Canada Books

In large measure, this book is the history of Louis Riel, a Metis leader, and his efforts to gain recognition and independence for the Metis people. Since the ethnic group usually called Metis was closely tied to Riel, the book is also a partial history of that group.

Metis is a French word that can be translated as "mixed blood." In a narrow sense, one might think of the Metis as the offspring from intermarriage between the French and Indians (mostly Cree) of eastern Canada during the early days of the fur trade. In a practical sense, the group must be broadened to include at least Chippewa, English, and Scot parentage. In the context of the twentieth century, an even broader definition is used. However, some combination of white and Indian linage is usually a prerequisite.

This book is a classic by a legendary author of Montana history. Joseph Kinsey Howard (1906-1951) is also known for another classic, "Montana: High, Wide, and Handsome," a book considered for decades as the definitive history of Montana. Howard spent much of his short life in an area of Montana that has a significant Metis population. He understood the Metis, respected them, and spent years preparing to write "Strange Empire."

The original publication was in 1952. More recent issues include an introduction by Nicholas C. P. Vrooman, Director of the Institute for Metis Studies at the College of Great Falls, Montana. This introduction is a magnificent addition.

The Metis were primarily a product of the fur trade. Their language was a hybrid of French and Indian; definitely not English. Most of the Metis communities remained in close contact with the local Indian tribes. Many of these mixed blood people were drawn to the Red River which flows north from the present states of Minnesota and North Dakota into Canada and on to Hudson Bay.

Louis Riel had trained for priesthood, but hadn't become a priest. Despite occasional self-doubt, Riel had many characteristics of leadership. He was literate and a good speaker and, more importantly, was fluent in English. The Metis attempted to establish their own nation in the Red River Valley. Howard beautifully summarizes the Metis situation: "This conflict between the Metis and the Canadian government was not only a battle over native and Euro-American claims, but also an age-old fight between Catholicism and Protestantism, English and French, English and Irish, and English and American causes." Louis Riel and the Red River Metis faced the Canadian forces with little loss of life on either side. Some people feel that the decision of whether the United States or Canada would rule what is now central and western Canada hung in the balance. The Metis won many of their goals but came under Canadian rule. One result is that the Red River part of Canada became the province of Manitoba in 1870. However, for his part in the "rebellion," Canada exiled Riel for five years and he went to the United States.

The Metis were buffalo hunters but were significantly different from Indians. They dressed differently. Many combined their hunting with agriculture. They had their own language. They had their own culture, a melding of the cultures from which they came. They were much more efficient at commercial buffalo hunting than were the Indians. Their background in the fur trade meant that they had the weapons, hunting experience, and trading expertise needed. Synonymous with the Metis is the Red River cart. Pulled by draft animals, it had high wheels and could carry several hundred pounds. With these carts, the Metis could transport the hides, pemmican, and dried meat of many buffalo to market locations. Twice yearly, the Metis gathered in a large force to go to the buffalo herds.

As the buffalo herds dwindled, the Metis went further west for their hunts. As a result, Metis communities developed in the Turtle Mountain area of North Dakota, the Milk River country of Montana, and Saskatchewan in Canada. Later, communities developed near Lewistown and Great Falls, Montana, (note that most of these locations were undeveloped, and probably unnamed, when the Metis first arrived). Louis Riel moved westward also and became a teacher at a mission in the area of Great Falls.

In Saskatchewan, the Metis were experiencing problems dealing with the Canadian government; problems very similar to what they had experienced in the Red River country. In 1884, the Canadian Metis appealed to Riel to serve as their leader and negotiator. Riel answered the call. Ultimately, an armed conflict evolved with the Canadian military and Mounties facing the Metis and their Indian allies. This time the Metis were crushed. Louis Riel was tried and hung.

There is disagreement concerning Riel's role in Saskatchewan. Some people feel he became insane, some dispute that opinion. He felt that God guided him and when a disagreement arose with the Catholic priests, he attempted to separate the Metis from the Catholic Church. The Metis uprising in Saskatchewan was probably doomed from the beginning, but Riel made things worse by his indecision between peaceful negotiations and the use of force.

