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Showing 1 - 20 of 5188 items
By Sherrill Grace. 2021
Timothy Findley (1930-2002) was one of Canada's foremost writers—an award-winning novelist, playwright, and short-story writer who began his career as…
an actor in London, England. Findley was instrumental in the development of Canadian literature and publishing in the 1970s and 80s . During those years, he became a vocal advocate for human rights and the anti-war movement. His writing and interviews reveal a man concerned with the state of the world, a man who believed in the importance of not giving in to despair, despite his constant struggle with depression. Findley believed in the power of imagination and creativity to save us. Tiff: A Life of Timothy Findley is the first full biography of this eminent Canadian writer. Sherrill Grace provides insight into Findley's life and struggles through an exploration of his private journals and his relationships with family, his beloved partner, Bill Whitehead, and his close friends, including Alec Guinness, William Hutt, and Margaret Laurence. Based on many interviews and exhaustive archival research, this biography explores Findley's life and work, the issues that consumed him, and his often profound depression over the evils of the twentieth-century. Shining through his darkness are Findley's generous humour, his unforgettable characters, and his hope for the future. These qualities inform canonic works like The Wars (1977), Famous Last Words (1981), Not Wanted on the Voyage (1984), and The Piano Man's Daughter (1995)By Romeo Dallaire. 2024
International humanitarian icon and bestselling author General Roméo Dallaire guides readers on a crucial and inspiring journey from past wars…
through post-modern conflict toward a vision of lasting peace.In The Peace, Roméo Dallaire shows us the past, present and future of war through the prism of his own life. Trained in classic warfare during the Cold War era of mutual deterrence, Dallaire in good faith commanded the UN’s peacekeeping mission for Rwanda in 1994, only to see the country abandoned and descend into the hell of genocide. The battered, tortured warrior who emerged from that catastrophe grew determined to help repair the new world disorder—to prevent genocide, abolish the use of child soldiers, and find ways to intervene in, even prevent, conflicts in defence of humanity. And so Dallaire helped advance the doctrines of Responsibility to Protect and the Will to Intervene only to witness those initiatives falter because of the same old power politics, national self-interest and general indifference that had allowed the genocide in Rwanda to unfold unchecked. In his final act, Dallaire has become a warrior working towards a better future in which those old paradigms are rejected and replaced. In The Peace he calls out the elements that undermine true security because they reinforce the dangerous, self-interested belief that "balance" of power and truces are the best we can do. Too often we say we are "at peace" because the bombs are falling elsewhere and we, ourselves, are not under attack. Dallaire shows us a path, instead, to what he calls "the peace," a state where, above all else, humanity values the ties that bind us and the planet together—and acts accordingly. This book is the cri de coeur of a warrior who has been to hell and back and hopes to help guide us to a better place.By Benjamin Hall. 2023
"An affecting, singular story...a bracing tale of life on the edge of death." —Kirkus Reviews When veteran war reporter Benjamin…
Hall woke up in Kyiv on the morning of March 14, 2022, he had no idea that, within hours, Russian bombs would nearly end his life. As a journalist for Fox News, Hall had worked in dangerous war zones like Syria and Afghanistan, but with three young daughters at home, life on the edge was supposed to be a thing of the past. Yet when Russia viciously attacked Ukraine in February 2022, Hall quickly volunteered to go. A few weeks later, while on assignment, Hall and his crew were blown up in a Russian strike. With Hall himself gravely injured and stuck in Kyiv, it was unclear if he would make it out alive. This is the story of how he survived—a story that continues to this day. For the first time, Hall shares his experience in full—from his ground-level view of the war to his dramatic rescue to his arduous, and ongoing, recovery. Going inside the events that have permanently transformed him, Hall recalls his time at the front lines of our world's conflicts, exploring how his struggle to step away from war reporting led him back one perilous last time. Featuring nail-biting accounts from the many people across multiple countries who banded together to get him to safety, Hall offers a stunning look at complex teamwork and heartfelt perseverance that turned his life into a mission. Through it all, Hall's spirit has remained undaunted, buoyed by that remarkable corps of people from around the world whose collective determination ensured his survival. Evocative, harrowing, and deeply moving, Saved is a powerful memoir of family and friends, of life and healing, and of how to respond when you are tested in ways you never thought possibleBy Elizabeth Winkler. 2023
