Canada Books

Inside Camp-X As a young boy who moved to Canada in the late 60s, I actually snuck into Camp X before it was turned over to the Fire department for controlled burns, what a historical tragedy! I had no idea of the significance of this historical site until reading Inside Camp X! This is a fascinating book about the little know realm of Secret Agents. To think that Ian Fleming trained there which led to one of the most incredible movie series of all time, James Bond, is incredible history for Canada! In fact, I was so enthralled with the character of James Bond; I named my son after the greatest actor to play the roll! And now Sean is serving in Afghanistan with US Army Intelligence - - go figure! There is so much more to Camp X than most people know! Alumni went on to become directors of the FBI, and one of its alumni went on to be one of the founders of the Green Berets! Anyone with an interest in Intelligence, espionage, and elite military operations must read this book, it all started here! All of Lynn's books are wonderful reading and I highly recommend them!

This audiobook is about the training and development of Allies spies during W.W.II. During World War II there was a Secret Camp on the Shores of Lake Ontario built Specifically for Training Allied Spies.
This Non-Fiction Audiobook "Inside Camp X" takes you from recruitment, Training, Specialty Instruction, Field work, Assignments, Missions, Captures and Life after the War.
The sole purpose of Camp X was to develop Secret Agents in every aspect of Silent Killing, Sabotage, Demolition, Weaponry and Morse Code.
Read by Michael Booth. Michael Booth , a prominent Shakespearean actor and producer in Canada.

From the moment I started reading this book I couldn't put it down until it was finished. This has to be one of the most incredible covert operations of WW2. From Sir William Stephenson's start-up operations to the closing at the end of the war, it takes the reader through the intense training, discipline, and secretive world of intelligence. And all this took place right in the Whitby/Oshawa area. Until I read this book I was totally unaware of how intriguing and historical this area was. Thank you for a well written, well researched and highly informative book.

Frances Whelan

INSIDE CAMP X
By Lynn Philip Hodgson
During World War II there was a Secret Camp on the Shores of Lake Ontario built
Specifically for Training Allied Spies. This Non-Fiction Audiobook "Inside Camp X" takes you from recruitment, Training,Specialty Instruction, Field work, Assignments, Missions, Captures and Life after the War. The sole purpose of Camp X was to develop Secret Agents in every aspect of
Silent Killing, Sabotage, Demolition, Weaponry and Morse Code.
Read by Michael Booth. Michael Booth is a prominent Shakespearean actor and
producer in Canada.

CAMP X
The true story of what went on behind the fences of
STS - 103 (Camp - X) This top secret World War II
Secret Agent Training School was strategically placed
in Canada on the shores of Lake Ontario.

As outlined in his biography The Life of Ian Fleming written by John Pearson after
the war, Fleming was required to take the same training as the Camp - X Agents
in order to realize the effect of the process and to have a better appreciation for
what the Agents endured. On one occasion, he was sent inside with orders to
shoot and kill the man he would find hiding in an upstairs bedroom.

Unbeknownst to Fleming, his intended target was in fact the Chief Instructor of
Camp - X, Major William Ewart Fairbairn, a man who, it was fabled, was so good
at his trade that he could dodge bullets! Pearson quotes William Stephenson,
Head of the British Security Co-ordination, as having said, "It was a test of nerve....
a test to decide whether he (the Agent) really was ruthless enough to kill a man
when it came down to it." According to the account, Fleming waited outside the
room for a time, then went away. "You know, I couldn't really kill a man that way."
Stephenson said Fleming apologized later. Fleming drew from this and his other
experiences with Agents from Camp - X to write his famous 'James Bond' novels.

Mr. Hodgsons book on the inner workings of Camp x, which till recently has been shrouded in secrecy, is a must read ...As someone that lives very close to the actual site it has opened my eyes to what Camp X was all about...Untill this book became available, even those of us that live very close to the site had no idea of the importance of Camp X...

Ignatieff is at his best in his painstakingly detailed biography of that intellectual giant, Isaiah Berlin. This is how biographies should be written. Ignatieff has a wonderful ability of marrying the man and his ideas with the politics of the times he lived in. An elegantly written and honest homage to a life lived! I highly recommend this fantastic read!

This is a superb biography, and it also provides a very good survey of Berlin's ideas as they developed over his lifetime. That latter is no mean feat, as Berlin did not produce a highly organized corpus. Berlin's habit was to produce something, then proceed to the next thing, and never look back. He was also not very tidy in his scholarship, with a tendency to present "quotations" that are his remembered version of what the other person wrote. It is due to the extraordinary efforts of Henry Hardy that Berlin's writings having been gathered into various anthologies, with missing footnotes added, quotations cleaned up, etc.