In 1982, an amendment to the Canadian constitution gave the Metis aboriginal rights. In the United States, the Metis do not have a legal relationship with the government and do not have a reservation or enjoy other rights granted to Native Americans. In each recent session of the U.S. Congress, there have been bills concerning what is often termed Montana's Landless Indians. Many of this group are Metis.

This book reads almost like a novel. It is well researched. Every book published since "Strange Empire" and containing a mention of the Metis, references Howard's book. A comprehensive and modern history of the Metis is needed but at the moment, this reviewer is unaware of anything near as useful as "Strange Empire."

The amazing story of the Metis people whose French ancestors first colonized and controlled most of North America. Louis Riel should have been a National Hero for all Canadians since without him most of the land west of Ontario would have fallen in US hands.

This book is riveting and should be required reading for history majors.

The genesis story of the Metis in North America, this book describes the evolution of the 'New Nation' and its place in continental history. Arising from the Fur Trade a new race of people, the Mixed-bloods, being descendents of Celtic Orkney and Highland Scot and Celtic Normandy and Brittany French fathers and predominantly Algonkian Cree and Chippewa mothers, create a new native North American identity. The Metis struggle to maintain their place as true descendents of aboriginal lineage while expressing the finer elements of their European paternal heritage. A finely crafted narrative of the attempt to affirm the cultural, economic, and political equity of the Metis, and all aboriginal peoples during the reconfiguration of the continent, Strange Empire is a powerful, dramitic, and epic telling of the most significant 'missing link' in our understanding of how the North American continent came to be.

A century ago, North America almost had a fourth nation, Assiniboia. That would-be nation's leader, a poet, religious zealot and one-time schoolteacher named Louis Riel, once was considered a traitor ro Canada but now is being revered and "rehabilitated" as one of the founders of the Dominion of Canada. Riel was "drafted" as leader of the Metis, "mixed blood" children of the fur trade, when Canada was reneging on its promises to these people who carried on the cultures of both European and indigenous ancentry. (Today, Celtic and French folklorists visit Metis in Western Canada and Montana to record unblemished versions of tradition folk music long dead in their original mother countries.) Howard, a legend in Montana journalism and history himself, penned his masterpiece in "Strange Empire." He gets down to the basics of the struggle for Western North America and some of the more haunting passages deal with the pyschlogical effects of such white man's diseases as smallpox and alchohol and their role in subjugating the natives a century or so ago. Riel was hanged for his insurgence, but had he been more decisive in battle, the maps -- and language patterns -- of much of North America would be much different.

First I would like to thank Amazon for making this fine book so easy to obtain. There are countless thousands of descendants of these, strong, courageous people that now live throughout the world. my son among them, being on a temporary assigment in Turkey. Many thousands more know little of the history of our people. This book should have a particular appeal to these folk. Perhaps by the reading of Mr. Howards book some will be induced to further study and research. It is a benifit to all that seek the true history of our country. These folk were a monolithic type, what happened to one could be an indicator of what happened to the society in the whole. My families have ties to several of those mentioned in this book. As an example, my grandfather was the first cousin to the wife of Louis Riel. My great grandmother was the god child of, Marie Anne Gaboury, the first white woman in the northwest. My fathers mother was baptized by, Father Lestanc. These people are mentioned in this well written book. Thank you, Melvin Beaudry Lynnwood, Washington.

Well written account of hiking trip for such a long distance. Sometimes too wordy on spirtual themes.

As well as a resource-full account of Eb's travels, this is also a very entertaining book. Full of daily quotations, poetic descriptions of the landscape and people, and, more than anything, uplifting. Congratulations on a job well-done, Eb. Not just the trip, but its recording for the rest of us.

I received my copy today and I'm up to page 100. It is a blend of humor, a man's journey, and numerous inspiring quotes...that makes me want to hit Eastern Mountain Sports and start the hike. Someday I plan to hike the Triple Crown, etc. Cheers to this man who has had the desire, dream and drive to complete an epic journey and share it with the world. Thanks for a great read and giving me another glimpse into long-distance hiking.

What a wonderful and inspiring book!! If you are a backpacker, outdoorsman, or a couch AT hiker, this book is very enjoyable. Eb makes you feel like you are walking every step with him. The book also helps one to realize the "kindness" and generosity of the American and Canadian people. It was uplifting to read a 500+ page book without one bit of negativity toward anyone by the author. Thank you Nimblewill!