An "extraordinarily brilliant" and "pleasurably naughty" (André Aciman) investigation into the Shakespeare authorship question, exploring how doubting that William Shakespeare…
wrote his plays became an act of blasphemy...and who the Bard might really be. The theory that Shakespeare may not have written the works that bear his name is the most horrible, unspeakable subject in the history of English literature. Scholars admit that the Bard's biography is a "black hole," yet to publicly question the identity of the god of English literature is unacceptable, even (some say) "immoral." In Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies , journalist and literary critic Elizabeth Winkler sets out to probe the origins of this literary taboo. Whisking you from London to Stratford-Upon-Avon to Washington, DC, she pulls back the curtain to show how the forces of nationalism and empire, religion and mythmaking, gender and class have shaped our admiration for Shakespeare across the centuries. As she considers the writers and thinkers—from Walt Whitman to Sigmund Freud to Supreme Court justices—who have grappled with the riddle of the plays' origins, she explores who may perhaps have been hiding behind his name. A forgotten woman? A disgraced aristocrat? A government spy? Hovering over the mystery are Shakespeare's plays themselves, with their love for mistaken identities, disguises, and things never quite being what they seem. As she interviews scholars and skeptics, Winkler's interest turns to the larger problem of historical truth—and of how human imperfections (bias, blindness, subjectivity) shape our construction of the past. History is a story, and the story we find may depend on the story we're looking for. "Lively" ( The Washington Post ), "fascinating" (Amanda Foreman), and "intrepid" (Stacy Schiff), Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies will forever change how you think of Shakespeare...and of how we as a society decide what's up for debate and what's just nonsense, just heresyBy 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.By Ann Thwaite. 2023
Goodbye Christopher Robin: A.A. Milne and the Making of Winnie-the-Pooh is drawn from Ann Thwaite's Whitbread Award-winning biography of A.…
A. Milne, one of England's most successful writers. After serving in the First World War, Milne wrote a number of well-received plays, but his greatest triumph came when he created Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and, of course, Christopher Robin, the adventurous little boy based on his own son. Goodbye Christopher Robin inspired the film directed by Simon Curtis and starring Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, and Kelly Macdonald. It offers the listener a glimpse into the relationship between Milne and the real-life Christopher Robin, whose toys inspired the magical world of the Hundred Acre Wood. Goodbye Christopher Robin is a story of celebrity, a story of both the joys and pains of success, and, ultimately, the story of how one man created a series of enchanting tales that brought hope and comfort to an England ravaged by the First World WarDeciding to add a baby to your family is full of unknowns. How long will it take to get pregnant?…
How will age and other factors play into your chances of conceiving? If you need some help, what are your options? Many of these questions have different answers for every person and every pregnancy. With Mayo Clinic Guide to Fertility and Conception, you can take on the adventure of trying for a baby with clear, empathetic guidance. Based on their extensive expertise in helping people build their families, Mayo Clinic physicians break down what contributes to healthy eggs and sperm, steps you can take to get ready for pregnancy, how babies are made, and tips for ovulation tracking, timing sex, and improving your chances. This comprehensive guide also demystifies miscarriage and ectopic pregnancies, as well as many common fertility problems. In addition, the authors offer the latest on reproductive assistance, third-party reproduction, fertility preservation, and the many options now available to help all families, including LGBTQ, transgender, and single parents-to-be, achieve the dream of having a baby. With sensitivity and an inclusive approach, this user-friendly book provides answers and explanations on nearly every aspect of achieving a successful pregnancy. It's an essential guide for anyone who wants to have a babyBy François Heisbourg. 2023