If you have tried to get into Isaiah Berlin's thought and have been discouraged by his sometimes baroque mode of exposition, I would recommend starting with Ignatieff's book. Then read around in Berlin's essays for a while and, following that, pick up "Isaiah Berlin," by John Gray, a succinct critical survey of the central themes and ideas in the man's work. At that point, you will be able to pick up anything Berlin wrote and read it with complete comprehension. Promise.

Twentieth Century philosophers in England fall into two groups. The bigger is the one whose members engage in analyzing the meanings of words and the ways that we use them. While this is undoubtedly an important enterprise, it is often rather arid and does not touch on what is really significant to most people. These philosophers tend to teach us cleverness.

The other, rather smaller group, to which Isaiah Berlin belonged (after having started as a member of the first group), addresses itself chiefly to human concerns, to how we ought to live. I maintain that men like him teach us wisdom.

Isaiah Berlin certainly did not live in an ivory tower; and in Michael Ignatieff's immensely attractive biography we can follow his engagement in the great world. Like many other academics, he worked in government during the Second World War: at the Ministry of Information in New York and then at the British Embassy in Washington and (very briefly just after the war) at the Moscow Embassy. As a committed Zionist, he played a minor but not unimportant role, acting as an intermediary between his friend Chaim Weizmann and American politicians during the period when American attitudes towards the aspiration for an independent Israel were being shaped. Weizmann and Ben Gurion both asked him to move to Israel and play a part in shaping the nascent state; but Berlin declined. One reason for this was that he felt himself temperamentally unfitted for the intrigues, infighting and abrasiveness that such a role would involve.

Ignatieff shows repeatedly how, although Berlin had political commitments - particularly to Zionism and to anti-Communism - he shied away from being put into a confrontational position. He did not like making enemies; he liked to please; he was uncomfortably aware of his dual allegiance when working for a British government which was unsympathetic to Zionist aspirations. There seems to me no doubt that the philosophy which would develop in due course was a sublimation of his psychology. It should go without saying that this is not said in denigration of his philosophy: some of the greatest achievements in creativity have been driven by personal needs of this kind. One must judge the value of a philosophy by the quality of the end product, not by its psychological origins.

One of Berlin's essays is entitled The Hedgehog and the Fox. The fox, so an ancient Greek once said, knows many things; the hedgehog knows one big thing. Ignatieff argues that Berlin indeed knew many things but that he had been in search of the one big thing that would make sense not only of the tensions he felt within himself, but also of those which any open-minded person must feel when seeing that in so many important conflicts, whether in personal life, in the history of ideas, in politics, or in philosophical situations, there is so much to be said for each side. He found this one big thing in the notion of Pluralism.

Pluralism means that every individual and every society must accept that there is never one absolute value to which other values must be subordinated. There are many values in life which all command respect; but the most important of these - freedom, justice, equality, tolerance, compassion, loyalty - often must collide. Take, for example, Liberty and Equality. Both are rightly sought after; but equality can only be achieved by curtailing the liberty of action which, if granted, will result in some people pulling ahead of others. And even a single value, like equality, has tension built into it: do we look for equality of opportunity or equality of outcome? Again, if we want equality of opportunity, the result may be inequality of outcome; if we want to ensure equality of outcome, we cannot also have equality of opportunity. There are occasions when unavoidable collisions of values - of allegiance or of moral duty, for example - are the very stuff of tragedy.

Berlin was a liberal and believed in rational discussion; but he thought that no amount of rational discussion can resolve these conflicts of values; and for him it was certainly not a solution to give to any one value absolute priority over others which have as good a claim to be universal.

Berlin was as fascinated by those ideologies which he regarded as inhuman as he was by those he shared. He once said that he would never describe Nazism as mad. It did indeed rest on totally perverted axioms, but upon these axioms its theorists did erect an intellectual structure: how else could one explain that fascism was espoused not just by thugs, but by many academics at universities and by thinkers in other walks of life? Even more so was this the case with Marxism: he detested it, but he truly understood it from within. Ignatieff comments that "Berlin was the only liberal thinker of real consequence to take the trouble to enter the mental worlds of liberalism's sworn enemies." And although liberalism and nationalism, usually allies in the first half of the 19th century, parted company thereafter, Berlin was also one of those rare modern liberals who had respect for nationalism. The freedom to give expression to national identity was an important freedom, but of course it must not itself become oppressive of other people's national identity.

As the book's title suggests, this is a biography that focusses most strongly on the philosopher's life. An exposition of his ideas is skilfully woven into the narrative; but it is not until we are two-thirds of the way through the book, when Berlin had reached the age of 40, that we come upon the chapter headed "Late Awakening" - awakening, that is, to the ideas for which he became famous. But I cannot praise highly enough the loving and vivid portrait of Isaiah Berlin that Ignatieff has given us and the fascinating account of his private and public life.