Wow! That's really "Hit the road Jack". I live near the Florida Trail but swamp wading with the snakes and the gators? No way Jose! But I am totally enjoying it from my armchair. Go get them. You are a better man than me Charlie Brown!

That Summer in Paris by Morley Callaghan is another version of Hemingway in Paris which is probably a lot closer to the truth.

If you need or want to know the truth, read this book. Hemingway sure made a seductive myth about himself. We don't fault him for improving on the truth. The Hemingway version is fun to read but this one is fun too.

By the way, Callaghan wrote an outstanding short story called "Luke Baldwin's Vow." You can see why Hemingway thought highly of him.

A perfect companion to Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast"...written about the same people and time, but with a different point of view...

I had never heard of Morley Callghan before reading this book. Which is unfortunate because the book is hard to put down. It is well-written, informative, amusing, thought provoking and gives insight into several notable literary figures from a first hand perspective.

Canadian writer Morley Callaghan (1903-1990) published 16 novels and more than 100 works of short fiction, and he was one of the first Canadian authors to make his living solely from his craft. Callaghan believed in capturing the bare truth and honest emotional content of people's lives, so his prose shuns stylistic busyness. Edmund Wilson called him "the most unjustly neglected novelist in the English-speaking world," and Maxwell Perkins called him the world's best short story writer.

THAT SUMMER IN PARIS, as a memoir of Paris in the 20s, is every bit as engaging a book, if more limited in scope, as Hemingway's A MOVEABLE FEAST. The book begins with Callaghan's inspiring story of meeting Hemingway while working on the same paper in Toronto--at the time Callaghan was in his early 20s (still in college), and Hemingway was a couple years older. Hemingway had temporarily left Paris and was in town working for the paper to provide his wife Hadley with the benefits of Toronto hospitals during childbirth. Hemingway quickly became a sort of literary patron for Callaghan and, when he returned to Europe, took Callaghan's short stories with him and passed them around Paris. Fitzgerald became enthusiastic about Callaghan's work and also began championing him with Paris and New York publishers. After Callaghan published 2 books of fiction (in no small part due to the help of his "Paris friends"), Callaghan finally made his own visit, with his wife, to Paris in 1929. The anecdotes he recounts are simply marvelous, and I can't recommend the book highly enough. Boxing matches with Hemingway, Fitzgerald's drunken histrionics, a strange evening with Joyce and a phonograph... it's priceless stuff.

They say that timing is everything and the fact that this particular writer just happened to be sitting on the Boulevard Montparnasse on the right evening of the right year, means we have a further insight into the lives of those Paris expatriates, Hemingway and Fitzgerald and others. At the same time, this may be an opportunity for some people to discover Morley Callaghan, who is a very fine writer in his own right. His life ran parallel to Hemingway's for some time, as they met in Toronto and later in Paris and remained friends thereafter, even if they saw each other only rarely. In a sense, he is just the person to give us a penetrating look behind the legends that were being created in the cafés and bars of the ville lumière at the end of the thirties. This is a delightful book as well; Callaghan is nobody's fool, which means he's not writing for the mundane reasons that might otherwise be expected, and you can trust him. He is painting a portrait of a world teetering on the very brink (it is the summer of 1929), and in his own artful way, he has succeeded in giving us a rare glimpse into the ill-lit streets and nightclubs just before it all fades away into the decade of hopelessness that followed. It's well worth finding this book if you can - it's a little gem.

Commissaire Adamsberg is a wistful protagonist who, while leading his Parisian crime squad, intuitively grasps unrelated clues where others see none. In this installment of the series, he is confronted with the murders of two unrelated toughs which are presumed to be drug related, and, therefore should be handled by the drug squad.

However, the Commissaire holds on to the investigation, amassing clues and insights to move it in directions other than the assumption of drug involvement. Meanwhile, he also has to fight a new recruit who holds a boyhood grudge against his new boss, as well as supernatural sightings of ghosts both in his new home and in a Normandy cemetery. Are these all related? Is he following real clues, or being led down the proverbial primrose path?

