The bestselling, award-winning author of The American Invasion of Canada "has given great drama and immediacy to that turning point in Canadian history" ( Maclean's).On Easter Monday 1917 with a blizzard blowing in their faces, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in France seized and held the best-defended German bastion on the Western Front—the muddy scarp of Vimy Ridge. The British had failed to take the Ridge, and so had the French who had...

"Absolutely first-rate."—The New YorkerThis thrilling story is at once first-rate history and first-rate entertainment. Incredible events occurred in North America after a decrepit steamboat docked at Seattle in 1897 containing two tons of pure gold. So frenzied was the clash for gold and so scant was information about conditions in the Klondike that the rush for riches became a kind of fabulous madness. The entire tale—of which Pierre Berton's account is the definitive telling—has ...

In the four years between 1881 and 1885, Canada was forged into one nation by the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Last Spike reconstructs the incredible story of how some 2,000 miles of steel crossed the continent in just five years — exactly half the time stipulated in the contract. Pierre Berton recreates the adventures that were part of this vast undertaking: the railway on the brink of bankruptcy, with one hour between it and ruin; the extraordinary land boom of ...

In 1871, a tiny nation, just four years old—it's population well below the 4 million mark—determined that it would build the world's longest railroad across empty country, much of it unexplored. This decision—bold to the point of recklessness—was to change the lives of every man, woman and child in Canada and alter the shape of the nation.Using primary sources—diaries, letters, unpublished manuscripts, public documents and newspapers—Pierre Berton has reconstructed the incredible d...

One chill Easter dawn in 1917, a blizzard blowing in their faces, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in France went over the top of a muddy scarp knows as Vimy Ridge. Within hours, they held in their grasp what had eluded both British and French armies in over two years of fighting: they had seized the best-defended German bastion on the Western Front.How could an army of civilians from a nation with no military tradition secure the first enduring victory in thirty-two months...

How could a nation of eight million fail to subdue a struggling British colony of 300,000? In this remarkable account of the war’s first year, Pierre Burton transforms history into an engrossing narrative that reads like a fast-paced novel. Drawing on memoirs, diaries, and official dispatches, the author gets inside the characters who fought the war-the common soldiers, the generals, the bureaucrats and the profiteers, the traitors, and the loyalists. This is a gripping account of a fascin...

"Sarah Bernhardt as I Knew Her" by Mme. Pierre Berton offers a captivating glimpse into the life of one of the most iconic actresses of the 19th century. Through Berton's personal anecdotes and vivid descriptions, readers are transported into the world of the legendary Bernhardt, who was known for her extraordinary talent and larger-than-life personality. The book captures the essence of Bernhardt's artistry, her passion for the stage, and her relationships with fellow artists, providing a...

A thought-provoking and provocative challenge to consumerism (with plenty of name-dropping and celebrity antics).Sassy and satirical, Shopomania is an economic, environmental and social study. This light-hearted, dark-souled dictionary of coined words, or “shoponyms,” takes readers on a roller-coaster ride of avaricious antics and outrageous profligacy.Shopping in one form or another has existed for millennia but, aside from a few slumps, each gene...

The Canada–U.S. border was in flames as the War of 1812 continued. York's parliament buildings were on fire, Niagara-on-the-Lake burned to the ground and Buffalo lay in ashes. Even the American capital of Washington, far to the south, was put to the torch. The War of 1812 had become one of the nineteenth century's bloodiest struggles.Flames Across the Borderis a compelling evocation of war at its most primeval level — the muddy fields, the frozen forests and the om...

Ansible is an Open Source IT automation tool. This book contains all of the obvious and not-so-obvious best practices of Ansible automation. Every successful IT department needs automation nowadays for bare metal servers, virtual machines, could, containers, and edge computing. Automate your IT journey with Ansible automation technology.You are going to start with basic concepts and the installation of Ansible in Enterprise Linux and Community Linux using the most command package m...

Canada’s wild frontier—a land unsettled and unknown, a land of appalling obstacles and haunting beauty—comes to life through seven remarkable individuals, including John Jewitt, the young British seaman who became a slave to the Nootka Indians; Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, the eccentric missionary; Sam Steele, the most famous of all Mounted Policemen; and Isaac Jorges, the 17th-century priest who courted martyrdom. Many of the stories of these figures read like the wildest of fiction: Cariboo Cam...

Over 1.5 million Canadians were on relief, one in five was a public dependant, and 70,000 young men travelled like hoboes. Ordinary citizens were rioting in the streets, but their demonstrations met with indifference, and dissidents were jailed. Canada emerged from the Great Depression a different nation.The most searing decade in Canada's history began with the stock market crash of 1929 and ended with the Second World War. With formidable story-telling powers, Berton reconstructs...