This is the life- story of the most important historian of ideas of the twentieth century. The story is told with clarity and sympathy . And something is caught of the tone and spirit of the person considered to be ' the greatest talker the English language had ' since Coleridge. Berlin was a person not only of remarkable learning, but of tremendous intellectual enthusiasm. His understanding of how it may be impossible to reconcile ' ultimate value claims' is at the heart of his championing of liberal democracy. The story is a remarkable one including not simply his climbing to the top of the pole of the English intellectual establishment ( despite his Jewishness) but his able service in the cause of freedom during the Second World War. One of Berlin's great volumes ( edited by his devoted student Henry Hardy)'Personal Impressions' tells of Berlin's warm friendships with many of the greats of the twentienth century. One such friendship was with Chaim Weizmann first President of Israel. Berlin was a 'Yom Kippur Jew' and ardent Zionist who contributed much to Israel . On a recent walk on Keren Ha- Yesod street in Jerusalem I took special pleasure in seeing a quiet little square named after him. This book should be an introduction to reading his own collections of essays which Hardy put together. They are the remarkable record of a most remarkable mind.

How can such a great book have such a low sales number? Or such a cheap price and only available used? I found it new for less than $4 in a book store during Christmas break in Cape May, NJ. Of all the books I was reading this one grabbed my attention and was most frequently the one I chose to read until I finished it. Gems! This book is loaded with them. Getting to know Sir Isaiah Berlin has been wonderful. An example: Teaching in an American University in January 1949 "His students didn't seem to know how to read or write, at least `not as these activities are understood at our best (British) universities'." (p. 190) His course was at Harvard! Now I can't feel a sense of connaissance since I was a student no sooner than a decade later. How do I know I know how to read?

Reading p. 188: "individuals must have secure cultural belonging if they are to be genuinely free." It occurs to me while reading the book that without such a book about Isaiah Berlin a great deal of what he thought would not be obvious in what he published. He often did not say what he thought. Was this because he was not very secure in his sense of cultural belonging? (Yes).


I had not realized how much Sir Isaiah was a philosopher of the sort I would like to be some day. Because of his experiences he was a polyglot. He spent time in the service of his country using his intellectual and social skills. His philosophical views bridged the Western analytic tradition, engaging Wittgenstein in argument for example, but at the same time applying the Continental philosophy of the Hegelian tradition, his excellent introduction to Marx for example. I personally find so much to like. I have found another soul mate.

I also thank those who took the effort to write such good reviews, often including other information to make the experience even more worth while, and leave me with little to do than mention a few quotes as a reminder for myself. This book ought to be read by more people than are apparently reading it.

Although the famous author's last years brought her much sorrow and depression, she continued to depict the world as it once more became plunged into yet another world war. In her famous journals, she described movies she saw, including GWTW, air conditioning, and the frustration involved with generational gaps. It is a must read for those who followed the previous books.

Obviously this is for fans of L M Montgomery - if you know and love her writing, you will recognise among the friends and acquaintances of her youth the characters that people Anne of Green Gable's turbulent world. But this wonderful journal is much more than that - it is a fascinating insight into a world which is long gone.

We read of Maud's complex family arrangements, her desire to be a good teacher and disappointment with some of her placements. Her small victories selling stories to publications, and the seemingly endless stream of suitors who proclaim love for her (my favourite is the hapless Mr Mustard). It is a tale of love found and not acted on (and the agonies that accompany it), familial obligations, frustrated talents and beautiful Canadian country side. It tells of heppiness, despair, joy and nostalgia, and is as engagingly written as any fabulous novel.

By all means read this if you wish to understand the creator of one of the world's most engaging literary characters, but also to have a glimpse of a world none of us will ever see the likes of.

Poor poor woman. I could scarcely put it down. But it brings up many questions. Why did she think that Mr. Leard, the Love of her life, was not worthy of her? Why did no one ask her husband Mr. McDonald what the heck was bothering him? Why did she not know in 5 years of courtship that something was terribly wrong with him? Poor, poor woman. The synthesis of this book is when she asks herself why a woman that she felt was mean and hateful was happy and she was not. Indeed, why?

IF YOU LOVE THE OTHER DIARIES YOU WILL ENJOY READING ABOUT HER FINAL DAYS. I ENJOYED ALL OF THE OTHER DIARIES BUT THIS ONE IS THE SADDEST. SHE HAS HER GOOD DAYS AND BAD, BUT SADLY SHE STOPPED WRITING IN THE LAST YEARS WHEN LIFE BECAME SO UNBEARABLE THAT SHE COUDLN'T EVEN WRITE ABOUT IT SO THIS DIARY IS INCOMPLETE. YOU WILL LOVE SEEING INSIDE THE LIFE AND MIND OF AN AUTHOR WHO ACHIEVED SUCCESS IN HER OWN LIFETIME AND LIVED TO WRITE ABOUT HER PERSONAL LIFE FROM CHILDHOOD TO HER LAST DAYS. THIS DIARY IS HER LAST, BUT LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY WILL CONTINUE TO LIVE ON IN HER WRITINGS. HER DIARY WAS A WAY TO SHARE HER INNERMOST THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS THAT SHE COULDN'T SHARE IN HER NOVELS. YOU TOO WILL FEEL LIKE A KINDRED SPIRIT.