Written in droll prose, the novel is excellently translated by Sian Reynolds who captures the language and offbeat comments with accuracy. The plot certainly is offbeat and inclusion of Racine-like poetry is an excellent touch. The crimes described are among the more unusual in this type of mystery and the reader has to keep turning pages to keep up with events and the eccentric characters. Recommended.

What I always enjoy about Vargas's Inspector Adamsberg mysteries is the knowledge that I'll finish the current one and cast about for her next.

This Night's Foul Work is no different, and may be one of the better ones she's written so far. The characters are wonderful and she evokes the places of Normandy and Paris so simply, so easily, that it is clear she knows of what she writes.

I suspect you'll finish this book in two nights...at most. Or, if you really like a good detective mystery, in one long night. This Night's Foul Work is just too good to stop.

There is no writer out there who does what Fred Vargas does. Her ability to describe the unreasoning and unconscious aspects of the human mind within the constraints of the crime/thriller/mystery genre is unlike any other modern writer. She holds my attention at all points in her tales, weaving contrasting and compelling portraits of not only her hero, Adamsberg, but the other players in her dramas. She leaves me wanting more and more of these wonderful plots and the amazing Adamsberg. She has some formidable fellow authors out there; but, quite frankly, she is in a league of her own.

I discovered Fred Vargos last year and have read everything that's been published in English. This particular book, like the rest of this series, was excellent! I love the central character since he's unlike any of the detective types in the U.S. or England. I know that I'm going to be surprised by 'who did it' which is a delight since 99.99% of the time I always have figured it out, sometimes in the first 2 chapters which makes the read uneventful. Fred always surprises me and her characters are so unique yet believable. I hope that there is a push to get everything she's done translated asap! (And you gotta love a female named 'Fred.')

People who love Fred Vargas's Chief Inspector Adamsberg mysteries will really enjoy THIS NIGHT'S FOUL WORK. It's wonderfully atmospheric, the characters are complex and believable, and the plot is engrossing and completely unpredictable. I think it's one of the best of the series.

The characters are colorful, very human and so fresh! I really had a great time reading it, diving into the mysterious story and the great ideas of the author. Fred Vargas's style is definitely unique and I love it. I'm going through her other books, this particular one "the three evangelists" is very good.
Recommending it!

Tired of reading mystery books with the hackneyed Inspector/Sergeant couples mooching around? Here's the cure: fresh characters, humour, plot - all wonderful! From the opening pages where, in Paris, a protagonist finds a handy pebble to kick along ahead of him on his route, these are people you like immensely.

If you enjoy "Monk" on USA, "Bones" on Fox, or "Cold case" on CBS, this is the book for you: quirky but lovable characters, a weird crime that digs deep, games and winks and humor even in darkness, a realistic plot, and a very unique universe you can't bear to leave. Little bonus: it's not ghoulish or gross, it contains no sex, and it's overall quite "clean" (unlike many mysteries these days.)
Plus how often do you find unemployed history majors/grad students as sleuths?

I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend this mystery - such a wonderfully entertaining group of sleuths. I really like the way the author mixes a bit of history into her plots and I think this is her best book yet.

From the opening few pages, this mystery hooks you quickly. The characters are some of the most fascinating I've ever read - in many ways, I wish the author would write more stories involving them. So original.

The mystery itself is very well set up, the story flows at a good pace, and at the end, you will be amazed that you saw all the same pieces but still didn't "get it right."

Certainly this is Vargas' best work to date. Can't wait for her next book to be translated.

Great book, after visiting Fort Ticonderoga, reading the book made the experience more meaningful. Would highly recommend to any history lover.