En dix leçons, l'auteur analyse les conséquences de l'invasion de l'Ukraine par la Russie en février 2022 sur le plan…
militaire ainsi que les bouleversements occasionnés sur les sociétés ainsi que sur l'ordre de sécurité européen et mondial. Il s'intéresse également à l'évolution de la situation à Taïwan.By Jocelyn Demers. 1983
Ils sont et ne sont pas tout à fois des enfants comme les autres... Ces jeunes leucémiques ou cancéreux sont…
gravement atteints dans leur corps comme dans leur âme et sont ainsi privés parfois d'une vie normale. Mais il font preuve de courage et de goût de vivre. Ce livre résume les étapes du dur combat qu'il leur faut livrer quotidiennement pour survivre. Il se veut aussi un témoignage des exploits qu'ils accomplissent en secret, dont souvent sont seuls témoins les membres de leur famille et l'équipe médicale qui les soigne.By Yaroslav Trofimov. 2024
“ Our Enemies Will Vanish achieves the highest level of war reporting: a tough, detailed account that nevertheless reads like…
a great novel. One is reminded of Michael Herr's Dispatches . . . Frankly, it's what we have all aspired to. I did not really understand Ukraine until I read Trofimov's account.” — Sebastian Junger A revelatory eyewitness account of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and heroism of the Ukrainian people in their resistance by Yaroslav Trofimov, the Ukrainian chief foreign-affairs correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Yaroslav Trofimov has spent months on end at the heart of the conflict, very often on its front lines. In this authoritative account, he traces the war’s decisive moments—from the battle for Kyiv to more recently the gruelling and bloody arm wrestle involving the Wagner group over Bakhmut—to show how Ukraine and its allies have turned the tide against Russia, one of the world’s great military powers, in a modern-day battle of David and Goliath. Putin had intended to conquer and annex Ukraine with a vicious blitzkrieg, redrawing the map of Europe in a few short weeks with seismic geopolitical consequences. But in the face of this existential threat, the Ukrainian people fought back, turning what looked like certain defeat into a great moral victory, even as the territorial battle continues to seesaw to this day. This is the story of the epic bravery of the Ukrainian people—people Trofimov knows very well. For Trofimov, this war is deeply personal. He grew up in Kyiv and his family has lived there for generations. With deep empathy and local understanding, Trofimov tells the story of how everyday Ukrainian citizens—doctors, computer programmers, businesspeople, and schoolteachers—risked their lives and lost loved ones. He blends their brave and tragic stories with expert military analysis, providing unique insight into the thinking of Ukrainian leadership and mapping out the decisive stages of what has become a perilous war for Ukraine, the Putin regime, and indeed, the world. This brutal, catastrophic struggle is unfolding on another continent, but the United States and its NATO allies have become deeply implicated. As the war drags on, it threatens to engulf the world. We cannot look away. At once heart-breaking and inspiring, Our Enemies Will Vanish is a riveting, vivid, and first-hand account of the Ukrainian refusal to surrender. It is the story of ordinary people fighting not just for their homes and their families but for justice and democracy itselfBy Elisa Boxer. 2024
Hope triumphs over fear in this poignant and impactful true story of the Holocaust—a delicate introduction to World War Two…
history for older audioook listeners. During World War Two, in the concentration camp Terezin, a group of Jewish children and their devoted teacher planted and nurtured a smuggled-in sapling. Over time fewer and fewer children were left to care for the little tree, but those who remained kept lovingly sharing their water with it. When the war finally ended and the prisoners were freed, the sapling had grown into a strong five-foot-tall maple. Nearly eighty years later the tree’s 600 descendants around the world are thriving . . . including one that was planted at New York City’s Museum of Jewish Heritage in 2021. Students will continue to care for it for generations to come, and the world will remember the brave teacher and children who never gave up nurturing a brighter futureBy Elie Wiesel. 1999
Ce que j'affirme, c'est que ce témoignage qui vient après tant d'autres et qui décrit une abomination dont nous pourrions…
croire que plus rien ne nous demeure inconnu, est cependant différent, singulier, unique... L'enfant qui nous raconte ici son histoire était un élu de Dieu. Il ne vivait, depuis l'éveil de sa conscience, que pour Dieu, nourri du Talmud, ambitieux d'être initié à la Kabbale, voué à l'Eternel. Avions-nous jamais pensé à cette conséquence d'une horreur moins visible, moins frappante que d'autres abominations, - la pire de toutes, pourtant, pour nous qui possédons la foi : la mort de Dieu dans cette âme d'enfant qui découvre d'un seul coup le mal absolu ?By Marc Leepson. 2014