These journals, are beautifully put together. I remember when I found the first one and then each suceeding volume. I knew this one was coming. I even called the author at Guelph University to ask her how much longer I would have to wait.

She said then that they had to wait for some of the people in the journals to die before they could publish them. I would guess Dr. Stuart Macdonald was one of them.

They thrill me and make me feel closer to thise amazing woman. I've read everything she's written now. The sad thing is that once this volume is finished there is nothing new to read.

My greatests thanks to L. M. Montgomery and to Drs. Rubio and Waterson for their great work.

I have really LOVED this book since I was 13 years old and a friend gave it to me for my birthday: God bless her! It has been a book that I have read and read and read over the years, just when I needed some taste of the ingenuity and the freshness of youth. And the Annotated Anne of Green Gables gave me an useful look into the culture and setting of the adventure of young Anne (spelled with a "e"), especially valuable for me, being Italian.

"Anne of Green Gables" is my favorite book. I didn't think it could get any better, then I discovered this annotated version. Everything you could possibly want to know about the author, details from the book, and information from the time period in which it takes place is provided in the margins. Wonderful!

I'm not concerning myself with the story of Anne, which is a classic and rightly so, but the annotations are often times not enlightening or of any interest or are even bizarre and often give away parts of the story, which is utterly annoying. The additional information in the back about PEI, life at the time and more are interesting, but again more than once they give away key elements of later books in the Anne story.
If you know the story of Anne already, this might be an intersting second read, otherwise I recommend to stay away from the annotations so as not to spoil the wonderful story.

If you want or need to know more about Anne or LMM, it's just THE book. It's absolutely great, very informative and totally worth the money.

This book is great if you have to write a report about Anne of Green Gables and Lucy Montgomery. This book was very informative and helped me complete my project. There are lots of interesting pieces of information about the author, the time period, and the location in this book. There are many diffrent black and white photographs illustrating the background information for the book. The pictures of where the author based her story on were very useful. I enjoyed this book. However, if you are just looking for the novel without all the extra information, you might want to get another version.

Excellent read. Understated and wry sense of humor. A must-read for people on both sides of the border who enjoy good writing.

David Eddie's Chump Change is nothing short of a triumph. Even more stunning when you consider it's a first novel. It is a snap-shot of a life going wrong, a character study told in a frank, self-assured style and loaded with laugh-out-loud moments of absurdity most of us can relate to to some extent; I know I relate to David Henry, our "hero". It also displays a keen insight into the human condition, our world, and the cost of following your dreams. David Henry wants to be a writer, but nothing is going his way, and he is his own worst enemy. From the opening line of the novel, you're drawn in to his tale of despair, regret, poverty, heart ache, momentary respect, and climactic descent. Personally, I related so entirely to this story, it's mood, it's circumstances, it's become my favorite. It is a joy and a comfort to read, and outrageously funny. And it's a good thing Mr. Henry has not lost his sense of humour, because then this tale could be considered tragic. David Eddie is a true talent. He has captured the spirit of our generation without losing sight of the importance of principles and integrity. Well done! Incidentally, he has a "blog" site you can reach simply by typing in "David Eddie's thoughts". More fine Eddie despair...and, of course, very funny.

David Henry is one of those characters you could just keep reading about and he would never get boring. Loved the book. The writing is so funny, thoughful and moving. The end really surprised me. It is very bittersweet. What happens to David? And where is he now? Great commentary on New York in the beginning and life in Toronto. The lead character also goes through quite a journey (a realistic one that never loses the reader's attention). There are so many great comic scenes in this book (i.e. everything with Kim, David going to strip bars in NY and smoking pot, his friend Max and all of the jerk newsroom people he has to put up with towards the end of the novel) and one particularly touching one where Henry cooks dinner for his father...Almost cried when I read that. Modern writing at its best. Highly recommended to fans of Oscar Wilde and even Knut Hamson.

This book is simply hilarious. David Henry is no hero. In fact, he's probably one of the most flawed characters I've ever come across in any of the books I've read. Jobless, up to his eyeballs in debt, without a girlfriend and an all-out immature child of an adult -- he's fascinating and gets himself into situations that are so funny that I've had tears in my eyes. Take a character like that and put him on a quest to land a real job and find true love and you get "Chump Change".