I found this book to be informative in a number of areas. The author gives a good coverage of the contending orders of battle, unit designations and strengths and backgrounds of the various personalities involved. The maps and drawings are excellent and help give the reader an eyewitness view of the battle. The details of the opening moves in the combat, and the resulting loss of control on the British side shed some new light on the fighting as well. All of this demonstrates a great deal of research on the author's part and lend his work a lot of credence.
On the other hand, I detected a definite French, or rather French-Canadian bias on the author's part. His unflattering view of Montcalm contains descriptive terms I've never seen used on the general before, and his contention that the ongoing conflict between Montcalm and Vaudreuil was all the Maruis' fault is at odds with everything else I've ever read on the matter. There's also no mention of the Canadian Governor's legendary corruption, though one of his aides is mentioned in that light. The author's contention that the Canadian militia were "decent troops" and much superior to New england milita in weapons usage could stand closer examination. So could the assertion that the record of Roger's Rangers against their French counterparts was generally unfortunate. I think the French commanders around Crown Point and Ticonderoga would disagree. The author also plays rather loosely with casualty figures and ends up using his own suppositions to arrive at totals. He even misadds the French figures and comes up over one hundred short.
Still, I found the book to be well worth reading, if not a stand-alone account of this battle. But even those well-read on the French & Indian War will likely gain some new insight from this little volume.

Rene Chartrand, one of the least biased and most interesting historians in print, has made a fine book on the subject of Ticonderoga. He covers this interesting engagement and what led up to it thoroughly and well, as he seems to be a great author as well as a dignified historian.

Anybody interested in the largest battle of the French and Indian war HAS to get this! It is loaded with numerous interesting portraits and and 2D maps, all of which are very well done. Those fans of Osprey's famous 3D maps be warned: the battle is fairly static and there isn't alot of movement on those maps. Still, it hardly detracts from a great account that deserves a place on every Osprey fan's bookshelves.

On a side note, the artist Patrice Courcelle painted some very vivid and beautiful illustrations depicting the campaign and battle. His style is very unique and the pictures well worth the buy themselves.

René Chartrand, a senior curator with Canada's National Historic Sites, has written a ground-breaking account of the climatic British attack on Fort Ticonderoga (then called Carillon by the French) in July 1758. Unlike most of the Osprey Campaign Series which merely summarize well-known battles, Chartrand has written a well-researched account that adds considerable detail, particularly from the French perspective.

The standard recounting of the strategic situation leading to the campaign, the opposing plans and opposing leaders are succinct but adequate. The section on the opposing armies is quite good, including a very detailed order of battle for both sides. Perhaps the only slight here is in the lack of discussion of opposing tactical methods.

Where this volume begins to add value to the study of this campaign is in the skirmish at Bernetz Brook on 6 July. Most accounts focus on the untimely death of the British second-in-command, Brigadier General Howe, in this engagement and the effect his death had on the British army. Chartrand goes much further and clearly shows how the British bumped into an errant French scouting detachment in the forrest below Ticonderoga and annihilated it. Over 300 French troops were killed or captured. Prior to this, Chartrand also shows how ineffective Montcalm's effort to block British progress up Lake George was; the British easily bypassed French patrols on the shoreline by unexpected water movements at night. Instead the British were able to advance all the way up Lake George in two days and the French effort to delay or even monitor them was a failure.

Chartrand also provides a good deal of information on how the British reconnaissance of the defenses of Ticonderoga failed. Most accounts mention the perfunctory survey by the young engineer Lieutenant Clerk, but they fail to mention the probe by Lieutenant Colonel Bradsheet and another engineer officer. Chartrand points out that Clerk was deceived by the effective camouflage of the French defensive line while Bradsheet mistakenly reported the French picket line as the main line of resistance. British overconfidence bred the false assumption that the French defense was fragile and that a hasty frontal assault would succeed.

However the British frontal assault was a costly disaster; in six hours the British suffered about 2,500 casualties in a series of disjointed attacks. Again, most accounts tend to blame the French use of abatis or fallen trees as an obstacle as the main cause of the failure. Chartrand clearly shows how the impetuousness of one of the British brigade commanders who began an unauthorized unsupported attack led to a chain reaction of other British units joining the fray. One unit after another attacked, and was smashed in the French killing field below their defenses. British reconnaissance and security in the battle was abysmal despite the presence of Roger's Rangers; French militia harassed their flanks in the woods and the British never realized how weak the French right flank was. Chartrand also provides useful information on French casualties, it is interesting that the French suffered 106 men killed even though they were well dug-in and few British troops came close to their lines. The role of American colonial units in the battle is also well-covered.

