First in Line: The Incredible Life of Leonard Stick documents the life of Leonard Stick, a distinguished war veteran, lawman and federal politician who was the ‘first’ in many historically significant events throughout his lifetime. Stick was the first man to enlist with the Newfoundland Regiment, regional No. 1, when it was reconstructed at the outbreak of WWI. He was also a member of the First Five Hundred, also known as the Blue Puttees and fought in the Battle of Beaumont Hame...

On December 6, 1917, the French munitions ship Mont Blanc and the Norwegian war-relief vessel Imo collided in the harbour at Halifax, Nova Scotia. That accident sparked a fire and an apocalyptic explosion that was the largest man-made blast prior to the 1945 dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Together with the killer tsunami that followed, the explosion devastated the entire city in the wink of an eye and instantly killed more than two thousand people.While...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER * by the author ofThe Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund FitzgeraldThe "riveting" (National Post) tick-tock account of the largest manmade explosion in history prior to the atomic bomb, and the equally astonishing tales of survival and heroism that emerged from the ashes“Enthralling. ... Gripping. ... A captivating and emotionally investing journey.” —Pittsbur...

During World War II St. John’s, Newfoundland played a critical role in the fight against Nazi Germany. Seamen from all over the world sailed to and from the old seaport, chosen for duty because it was closest to Europe and because its people knew both the peril and glory of the North Atlantic. In his introduction to this absorbing collection of stories, Bill Rompkey examines the city’s service to one of the most famous battles in military history and the effect it had on the people of St. ...

Winner of the Dartmouth Book Award and a Globe and Mail Best Book of the YearFinalist for the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction, the J.W. Dafoe Book Prize, and the Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction AwardNational BestsellerThe events of the horrific Halifax explosion are well documented: on December 6, 1917, the French munitions ship Mont Blanc and the Belgian relief ship Imo

The untold story of how war transformed the city of Halifax.Stephen Kimber recreates life in Halifax during the Second World War, a city transformed by the influx of military and civilian personnel serving the war effort. Poorly governed and corrupt, the city erupted at the end of the war in Europe in the infamous V-E Day riots of May 1945.Halifax was the only Canadian city directly caught up in the drama, danger, death, and disaster of our last “good” war. Through the eyes...

Battles, blockades, convoys, raids: An "impressive" account of how the indefatigable British Royal Navy ensured Napoleon's ultimate defeat ( International Journal of Military History).Horatio Nelson's celebrated victory over the French at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 presented Britain with an unprecedented command of the seas. Yet the Royal Navy's role in the struggle against Napoleonic France was far from over. This groundbreaking book asserts that, con...

WINNER OF THE BRITISH SPORT BOOK AWARDS - RUGBY BOOK OF THE YEARThis is the story of 15 men killed in the Great War. All played rugby for one London club; none lived to hear the final whistle. Rugby brought them together; rugby led the rush to war. They came from Britain and the Empire to fight in every theatre and service, among them a poet, playwright and perfumer. Some were decorated and died heroically; others fought and fell quietly. Together their sto...

Since the end of the nineteenth century there has been a stunning succession of transatlantic liners, from the White Star Line's Oceanic of 1899 to the Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2 of 2004. These floating palaces often contained luxurious staterooms, ballrooms and lounges for the rich, and noticeably more modest and basic accommodation for poorer travellers. Their designs and powerplants were often cutting-edge as each competed to be the largest, most luxurious and fastest ship on the Atlant...

On May 7th, 1915 a passenger ship crossing the Atlantic sank with the loss of 1200 lives. On board were some world-famous figures, including multimillionaire Alfred Vanderbilt. But this wasn't the Titanic and there was no iceberg. The liner was the Lusitania and it was torpedoed by a German U-boat.Wilful Murder is the hugely compelling story of the sinking of the Lusitania. The first book to look at the events in their full historical context, it...

The ineffable character of "Britishness" has been used, often enigmatically, to describe Canada's distinct cultural flavour within North America. This mysterious quality, writes award-winning writer Jonathan F. Vance, goes back to the early days of Canadian history, and consists of far more than the sum of early migration patterns. It emerges from a long-standing respect for British liberal ideals and an identification with the British Empire. Canada's own unique brand of Britishness evolved ...

WINNER OF THE 2013 PRIME MINISTER'S LITERARY AWARD FOR AUSTRALIAN HISTORYWINNER OF THE 2012 MANNING CLARK HOUSE NATIONAL CULTURAL AWARDCOMMENDED FOR THE FAW EXCELLENCE IN NON-FICTION AWARDFor Australia, a new nation with a relatively small population, the death of 60,000 soldiers during World War I was catastrophic. It is hardly surprising, then, that Australians evaluating the consequences of the conflict have tend...