An excellent first novel from a very talented writer. His prose is well constructed, fast paced and laced with a tender sarcasm that makes the reader feel as if they are in a personal conversation with Eddie. Writing in the first person is difficult, and although Eddie occasionally becomes style-obsessed and glib, he quickly catches himself, turning his razor wit upon himself to the delight of the reader.

A superb first effort. Good job, Dave. I'm looking forward to your next book.

I love Leo Lioni and this is one of his prettiest books and is a favorite of my children. The artwork is beautiful and the story touching. I just bought a second copy because our original one is getting worn out!

This is a great book for people who want more than childish drivel to read to their infants.

OK, a lizard can't come up with a consistent color, but when he meets up with an older lizard, they decide to live the rainbow life together. All good and well, except
- goldfish are freaking ORANGE, not red!
There needs to be a reprint...

Very simple story of the search for self-identity and how it relates to friendship. Interesting water-color artwork and a clear, effective storyline make this a quick, five-minute read for an adult to his or her child.

Leo Lionni does good work and this offering is no different than in the past. A little Chameleon finds that all the animals, i.e. pigs, fish, elephants and more, all have their own color. He then finds that he does not seem to have one of his own, as each time he moves to a different location, his color changes. This is a charming tale of a little creature in search of himself, much like a small child might be. The art work in this little book is great and quite eye catching to the little ones. The art work and simple text make the story interesting and easy to read and I have noted that even with miltiple readings, I don't seem to get as bored as I often do with children's books after about fifty or so goes at it. The book of course has a happy ending, but you will have to read that for yourself. Highly recommened this one.

In the opening lines of chapter 3 Bryan Magee, paraphrasing Schopenhauer, writes: "If there is to be any point in my looking for something, I need to have some idea of how I shall know if I find it". Whoever comes to philosophy would be well-advised to keep this in mind. Can we really read philosophy without any idea, or to use an expression from Saul Bellow, any `metaphysical hunch' about what we think (or hope) to find? It was while reading this wonderful book on Schopenhauer that I suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, found the answer to the question, "Why do I read philosophy?". And the answer was not, as the expected knee-jerk response would have it, to find `truth', but to break away, if only for a moment, from the deadening gravity of the obvious and the mundane into an awareness of a reality more awesome and profoundly mysterious. For me few philosophers manage this better than Schopenhauer, and Magee is absolutely brilliant at conveying this to his readers in his book The Philosophy of Schopenhauer. Hardly surprising from a man, who, on another occasion wrote,

"At the heart of the mystery, it seems to me, must lie the relationship between the self and the empirical world in which it is not an object. In fact I am tempted to believe that the ultimate mystery `is' the relationship between the self and the empirical world. With his usual acumen Schopenhauer thought this, `the solution of the riddle of the world is only possible through the proper connexion of outer with inner experience, effected a the right point.' The first time I read those words I got gooseflesh all over my body, my scalp pricked and tingled, and I knew that I was going to read every word written by Schopenhauer". (Confessions of a Philosopher - Bryan Magee).

Perhaps this book explains Schopenhauer with amazing clarity and detail, but I couldn't make it past the first 50 pages. It's just one multi-page paragraph after another. The author needs to learn the concept of whitespace.

The introduction to "Essays and Aphorisms" provides a concise look at Schopenhauer for the casual reader.

I find it amusing that someone would give this excellent overview of Schopenhauer a two-star rating on the grounds that it is "difficult". Schopenhauer's philosophy is profound and requires much thought and reflection in order to grasp it. There may be "easier" introductions than this book but if you want to actually try and understand Schopenhauer then read this book. Remember, understanding Schopenhauer or any great philosopher will be difficult. If you can't do "difficult" then read Dr. Seuss.

Bryan Magee has done a superlative job in writing this work. It is both a review and explanation of Schopenhauer's philosophy as well as an exposition of his influence on artists such as Richard Wagner. There is also much biographical material on Schopenhauer. This is a 400 page book and will take a while to get thru. It is not an easy read, though well written. It's just that Schopenhauer's philosophy takes some time to get used to if you have not encountered him before. But you will be richly rewarded.

Perhaps the most unjustly neglected philosopher in the western world. I would hope this very readable introduction will encourage more people to take up the study of this great thinker. Bryan Magee, as usual does, what many professional philosphers are unable or unwilling to do: he makes philosophy accessible to almost everyone. While I haven't found Schopenahuer's writing all that difficult, reading this first has helped me grasp The World as Will and Representation better than I could have without it.

Philosophy needs more Schopenahuers and Magees and fewer obfuscators.

We love this book. Our four children - 19, 16, 8 and 6 - have grown up hearing this story over and over again.

this is a sweet story about a relationship between a grandfather and his grandson. the grandfather makes his grandson a blanket and as the boy grows and destroys the blanket the grandfather makes something new out of the material. i have a close relationship with my grandparents and they do everything to make their grandchildren happy. this story was kind of a reminder of that for me, how they'll always be there for me, and will help me and teach me with whatever tools they may have, but most of all how they'll always love me. i get almost emotional when i read this book. its a good one. get it.