This full-length biography explores the life and legacy of Francis Scott Key, who made his mark as an American icon…
by one single and unforgettable act, writing "The Star-Spangled Banner." AdultBy Leroy A Battle. 1995
By Janet Barrett. 2013
When the Marines of the Fifth Regiment's Recoilless Rifle Platoon acquired a small Korean pony to haul ammunition up the…
steep hills to the front lines, what they got was a real-life hero they named Reckless. The courageous and indomitable warhorse stood with her buddies for two years during the Korean War, saving lives, raising spirits, and winning the love and respect of all who knew herBy John Gneisenau Neihardt. 1978
This powerful anthology collects some of the best personal essays from the poets, novelists and critics who have appeared in…
the journal's pages. Readers will explore a kaleidoscope of memories and experiences, including the power of a planting season, the catharsis that fishing holds for an adolescent boy, the literary fallout from a cousin's death, the lessons learned in the parlor of a Puerto Rican grandmother, the impact of discovering an identical twin's homosexuality, and the revelations of a homecoming. -- GoodreadsBy Elisabeth Leake. 2022
"A new global history of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan --an invasion whose consequences are still felt in Afghanistan and…
across the wider world. On 24 December 1979, Soviet armed forces entered Afghanistan, beginning an occupation that would last almost a decade and creating a political crisis that shook the world. To many observers, the Soviet invasion showed the lengths to which one of the world's superpowers would go to vie for supremacy in the global Cold War. The Soviet war, and parallel covert American aid to Afghan resistance fighters, would come to be a defining event of international politics in the final years of the Cold War, lingering far beyond the Soviet Union's own demise. Yet Cold War competition is only a small part of the story. Soviet troops entered a country already at war with itself. A century of debates within Afghanistan over the nature of modern nationhood culminated in a 1978 coup in which self-described Afghan communists pledged to fundamentally reshape Afghanistan. Instead what broke out was a civil war in which Afghans asserted competing models of Afghan statehood. Afghan socialists and Islamists came to the fore of this conflict in the 1980s, thanks in part to Soviet and American involvement, but they represented a broader movement for local articulations of social and political modernity that did not derive from foreign models. Afghans, in conversation with foreigners, set many of the parameters of the conflict. This sweeping history moves between centres of state in Kabul, Moscow, Islamabad, and Washington, the halls of global governance in Geneva and New York, resistance hubs in Peshawar and Panjshir, and refugee camps scattered across Pakistan's borderlands to tell a story that is much more expansive than the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan--a global history of a moment of crisis not just for Afghanistan or the Cold War but international relations and the postcolonial state." -- Provided by publisherBy Margo Glantz. 2019
"At the heart of this brilliant and colourful Mexican novel lies the search for a family history. Using ancestral recollections,…
flashbacks through history, and personal memory, the author traces her family roots from pre-Revolutionary Russia to contemporary Mexico. Margo Glantz's Mexico is a mysterious world--a cultural carnival where Flash Gordon crosses paths with Columbus: a Mexico of Diego Rivera, Leon Trotsky and Frida Kahlo, hijacked by Dracula and King Kong, filled with the aromas of a kosher bakery and the echoes of jokes, some corny, some not." -- GoodreadsBy Claudia Friddell. 2022
During the Civil War, nurse Clara Barton carefully snuck her wagon filled with supplies and provisions onto the field where…
Antietam, the bloodiest battle of the war, was set to take place. On the day of the battle, Clara and her team of helpers sprang into action. She found herself comforting the wounded and dying, cooking meals for soldiers, and providing doctors with innovative sources of light so they could see better. No soldier went unnoticed or unaided by the woman called "The Angel of Antietam." Author Claudia Friddell blends her words with Clara Barton's firsthand account to capture the nurse's brave actions while Christopher Cyr's accurate and dramatic illustrations portray one of the most heroic women in history. For grades 3-6