Curse of the Narrows: The Halifax Disaster of 1917
by Laura M. Mac Donald
from Walker & Company
Assiduous research, beautiful writing, and a great talent for historical reconstruction make Laura MacDonald's Curse of the Narrows the definitive account of the Halifax explosion of December 1917. MacDonald is a master of minutia--chemistry, laws of navigation, the horrors visited on the poor people of Halifax's north end--and she writes with supreme authority and exquisite detail.
MacDonald begins her account with geography and she sets the scene by examining the bustling port of Halifax in the First World War. Using the very best recent scholarship, she then reconstructs the accident itself, describing closely the series of small errors that lead the Norwegian freighter Imo to ram into the French munitions vessel Mont Blanc in the narrows of Halifax harbor: "The Mont Blanc, with 2,925 tons of explosives, packed in hermetically sealed holds inside a super-heated hull was now the most powerful bomb the war and the world had yet produced." When it exploded, thousands of innocent people were killed in an instant. If MacDonald had limited her investigation into the causes of the accident her book would still be worth buying. She offers much more: examinations of the inquiries and court cases, the official response to the devastation, and above all the ways in which families were challenged by the appalling effects of the explosion. By tracing the struggles of these families, the Duggans, the Frasers, and the Galloways among others, MacDonald brings the scope of the tragedy home to the reader in a way that few would have believed possible. Be warned. Parts of this book are book have an impact on the reader's soul no less than the concussion of the explosion itself. This is a magnificent accomplishment. --William Newbigging
Set against the background of World War I, Curse of the Narrows is the first major account of the world’s largest pre-atomic explosion that set in motion a remarkable relief effort originating from Boston.
Crimes and Mercies: The Fate of German Civilians under Allied Occupation, 1944-1950
by James Bacque
from Talonbooks
A Rifleman Went to War
by H. W. McBride
from Lancer Militaria
The Incredible War of 1812: A Military History
by J. Mackay Hitsman
from Robin Brass Studio
A Perfect Hell: The True Story of the Black Devils, the Forefathers of the Special Forces
by John Nadler
from Presidio Press
It’s 1942 and Hitler’s armies stand astride Europe like a colossus. Germany is winning on every front. This is the story of how one of the world’s first commando units, put together for the invasion of Norway, helped turn the tide in Italy.
1942. When the British generals recommend an audacious plan to parachute a small elite commando unit into Norway in a bid to put Nazi Germany on the defensive, Winston Churchill is intrigued. But Britain, fighting for its life, can’t spare the manpower to participate. So William Lyon MacKenzie King is contacted and asked to commit Canadian troops to the bold plan. King, determined to join Roosevelt and Churchill as an equal leader in the Allied war effort, agrees.
One of the world’s first commando units, the First Special Service Force, or FSSF, is assembled from hand-picked soldiers from Canadian and American regiments. Any troops sent into Norway will have to be rugged, self-sufficient, brave, and weather-hardened. Canada has such men in ample supply.
The all-volunteer FSSF comprises outdoorsmen — trappers, rangers, prospectors, miners, loggers. Assembled at an isolated base in Helena, Montana, and given only five months to train before the invasion, they are schooled in parachuting, mountain climbing, cross-country skiing, and cold-weather survival. They are taught how to handle explosives, how to operate nearly every field weapon in the American and German arsenals, and how to kill with their bare hands.
After the Norway plan is scrapped, the FSSF is dispatched to Italy and given its first test — to seize a key German mountain-top position which had repelled the brunt of the Allied armies for over a month. In a reprise of the audacity and careful planning that won Vimy Ridge for the Canadians in WWI, the FSSF takes the twin peaks Monte la Difensa and Monte la Remetanea by storming the supposedly unscalable rock face at the rear of the German position, and opens the way through the mountains.
Later, the FSSF will hold one-quarter of the Anzio beachhead against a vastly superior German force for ninety-nine days; a force of only 1,200 commandos does the work of a full division of over 17,000 troops. Though badly outnumbered, the FSSF takes the fight to the Germans, sending nighttime patrols behind enemy lines and taking prisoners. It is here that they come to be known among the dispirited Germans as Schwartzer Teufel (“Black Devils”) for their black camouflage face-paint and their terrifying tactic of appearing out of the darkness.
