No comments about The Hanging of Angelique: Canada, Slavery and the Burning of Montreal.

No comments about Tom Thomson: An Introduction to His Life and Art.

No comments about Ernie Boffa: Canadian Bush Pilot.

1 comments about Norman Bethune: The Incredible Life and Tragic Death of a Revered Canadian Doctor (Amazing Stories) (Amazing Stories).

1. Dr. Norman Bethune was born a Canadian during the era of the First World War. He took part in the fascist war in Spain. Despite his eccentricity, the Chinese people's liberation army tolerated him and the soldiers who were fighting the Jap invaders needed his surgical expertise badly. He was personally interviewed by Chairman Mao Tze Dong who later wrote a book about this Canadian buddy which he grew to like for his sense of dedication. Bethune had several narrow escapes, while taking care of the sick soldiers and villagers in the temple of Wu Tai Shan or the famed Five Crested Mountain of Central China.
   Bethune was assigned a youthful Chinese soldiers to look after his personal needs and wants. Bethune was quite jovial and introduced the young soldier to the classical music of Beethoven, which was often played on an ancient gramophone player - His Master's Voice. Bethune also personally trained some young Chinese doctors how to perform basic surgery in the midst of bombing and shooting by the atrocious Jap invaders. Unfortunately, before the Japs were defeated in 1945, Dr. Norman Betune died of septicima, which he received while performing an operation without proper antibiotics those days in rural China. He will always be remembered by both officials and the People's Liberation Army for his excellent medical service and dedication. Two films were made of his life and even a 20-hour TV series were made in China. Today, in China, Dr. Norman Bethuen is remembered as a legend and war hero. Bethune: The making of a hero is my favourite film about his life and time spent among the sick and wounded soldiers in China before and during the Second World War (1937-1945). Please read the book as it is available at amazon.com. Thanks.

3 comments about Henry Hudson: Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World's Least Understood Explorer.

1. This is a marvelous book about one of the least-known of the great explorers.
   
   As Corey Sandler says, very little is known about Henry Hudson except for the period included within the five years of his four voyages. And much of what is on the record is based on the testimony of the mutineers who were out to save their own necks.
   
   Instead, what the author has done is write a fascinating biography of the PLACES Hudson explored: Svalbard near the north pole, Novaya Zemlya above Russia, the Hudson River, and northern Canada including Hudson Strait, Hudson Bay, and James Bay.
   
   He uses the logs and journals of Hudson and some of his crew to put things in context, and then tells us the stories of some of the most amazing places on the planet.
   
   This is a most unusual book, a great read. And it delivers exactly what it promises: "The Tragic Legacy of the New World's Least Understood Explorer." Every page brought a new perspective on history for me. I highly recommend this book.



2. If you're considering buying this book you should know what you're in for. If you're expecting a biography of Henry Hudson you'll be disappointed. There is very little on Hudson in this book. What you get is a high-level overview of what Hudson is thought to have done and a whole lot of ramble on Corey Sandler's experiences visiting the places Hudson visited.
   
   There's not a whole lot that's known about Hudson. What there is comes from a few brief surviving documents. You get the text from those documents word-for-word with little if any interpretation from the author. That's the real disappointment of this book. If I wanted to read the text of the original documents I'd look them up myself online. What I wanted was expert interpretation and the telling of the story that these documents seem to describe.
   
   Sandler writes from Nantucket, an island he shares with the great historian Nathaniel Philbrick. But where Philbrick excels at taking scant information and turning it into a fascinating story, Sandler dumps the source information on the page and then rambles on about his own experiences in visiting the same places 400 years later. Unfortunately, it's just not very interesting. Thought you'd learn about Hudson's trip up the river that bears his name? You're going to get a little of that and then a whole lot of information on General Electric, PCBs, the environmental movement, and Pete Seeger.
   
   An earlier reviewer characterized this book as being 1/3 history. I'd put it more at 1/10th. By the end of the book you'll know little about Hudson, but all about Sandler's political views, summer camp experiences, family, feelings, travel preferences, and a whole lot of other personal detail. If that's what you're looking to read about, you'll love it. But if you read the title and thought you were instead going to read a biography of Henry Hudson, you'll be disappointed.