A Grandpa's Love

This is my favorite children's book. It is warm, charming, and fills one
with a generally good feeling. Something from Nothing is adapted from a
jewish folktale. You don't have to be jewish or a child to be thoroughly enchanted with the relationship between grandpa and Joseph . Joseph is a little boy who goes to his grandfather to fix his tattered blanket because "grandpa can
fix anything". The story takes you through the passage of time when grandpa
converts the blanket to a jacket, a tie, a handkerchief, and then a button.
What to do when the button is lost... The pieces of fabric left over from grandpa's
mending goes below to a family of mice who end up with bedcovers, curtains,
table cloths, etc. The text is absolutely delightful, the illustrations magnificent. I have given and read this book numerous times to young children, They always ask me to re-read it to them, while they gaze at these wonderful pictures, and giggle over the mice family's good fortune.

Something from Nothing is a classic folktale retold by Phoebe Gilman in a delightful, playful way. My children love repeating Grandfather's refrain "Hmm, he said as his scissors went snip, snip, snip and his needle flew in and out and in and out. There's just enough material here to make..." along with me as I read and they love discovering new things the mouse family are up to under the family's floorboards or out on the town. They find something new every time! Joseph Had a Little Overcoat tells the same story but we like Something from Nothing much, much better.

This is one of my favorite children's books. I love the artwork and the retelling of an old story. It is a wonderful gift for all your best beloved children.

One of my favorite quotes came from this book:

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 1963
US black civil rights leader & clergyman (1929 - 1968)

Our hero Dr. Martin Luther King, PhD was a pastor, scholar and a master of the English language first, and this core excellence helped empower him to be one of the greatest change agents of the 20th century. In this book we see his heart and mind more than in any other writing; through this book the reader can sit in the pew and benefit from the deep, Godly wisdom of "Pastor King." In terms of precious spiritual insight, Strength to Love is in the top ten books of all time. - Paul de Vries, PhD, NY Divinity School

Martin Luther King Jr. uses very apt exegesis in his Sermon about the Good Samaritan. The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, with your Soul and with all your mind. The second is like unto it to love your neighbor as yourself. Sum of the Law and prophets hang on these two commandments. This truth taught by Christ was demonstrated through the telling of the story about the Good Samaritan. Martin Luther King JR's sermon on this story is an excellent analysis what it takes to be a loving neighbor. Dr. King tells how the Samaritan overcame prejudice, fear of physical danger, expenditure of money, along with inconvenience; time and effort.

In the sermon titled: Death of Evil on the Seashore, Dr. King acknowledges the existence of evil in all men's heart. The theme of this sermon is how a Christian should overcome evil acting upon oneself and respond with love. One should overcome evil with good. In this sermon, Dr. King states Jesus never made a theological statement about the origin of evil. He does state man's evil does not come forth out of mistake or misguidance. Man should be held culpable to his evil. Love is truly made manifest when in response to which one knows wishes harm or ill towards. This type of love does not come naturally to any man.

Martin Luther King Jr. was taught in his youth to hold the truths taught in the Bible are inerrant. In the final chapter, Dr. King says he entered seminary as a fundamentalist. In his senior year he introduced himself to various theological theories and critical thought when he read various books. Dr. King says at one time he became enamored and held liberal theological uncritically including the belief that man is generally good. Objective appraisal and critical analysis are terms Dr. King acquaints with liberalism. Dr. King says liberalism taught him to have an open and critical mind. In reading the `works of Richard Niebuhr made me aware of the complexity of human motives and the reality of sin on every level of man's existence.' Pg. 136 I would think Martin Luther King Jr. would have been taught about Total Depravity in his years going to church. Dr. King rejects the concept of God being Holy other: hidden and unknown. Dr. King states the influence Walter Rauschenbusch's book: Christianity and the Social Gospel had on him. Then student King searched other philosophers who were not theologians about how to bring social change. Student King was in despaired until he discovered and learned about how Mahatma Gandhi brought social justice to India through nonviolence and the term Satyagraha. Satya means truth which equals love. Graha means force.

Paul's letter to American Christians is a sermon by Dr. King in which he attempts to use the voice Paul's letter to instruct the Christian Church in the United States about disunity in the Body of Christ and unchristian thinking among its members. Cultural, political, and the state of Christendom are the focus of the sermon. I think Martin Luther King Jr. tries to invoke the sentiment of Ephesians 4:1-3:

As a prisoner of the Lord, I urge you to live the life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. In this letter Dr. King criticizes the multiplication of denomination of churches in the United States. He praises the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. He argues for unity with the Roman Catholic Church with no note that there are some things Christians cannot compromise about. Racism and disunity is the only sin taken to task. I do believe racism is an unfruitful of darkness and Paul did address this in his letters-it is not the only unfruitful works of Darkness:

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but reprove them.
. Ephesians 5:11

A quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
Pg. 3 "The historic- philological criticism of the Bible is considered by the soft minded as blasphemous and reason is often looked upon as the exercise of a corrupt faculty. Soft minded persons have revised the Beatitudes to read, blessed are the pure in ignorance: for they shall see God."