John Nadler vividly captures the savagery of the Italian campaign, fought as it was at close quarters and with desperate resolve, and the deeply human experiences of the individual men called upon to fight it. Based on extensive archival research and interviews with veterans, A Perfect Hell is an important contribution to Canadian military history and an indispensable account of the lives and battlefield exploits of the men who turned the tide of the Second World War.
From the Hardcover edition.
City of Glass: Doug Coupland's Vancouver
by Douglas Coupland
from Douglas & McIntyre
Avro Arrow: The Story of the Avro Arrow From Its Evolution To Its Extinction
by The Arrowheads
from Boston Mills Press
The illustrated memoir of the most advanced fighter jet of the 1950s.
At its creation in the mid-1950s, the Avro Arrow was a fighter jet without equal. This Cold War aircraft was twenty years ahead of its time. Unfortunately, political realities resulted in the complete termination of the Arrow project. Cancellation of the Arrow called for the destruction of all photos, drawings, models, specifications and tooling. Even the aircraft themselves were disassembled and destroyed.
Avro Arrow is a fascinating historical record with an extensive collection of rare and highly prized photos, drawings and diagrams. Using two hundred images, the book traces the story of the Arrow from its inception to roll out and flight test, including advanced proposals for the development of future version.
Primary sources include:
- Taped interviews, test pilots' firsthand impressions, Avro officials and many plant personnel
- Surviving company records
- Declassified government documents.
Diagrams offer stunning details such as the North American strategic defense zones and interception tactics proposed for bomber attacks. This book concentrates solely on the vision, design and technical excellence of the airplane itself rather than the politics of its demise.
Walking on the Land
by Farley Mowat
from Steerforth
Using one of his own trips through the Eastern Arctic as a starting point, Farley Mowat interweaves the stories of the Barren Ground Inuit with stunning, lyrical descriptions of the Northern landscape.
With great beauty and terrible anguish, Mowat traces the history of the Inuit, revealing how the arrival of the Kablunait — white man — in the early part of the century and the subsequent obliteration of the caribou herds combined to unleash a series of famines and epidemics that virtually wiped out the Barren Ground Inuit population.
Full of larger-than-life characters — old-time Hudson's Bay company men, eccentric priests, wild bush pilots and well-meaning interlopers — Walking on the Land is an unforgettable account by one of Canada's most committed and impassioned voices.
And No Birds Sang: The Farley Mowat Library
by Farley Mowat
from Stackpole Books
In July 1942, Farley Mowat was an eager young infantryman bound for Europe and impatient for combat. This powerful, true account of the action he saw, fighting desperately to push the Nazis out of Italy, evokes the terrible reality of war with an honesty and clarity fiction can only imitate. In scene after unforgettable scene, he describes the agony and antic humor of the soldier's existence: the tedium of camp life, the savagery of the front, and the camaraderie shared by those who have been bloodied in battle.
U.S. Military History For Dummies (For Dummies (History, Biography & Politics))
by John C. McManus
from For Dummies
Want to know more about American military history? U.S. Military History For Dummies presents concise and revealing accounts of all of the nation's armed conflicts from the French and Indian War to Iraq. It explains how the U.S. military is organized and how its branches operate, both independently and together.
This straightforward guide examines the causes for each of America's wars and reveals how these conflicts have shaped the nation's borders, society, politics, culture, and future. You'll meet heroes, cowards, patriots, and traitors; relive great battles; and get a taste of what combat is really like, as you discover:
- How the French/Indian war sowed the seeds of the Revolutionary War
- Why America's battle for independence didn't end at Yorktown
- Early U.S. wars against Indians, tax cheats, and pirates
- The War of 1812: guaranteeing U.S. sovereignty
- "Manifest Destiny" wars that stretched America from sea to shining sea
- Why the American Civil War could not be avoided
- The Spanish American War and the U.S. as an emerging global power
- Why World War I failed to "make the world safe for democracy"
- How World War II changed America's role in the world
- Korea and Vietnam: hot wars during the Cold War
Featuring important insights on technological, political, and social changes that transformed the way America fights its wars U.S. Military History For Dummies is your key to understanding the evolution of the most powerful military force in history.
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