Canada is in many ways a country of limits, a paradox for a place that enjoys virtually unlimited space. Most of that space is uninhabited, and much of it is uninhabitable. It is a country with a huge north but with most of its population in the south, hugging the U.S. border. An uneasy and difficult country, Canada has nevertheless defied the odds: it remains, in the 21st century, a haven of peace and a beacon of prosperity. Erudite yet accessible and marked by narrative flair, The Pengui...

From the preface:"A visitor seeing Canada for the first time since 1939 might well conclude that Canada, even more than nations devastated by war, has become another country. On the surface so much remains the same: the Liberals prevail in Ottawa; the provinces quarrel with Ottawa and among themselves; and we worry about Americans in our future. But most of the pieces have been rearranged, and the effect of the picture is quite different...This is a book about our own time...

Canada: land of hockey, terrible weather, unfailing politeness-and little else, as far as many Americans are aware. For Canadians, the United States is seen as a land of unparalleled opportunity and unparalleled failure, a country of heights and abysses. The straitlaced country in the north could hardly have much to tell about its powerhouse of a neighbor to the south, eh? Not so, according to historian Robert Bothwell. In this witty and accessible book, Bothwell argues that the shared his...

Through war, depression, and social upheaval, the first half of the twentieth century was a period of unprecedented turbulence in Canada. In this lively and contentious survey, Robert Bothwell, lan Drummond, and John English explore the political and economic forces that shaped this era of change.As in their earlier work, the highly acclaimed Canada since 1945, the authors focus on the political context of events. Beginning at the turn of the century, they consider the status of Ca...

In Whose Man in Havana? the author offers an unconventional, often dark, but more often hilarious view of diplomacy in settings as varied as Haiti, London, the Dominican Republic, the Balkans, Palestine, Paraguay, Guyana, and Kyrgyzstan, including covert monitoring of Soviet military operations in Cuba on behalf of the CIA with the blessing of President Kennedy and Prime Minister Pearson. In a career that spans the Canadian foreign service and international organizations, he was fortunate ...

Canadians of Scottish descent, who today total over 4.7 million, have never made up more than 16 per cent of Canada’s population. Yet they have supplied thirteen of twenty-two Canadian prime ministers, and have made proportionate contributions in exploration, education, banking, military service, railroading, invention, literature, you name it.Award-winning author Ken McGoogan has written a vivid, sweeping narrative showcasing more than sixty Scots who have shaped Canada. They incl...

History can be a very useful tool in understanding why we and those we must deal with think and react in certain ways. But in the wrong hands it can be dangerous and used to foster a sense of grievance or a desire for revenge. Eminent historian Margaret MacMillan is fascinated by the power of history in our thinking. In The Uses and Abuses of History, she points out some of the traps that we can fall into when assessing the present in light of the past.

An exploration of Christ's life and teachings set in the context of the customs and traditions of First Century Jewish life.Modern-day Christians often bring their own presuppositions and assumptions to the reading of the Bible, not realizing how deeply their understanding of Christ's life and teachings is affected by a 21st-century worldview. In Understanding Jesus, author Joe Amaral delves deep into Jewish history, societal mores, and cultural traditions...

Every Canadian knows a handful of dates that changedour country—July 1, 1867; November 11, 1918; September28, 1972—but our nation’s history, now more than 50,000days long, runs much deeper than those iconic moments. From politics and wars to natural disasters, inventions and sports, this highly readable and beautifully designed album offers an engaging and insightful portrait of life in all parts of Canada. Featuring a stunning array of colour and black-and-white photo...

Once voted the greatest Canadian of all time, Tommy Douglas was a prairie politician who believed in democratic socialism, the crucial role of civil rights, and the great potential of cooperation for the common good. He is best known as the “Father of Medicare.” Born in 1904, Douglas was a championship boxer and a Baptist minister who later exchanged his pulpit for a political platform. A powerful orator and tireless activist, he sat first as a federal MP and then served for 17 years as pr...

A classic of Canadian literature by the great Quebecoise writer, Kamouraska is based on a real nineteenth-century love-triangle in rural Quebec. It paints a poetic and terrifying tableau of the life of Elisabeth d'Aulnieres: her marriage to Antoine Tassy, squire of Kamouraska; his violent murder; and her passion for George Nelson, an American doctor.Passionate and evocative, Kamouraska is the timeless story of one woman's destructive commitment to an ideal love. T...

This “fact-filled and amusing trek through nature’s dark side” (Kirkus Reviews) reveals the fascinating, weird, and often perverted ways that Mother Nature fends only for herself.It may be a wonderful world, but as Dan Riskin (host of the Animal Planet’s TV show Monsters Inside Me) explains, it’s also a dangerous, disturbing, and disgusting one. At every turn, it seems, living things are trying to eat us, poison us, use our bodies as their homes, ...