3. I am going to give this 5 stars. I'll list why in a second just let me tell you a few of my issues. First Sandler doesn't seem to interview that many people concerning the Clearwater Sloop, the Hudson River Keeper or the many, many other environmental organizations dedicated to keep the Hudson clean. He also brushes over the Storm King case. Sandler does not mention the Indian Point nuclear power plant.
   
   Ok now that's out of the way let me explain a bit why this book is excellent.
   
   First of all its one-third history, one-third travelogue and one-third PSA for keeping all the places Henry Hudson visited clean. The history part is fairly typical in that we don't know much about Hudson; he may have been a bad captain nothing that new or exciting. But overall it's still interesting and a good introduction for those unfamiliar with Hudson.
   
   Then comes the travelogue sections. These are really interesting mostly because of all the unique people the author met on his travels. In reading the book the former director of Clearwater, Andy Mele, comes off as a pretty genuine guy. He's not a crazy tree hugging hippe but just a regular guy that wants to do some good. Most of the environmentalist people come off this way. Some people may not like this but honestly try spending a night near the Hudson...smell that? Yeah, that's the river. I did enjoy Sandle's search for Hudson's monuments and as he mentions in the introduction the most obvious ones are the Hudson River and New York City.
   
   The best parts are the sections that are basically the PSAs about environmentalism. There are numerous digs at GE for dumping PCBs and our society in general. Having lived for four years about 100 yards from the Hudson I must say it's easily one of the greatest sights in the world. But its also one of the biggest dumps too. I think it's terrible that the river is so polluted that you can't go for a swim or eat a fish from there. I had a picnic with my girlfriend one day in Hyde Park right on the river and it was pretty easy to spot all the trash washed up on the shore. Ok enough gushing as Sandler does a much better job explaining this then I do.
   
   In conclusion just read the book. It's excellent.

No comments about As Many Liars: The Story Of The 1995 Manitoba Vote-Splitting Scandal.

No comments about High Wire Act: Ted Rogers and the Empire that Debt Built.

2 comments about Footsteps of the Hunter.

1. A typical book in the genre of war memoirs. The text illuminates the human aspect of the war as seen from the perspective of a regular pilot. Adolf Dickfeld served with III./JG52 with the famous Hermann Graf. Later on he was transferred to II./JG2 and II./JG11. The author offers some unexpected details about the life of an occupational force in the various theaters of operations. Episodes of aerial duels are interspersed with accounts from the daily routines of his unit. The Dickfeld memoirs are sparse on details of historical events. The book offers few dates of events and no maps. Also, few references are made to the overall context, in which the author operated. Unfortunately, memoirs by front-line troops often share this lack of factual documentation and I have grown to accept it.
   
   There are two problems with this book though. The first one has to do with the rather poor editorial work on this publication. There are several spelling mistakes and clumsy translations of German terms and expressions. The second weakness of the book is that the author is torn between remorse for the war crimes of the occupational forces and the blind bitterness of a conquered combatant. Sometimes he would erupt in apologetic diatribes. Other times he would try to rationalize German atrocities by comparison to other historical (supposedly similar) events. Both sources of these emotional outbursts are off-beat in my humble opinion and detract from the readability of the text. In that sense, Luftwaffe Fighter Ace by Norbert Hannig and Alert in the West by Willi Heilmann are better reads on the same subject.



2. He wrote a good book on small histories of his war. But no many on aerial war ! it's curious, i like his writing but why he doesn't speak of these planes or comrade ( gunther rall, 5 sentences, we don't know about of his first victory, etc...). Curious !

1 comments about Beloved Island: Franklin & Eleanor and the Legacy of Campobello.

1. Beloved Island: Franklin & Eleanor And The Legacy Of Campobello by Jonas Klein is a touching, memorable, biographical portrayal of two genuinely great figures of 20th Century American history. Here presented are the daily lives of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and how their summer home on Campobello Island influenced them, and rounds out an impressive and painstaking recreation of their personal experiences with anecdotes, personal letters, and the memories of aides, family, and friends. A welcome and much appreciated contribution to the growing library of literature dedicated to the life, thought, and achievements of this politically and socially influential (and often controversial) couple, Beloved Island is an informative and insightful study of the often-hidden inner side of these two remarkable American leaders.

No comments about British Women and the Spanish Civil War (Routledge/Canada Blanch Studies in Contemporary Spain).