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. quotes from Matthew 10:16 - Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as Doves.

Later Dr. King equates science as reality and religion as values. He sees the tough minded as those who incorporate their faith to fit science. Dr. King does not believe the Bible is to be taken at face value but be interpreted trough the lens of science and other philosophical thought. Theological thought is used and the Bible is quoted to make the argument, but only when facts are determined elsewhere. Values are not defined through God's written word but to collaborate outside sources. Values are determined and thought processes are discovered with the Bible as the secondary source.

Let's not just sit in silence on *Martin Luther King Day* - - We must ask ourselves how WE can carry forward Dr. King's message & become agents for change. Reading his words in "STRENGTH TO LOVE" makes an excellent beginning.

Remember those words from the Bible that challenged us "to love justice"? King's sermons (collected mostly from the time of the bus boycott) prod us today to carry forth "the Power of One" and make this particular holiday a statement of our own acts of Love. To love takes courage as well as strength.

Since the Gulf state hurricanes, we have witnessed injustice toward blacks as blatant as any experienced in the 40's. To summon up the hope and optimism that kept Martin Luther King's message alive is an absolute necessity today. To exercise King's principles, to work for justice, to not allow ourselves to sit in silence - - that's where our beliefs must take us. " . . . the day we become silent about things that matter" IS THE DAY "OUR LIVES BEGIN TO END."

Love is where non-violent action begins. In his sermons King expanded on how the tactics of Gandhi can & do work a mighty force for change. For "Strength to Love" the cover art, a wood cut by Stephen Alcorn, makes another strong statement. Dr. King's words most forceful to me are about *love* and *redemption* - - (the latter is an under-used word these days) - - and the last chapter in which he shared his amazing *PILGRIMAGE* through philosophy and experience. Reviewer mcHAIKU echoes the hope of many: that we act responsibly, energetically and courageously to speak truth to Power. "I ain't gonna study war not more." (Martin Luther King Day, 1-16-06)

Timeless. As relevant now as what it was when it was written. Addresses the issues of hate and indifference and argues that the solution is love. Love does sound all too simplistic but it is one of the hardest things to face but its rewards are beyond words.

I LOVED this book! After reading the first I rushed to the store to get the whole series. This is a great series for girls who love God and love sappy cute romantic stuff. I would def recomend the whole series.. I think I finished them all in like 2 weeks.

I enjoyed this one and am looking forward to the rest of them in this series. I very much like Elizabeth and I admire her strenghth and courage to move so far away and to change her lifestyle in such drastic ways. She gave me hope as I too have recently moved far from friends and family and at times it can be so lonely and tough. This book not only had hope and courage and love -- it also had elements of humor and even horror (at least the mouse on the chair made me gasp!!!).

I absolutely loved this novel.

I am a Christian, and I enjoy Janette Oke's books dearly. They are so wonderfully written--such wonderfully story lines, great details, great plots, and great faith in God.

I have read many of her novels, but I must say this one was my favorite. Something about this wonderful story made me just couldn't put it down! I found myself wanted to read it until I finished.

The story is wonderful, with Elizabeth's heart for teaching and her courage to moving to the west, and I love that is a love story at the same time. And her faith in God is so wonderful as well...

It's so neat cause when I read Janette's books, I don't just read a great story, but I learn something at the same time---great principles to apply to life - every time

If you want to read a great story (with no worries if younger readers want to read it) I truly recommend this story!

I loved it!!!!!!!! And you will too.

This is my second favorite Janette Oke book. (My first is A Gown of Spanish Lace.)I am currently rereading it for about the tenth time and once again falling in love with all the characters.
It is about a somewhat pampered and sheltered young woman named Elizabeth who decides to accept a teaching position in western Canada where life is backward compared to her hometown.
She encounters a few obstacles with courage and spunk. She adores her students and is an awesome teacher and role model.
She is determined not to marry right away, but when an attractive Mountie comes into her life, her mind changes. Mine would too if I met someone like Wynn! Jannette Oke has good taste in men. :) I highly recommend the entire Canadian West Series for females ages 15 and up. I especially love the first 2 of the series. It is easy to fall in love with both the characters and Canada.
In order to really enjoy an Oke book you really have to read it slowly. So if you don't have the time and patience to spend a few days quietly reading a book, this isn't for you.I often have a hard time settling down for the first chapter or two of her novels since they are slowpaced, but then I am able to really get into the story and am glad I decided to slow down and smell the roses.
I hope someday Hallmark (or anyone else)makes this book into a movie.

