is ever completely lost or completely won. It is a constant struggle to create humane public policies built on a foundation of fairness and justice-particularly in her beloved Texas." -- Provided by publisherTrust the dog: rebuilding lives through teamwork with man's best friend
By Gerri Hirshey. 2010
True stories that explore the one of a kind union between people who are visually impaired and the guide dogs…
who become their steadfast partners. For fifty years, Fidelco has provided trained German Shepherds to more than 1200 men and women who have flourished with their help. The pairings are defined by devotion, intelligence, hard work, and most of all, trust. AdultJefferson the Virginian
By Dumas Malone. 1948
The initial volume of this scholarly biography of the American president, statesman, and thinker covers his boyhood, education, marriage, legal…
career, and entrance into public life. During this period the shy, intellectual patriot who meant 'Virginia' when he said 'my country' was an ardent spokesman for colonial rights. 1948Raulito: the first Latino Governor of Arizona = Raulito : el primer gobernador latino de Arizona
By Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford. 2021
"This bilingual biography for kids ages 8-14 follows the dreams and achievements of Raul H. Castro, who was the first…
Latino governor of Arizona and US Ambassador to El Salvador, Bolivia and Argentina." -- GoodreadsJuan de Juanes: escritores, editores, agentes literarios y otras glorias y calamidades
By Sergio Ramírez. 2014
"Memory is also a sort of homage to the friends who have accompanied us throughout life, those with whom we…
share a table, books, travels and, in the case of Sergio Ramirez, revolution. In Juan de Juanes' vast map of memories, Ramirez traces the route that takes us from his beginnings as a writer, the triumph of the Sandinista revolution in his native Nicaragua, the Alfaguara Prize in 1998, to the awarding of the 2011 José Donoso Ibero-American Literature Prize, a few days before the suicide of the Chilean writer's only heir, Pilar Donoso. In the pages of Juan de Juanes, Sergio Ramírez tells us about memorable characters in his life, to whom he remained indebted, among others Carlos Fuentes, Julio Cortázar, Augusto Monterroso, Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges, Ernesto Cardenal and Juan Cruz, his first editor and the starting point of this journey through Latin America." -- Translation provided by NLSSuncoast empire: Bertha Honoré Palmer, her family, and the rise of Sarasota, 1910-1982
By Frank A Cassell. 2017
In 1910, Bertha Honore? Parker ventured to the gulf coast of Florida to investigate real estate opportunities, launching her family's…
decades-long development of the Sarasota area. Parker, a businesswoman, women's rights activist, and Queen of Chicago Society, initiated infrastructure, expanded agriculture, and navigated political hiccups to lay the foundation for Sarasota's growth and legacy. Adult. Some strong languageTommy: my journey of a lifetime
By Tommy George Thompson. 2018
A memoir from former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson and biographer Doug Moe. Told from Thompson's perspective, he details his life…
growing up in Elroy, a small town in Western Wisconsin, and how he steadily rose to prominence as a statesman and policy leader for the Republican Party. Adult. UnratedCharette (La Vendée, les indispensables)
By Thérèse Rouchette. 2007
Ce portrait du chef vendéen François Athanase Charette de La Contrie montre comment celui qui passait pour un officier de…
marine insignifiant et indolent, sut dompter les événements et se forger un personnage hors du commun, jusqu'à devenir l'incarnation de la résistance populaire vendéenne.L'autre Chirac
By Robert Madjar. 1995
Journaliste depuis trente ans, Robert Madjar possède une maison à Sainte-Féréole, berceau familial de Jacques Chirac. D'année en année, il…
a recueilli les confidences des proches du Président. Il a parcouru les routes de Corrèze, d'ussel à Brive en passant par Egletons, pour entendre les copains d'enfance évoquer ce jeune homme turbulent, coqueluche des filles de la région, qui faisait les quatre cents coups. Il a rencontré sa famille, ses amis. Un portrait inattendu "côté coeur.