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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 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.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 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 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 book of revenge: a blues for Yugoslavia
By Dragan Todorović. 2006
Serb Dragan Todorovic goes to Belgrade as the editor of a cultural magazine, but his constant clashes with the system…
end in his being drafted into the army. Dragan survives his tour of duty, but his return to Belgrade is unsettling - everything is changing, friendships are collapsing, conversations are guarded, and bit by bit, the country he knows and loves is being torn apart. Some strong language. 2006.The big red horse: the story of Secretariat and the loyal groom who loved him
By Lawrence Scanlan. 2007
On March 30, 1970, a wobbly foal named Secretariat was born on a farm in Virginia - but he was…
no ordinary horse. He was bigger and more muscled than racehorses his age, and after a slow start and lots of training, he went on to compete for the biggest prize in racing - the Triple Crown. This is also the story of the one person who helped Secretariat the most - feeding him grain, bathing him, and chatting with him at dawn each day - his groom, Edward "Shorty" Sweat. Grades 5-8. 2007.The Acadians: in search of a homeland
By James Laxer. 2006
In 1604, a small group of migrants fled political turmoil and famine in France to start a new colony on…
Canada's east coast. Their roughly demarcated territory included what are now Canada's Maritime provinces, land that was fought over by the British and French empires until the Acadians were finally expelled in 1755. In the absence of a state, what defines an Acadian today is elusive, and while their community, centred in New Brunswick, is more confident than ever, it is entering a contentious debate about its future. Some descriptions of violence. 2006.Shadow running: Ray Lewis Canadian railway porter and Olympic athlete
By John Cooper. 1999
Ray Lewis, the first black member of the Canadian Olympic Track and Field team, shares the story of his life.…
He tells of his early days growing up in Hamilton, Ontario, of his more than twenty years' service as a porter on the CPR, and of his many athletic accomplishments.Starting out in the afternoon: a mid-life journey into wild land
By Jill Frayne. 2002
After Jill Frayne's long-term relationship with her lover ended and her daughter left home, she packed up her life and…
headed for the Yukon. Sleeping in her car or pitching a tent by the road, she became a solitary traveller and lived close to the natural world. What started out as a three-month trip became a personal journey that lasted several years. 2002.Searching for Bobby Orr
By Stephen Brunt. 2006
Bobby Orr redefined the defensive style of hockey - he was the first to infuse the defenseman position with offensive…
juice, driving up the ice, setting up players and scoring some goals of his own. He was the first player to win three straight MVP awards, the first defenseman to score twenty or more goals in a season. But history will also remember Bobby Orr as a key figure in the Alan Eagleson scandal, and as the unfortunate player forced into early retirement in 1978 because of his injuries. Some strong language. 2006.Sailing home: a journey through time, place & memory
By Gary Geddes. 2001
Poet, writer, and critic, Gary Geddes, sets out to discover his roots in a 31-foot British sailing sloop called the…
Groais. Sailing up British Columbia's famed Inside Passage, an ancient sea route of nearly one thousand miles and an often turbulent waterscape, Geddes discovers a vibrant history, livelihoods come and gone, dramatic scenery, and ghosts of the past. 2001.Hertig asserts that both the American and Canadian governments are intentionally misleading their citizens about the Pentagon's unprecedented plans to…
weaponize space, about the new Russian and Chinese nuclear missile build-ups, and about the destruction of important, long-standing arms control agreements. Other topics covered are why the so-called U.S. missile "defence" system is really about establishing a U.S. first-strike-from-space capability, why both Paul Martin and Stephen Harper want to join in George W. Bush's program, and how all these factors may be leading to a rapidly increasing danger of a nuclear apocalypse. 2004.Rolling home: a cross-Canada railroad memoir
By Tom Allen. 2001
Tom Allen travels with his family and alone, from Halifax to the interior of British Columbia, riding everything from a…
two-car dayliner held together with duct tape to a luxury rail cruiser through the Rockies that is packed with wealthy tourists. Along the way, he meets honeymooners and abandoned spouses, ordinary folk and deranged passengers, and veteran railwaymen who sustain pride in their work despite the massive cuts to their industry. Allen weaves his own memories of railroad travel with a family narrative past and present, all the while conjuring the drama, the disappointments, and the magic of Canada's railway history. 2001.Ride the rising wind: one woman's journey across Canada
By Barbara Bradbury Kingscote. 2006
In May 1949, at the age of twenty, Barbara Kingscote left her farm in Mascouche, Quebec, and set out for…
the Pacific Ocean on horseback. Barbara and her equine companion Zazy reached the West Coast just over a year later. After travelling 4,000 miles, she discovered both herself and her country on the journey of a lifetime. 2006.L'insoutenable légèreté de mourir: le récit touchant d'une amitié éternelle
By France Gauthier. 2017
" Ma belle amie Anne-Marie est décédée le 20 août 2016. " C'est ce que nous annonce d'entrée de jeu…
l'auteure et conférencière France Gauthier dans ce témoignage sensible et sincère. D'une plume inspirée, elle y raconte les trois dernières semaines de vie de son amie et " jumelle d'âme " Anne-Marie Séguin, qu'elle a accompagnée dans son chemin vers le grand passage. Ponctué de moments forts, touchants et parfois troublants, le récit aborde la mort (et la vie?!) de façon lumineuse, sans peur ni tabous, afin d'inspirer ceux qui tiennent la main d'un être cher qui s'apprête à traverser le voile. Ni elle ni moi ne savions dans quelle expérience transcendante nous plongions, sans autre outil que notre foi en la Vie, ici, comme ailleurs. 2017.Open heart, open mind
By Clara Hughes. 2015
From one of Canada’s most decorated Olympians comes a raw but life-affirming story of one woman’s struggle with mental illness.…
After more than a decade in the gruelling world of professional sports that stripped away her confidence and bruised her body, Clara Hughes began to realize that her physical extremes, her emotional setbacks, and her partying habits were masking a severe depression. After winning bronze in the last speed skating race of her career, she decided to retire from that sport, determined to repair herself. She has emerged as one of our most committed humanitarians, advocating for a variety of social causes in Canada and around the world. Bestseller. 2015.The Liberation Campaign for Holland, a series of fierce battles during the last three months of the war, was bittersweet…
- a nation's freedom was won and the war concluded, but the fighting cost Canada over 6,000 casualties. Drawing upon official records and veteran memories, Zuehlke brings to life this concluding chapter in the story of Canada in World War II. Explicit descriptions of violence and strong language. Bestseller. 2010. (Canadian Battle Series)No man's river
By Farley Mowat. 2004
Upon returning from European combat, Mowat met up with Charles Schweder, a trapper, son of a white man and Native…
woman. The two canoed and portaged around the lakes and rivers of Manitoba and the then Northwest Territories, and as Charles guided Mowat through the landmarks of the landscape, including spooky gravesites, foaming cataracts, caribou on the move, and a hawk named Windy, Mowat observed Charles' place between the white and native worlds. Some strong language and descriptions of violence. 2004.