Contrast this 94-page volume with the over-rated 800+ page Crucible of War by Fred Anderson. In that book, the Battle of Ticonderoga merited only eight pages and Anderson omitted key details of the battle while almost completely ignoring the French side. If you are interested in one of the more interesting battles of the French and Indian War, this volume is a golden nugget of useful and often overlooked information.

This book by Rene Chartrand, with four 2-page full color illustrations by Patrice Courcelle, includes three 3-D maps, an order of battle, photos of the French regimental flags, photos of the trenches today, and chapters which cover the battle, leaders, plans, armies, aftermath, etc. There are modern and 18th Century diagrams and uniform plates.

This book is thought-provoking and interesting. It should be read several times in order to catch the subtle observations of the author. Since strengths and weaknesses of both sides are presented in an even-handed manner, this book will be the topic of pointed conversation around campfires at F&I War reenactments for years to come.

Reenactors will want to add this book to their personal libraries, but others may also find it an extremely enjoyable read.

(Tourists to Ticonderoga/Lake George/Lake Champlain, as well as locals, will want this book, as it will provide a quick understanding which goes deeper than a brochure yet isn't cumbersome)

This book exudes a zest for living I've seldom come across. Written by an outdoorsman/professional guide/hunter/trapper/rancher, the quality of writing is surprisingly good, in fact,superb. I don't recall any dull pages in this book. It is brim-full of tales of the wilderness and all the denizens thereof; ranchers, trappers ,Indians ,horses ,grizzlies and more. There are lavish descriptions of the wilderness itself. The depiction of growing up in this unspoiled(at that time) wilderness was very refreshing. Five stars because it is the best of its kind I have read.

Trails Of A Wilderness Wanderer are true stories from the West blending the autobiography of an outdoorsman with accounts of living in the wild places of the Rockies, following old trails and meeting hunters and explorers. An absorbing outdoorsman's diary filled with nature and observations of the wild.

Good book. Would like to see a complete set of his works as well as a biography written by one of his cronies, or an outdoor-life chronicler.

Mr. Russell takes you back to the early days when only Indians and bears roamed the land, through his youth and adulthood as an outdoorsman in the wilds of early Canada. He tells of living a life we can only dream of now. The people he writes of were real and made Canada what it is today. I have reread this book almost yearly since it came out in 1971. You will feel as if you have walked his trails with him and love the life he led. An excellent gift for the city-bound outdoorsman!!!

I don't usually write book reviews, but as I came across this book for sale on Amazon, it brought back wonderful memories. I purchased this book back in 1973. I loved it then and I love it now. I re-read it for maybe the fifth time. I decided to write this reveiw.
I am not well educated or well traveled, but I know adventure when I read it and this book is of a great adventure. It is a group of short stories written by Andy Russell, who was born in 1915, more importantly at the foot of the Great Rockies mountains in southwestern Alberta Canada.
He describes his childhood growing up on a farm there, where he learned very young how to take care of himself. Fishing, hunting and trapping in a country of great beauty, that he describes as no one else could. Some stories are of breaking, riding and training horses. This is a book for someone who loves animals and the great outdoors, and especially for someone who loves adventure. His travels take him from the farms of the great plains to the beautiful mountains of the west and north to the cold of the frozen tunda. It is also about animals small and large, from weasels and minks to bears and elk, as well as fishing, the kind of which is very hard to find these days. There are stories told around camp fires, of cowboys and of the English Remittance men. Thrills vary from forest fires to the stalking of a trophy elk.
He went on to become a great guide of the Rockies, both for hunting and for those who hunt with a camera. This is a great adventure and a must read. If you read this book you should also read another book by him called "Grizzly Country". It is said by many to be one of the best books ever written about bears, both from the scientific point of view and by someone who was a conservationalist and a naturalist. I love bears and I loved that book also. I loved them both. I hope to read other by him. Enjoy and thank you Andy Russell.

This is a wonderful book for children who love history, or if you want an educational as well as thrilling novel to read.