When Oke Engages My Heart, by Sara Larsen

Anyone that likes a quiet, sweet story about the experiences, joys, and sorrows of life from the perspective of a woman will love "When Calls the Heart" by Janette Oke. Oke effectively engages us and connects us to her protagonist by using strong characterization, sensory details, diction, and appeals to emotion.
On the first page of the novel, Elizabeth thinks to herself. "And how are you this delightful spring morning? I asked myself. Why, I am just fine, thank you, I silently answered, and then almost blushed as I quickly looked around for fear that someone might be able to read my thoughts." This is one of the first glimpses we get into the life of our protagonist. By developing the thoughts of her character and letting us into her brain, Oke has quickly helped us understand the personality of her character, and thus we become involved with the character on a more personal level. By connecting us to her character, Oke can then communicate messages, emotions, or ideas to us through her protagonist.
The powerful sensory details used by Oke when Elizabeth is spending her first night out in the Wilderness allow us to almost see what our protagonist sees and smell what our protagonist smells, thus inviting our sympathy and involvement. "...the tall grass had recently been cut but had been left to lie, browning where it fell. It smelled musty and insects buzzed busily about it...the riotous colors flamed out over the sky in shades that I had no words to describe..." (73) We get a glimpse into the newness of Elizabeth's experience by reading these sentences and can vividly picture the scene before her. Because of Oke's use of imagery, we feel as though we are experiencing Elizabeth's world because we have a detailed description of what her world is like, which is essential because then Oke is able to get us to feel what she wants us to feel.
Oke lets us know the terror that Elizabeth feels when she hears a sound that she's never heard before, and we become further engaged in the story because we can almost hear these sounds for ourselves and feel the heat on our faces because of the details used. "A wolf pack!...They had smelled new blood and were moving in for the kill...the sharp stubble of the grass and weeds bit into the palms of my hands, but I crawled on. Another howl pierced the night...the flames were robust now...I continued to feed the fire and huddle over it, coughing and crying into the woodsmoke." (74) We can imagine what is happening, almost feel the thorns in our own hands, and we also feel the same fear that Elizabeth does. Oke entices us, by using such imagery, to experience this with Elizabeth, to take an active part in the story and connect with her protagonist.
On the fourth page of the novel, Oke's carefully-chosen words effectively illustrate her characters when Elizabeth is describing her family; we are invited to see these characters as she sees them, thus aligning our point of view with our protagonist's. She uses words like "flighty one," "adventure-seeker," "the romantic," "silliness," "dainty," "pretty," "plenty of male attention," and "never enough" to describe her sister Julie. By using four rather short sentences with well-chosen words, Oke develops a single character, letting us get personally involved with her description. It is easy to paint in our minds an accurate, though unique, picture of Julie. But again, we see these characters through the eyes of Elizabeth, and Oke can then get her message across to us by using her characters--characters that we now view in the way she wants us to view them.
Oke superbly uses diction to get us involved in Elizabeth's dilemma with the school stove, and just by reading these words we understand how she feels about herself and how she feels about her friend, Wynn Delaney. When Wynn Delaney walks in, we read words like "gasp," "choke," "embarrassment," "self-conscious," and "predicament," causing us to feel Elizabeth's humiliation. Words we read about Wynn Delaney include "benefactor," "save," "purposefully," and "friendship," (133) making it clear that Elizabeth was appreciative of Wynn's help. Oke strategically uses these words to cause us to subconsciously feel the same way that Elizabeth does; thus we see the following events from Elizabeth's point of view, which is Oke's objective, because then we become attached to our protagonist and sympathize with her feelings when things go wrong for her.
Oke gets us emotionally involved when Elizabeth is about to return home and leave behind the world she has come to love. She pauses when she hears her name. "A hand was placed on my shoulder, and through the mist in my eyes I saw a red-coated chest and I looked up into the face of Wynn Delaney. His eyes looked troubled as they gazed deeply into mine." (219) By this point in the story we have a firm understanding of Elizabeth's confusion about her relationship to Wynn, and we also know how reluctant she is to return home because we, too, have come to love this wilderness through Elizabeth's experiences. Oke now effectively touches our emotions, but is only able to do so because throughout the story we have come to know, experience, and love her characters, which she has effectively done through characterization, sensory details, and diction. Now that Oke has fully and completely engaged us with the story and with her protagonist, she gives us one last gift of connecting with our emotions. We leave the book feeling our hearts touched in some way.
Oke does an excellent job of connecting us to her protagonist and engaging each of her readers, no matter what background they have. If you want to be left with a happy feeling and you enjoy these kinds of books, you will love "When Calls the Heart."