In this book, ten-year-old Andrea "Andy" is at her grandfather's house in the small, country town of Moose Jaw to be a junior bridesmaid in her cousin's wedding. But, her grandfather and crazy Aunt Bea want to show her something, recently strange underground tunnels have been discovered dug under to the town of Moose Jaw connecting the houses and business.
As Andy's grandfather is showing her a tunnel, she accidently slips and knocks herself out. When she awakes, she is being drug down the tunnel by a strange boy. Andy figures out that she has traveled through time back to the 1920's.
Andy then must use her skills to help a boy named Vance and his sister Beanie outsmart a bunch of gangsters, even Al Capone who are currently using the tunnels to transport illegal alcohol.

Will Andy outsmart the gangsters and help Vance and Beanie? What is the secret that Andy's grandfather and Aunt Beanie hiding from her? And what will happen to them?

This is quite an adventures read. Older readers are sure to figure out the plot and secret of this book by the first few chapters.

~~~Kat

I read this book for a book review in my class, I read more than half the book in one night! I started out reading a couple of pages then a couple more then I couldn't put it down. Mary Harlekin Bishop made me feel like was down in the tunnels with Andrea. This book was so well written that I could picture everything in my head, even the terrible Scarface. This is by far the best book I have ever read. I strongly recommend Tunnels of Time to anyone who likes a good adventure/mystery story. And by the way, I just bought the second book Tunnels of Terror, so far it is very interesting.

This book is one of the best books I have ever read in my whole entire life. This story starts off on a car ride to Moose Jaw and instantly becomes a non-stop ride into your imagination. I loved this book, the author explained every little detail to its fullest. You can't help but get yourself pulled into the mystery of the tunnels as you read and re-read this amazing novel!!! If you ever need an excuse to start reading about Andreas thrilling trip into the past use this one because I can guarintee you that, along with not being dissapointed, you will absolutly "LOVE" this book and want to read it over and over again...

This book is very well written, except for a lengthy ending which also turns out awesome, and the length is acceptable. Reading the story I also travel back in time, that is how well written it is. Being from Moose Jaw it is extra special to me, but anyone who has heard of Big Al will find it amazing. You can almost experience what the characters in the book are experiencing, which is both good and bad. The positives far out weigh the negatives and it would be a shame to pass up the opportunity of reading this book, even if you have to borrow it from a friend. Under 300 pages it doesn't take forever to read it either. It took me a week, but if I wasn't in school at the same time I could have read it all on a Saturday-Sunday combo, although it can be more suspenseful by reading it over a longer period of time. You leave the experience feeling a debt to the author, and the reasonable price for this book when purchasing it turns into the author giving you much more then you payed. Treat yourself to this book.

I read this book for the first time in spring of 2000, I was enthralled. I have probably read this book fifty or so times since then and I continue to be fascinated with it each time. The story brings a rather strong moral with its mystery and adventure. The young girl who finds herself lost in the past realises how important families really are. This book is filled with adventure and danger, but it does not cross the boundaries of these qualities. The other thing that I enjoyed about this book was... the setting. In small town Moose Jaw who would have thought all these wild things reallly happened! The plot sparks your imagination and I could truly relate to the charactors. All the makings of a good book. It demontrated the true power of words, in a meaningful way. I was always a big reader, but after I read this book I think it inspired me even more. I certainly recommend this book , it is an amazing novel.

A great book for understanding what really shapes foreign policy and for also explaining todays foreign conflicts. Keylour covers everything from WW1 to the present reaching from the US, & Europe to Asia and the Middle East. If you want to know more than what CNN will tell you, check this book out.

The Twentieth Century World opens with a prologue that examines international relations at the outset of the twentieth century and sets the stage for the rest of the book. The book's three major sections then examine the period bracketed by the two world wars, which was characterized by German expansionist aspirations and attempts by the other major powers to contain them, the cold war era characterized by superpower rivalry, and the post-cold war era characterized by increasing disorder in international relations.

Author William Keylor is consistently strong in describing how geopolitical forces - geography, demographics, technology, and finance - affect national development and international relations. He shows that political arrangements need to be consistent with the operation of these forces to be successful. But he does not imagine that international relations are determined entirely by objective forces: he recognizes that ideas are important too. For example, because it holds itself out as a model of democracy, the United States is judged by the same ideals that it professes. The ideologies of democracy and national self-determination advanced by the United States have not eliminated its self-interested behavior but they have constrained it. Keylor also recognizes the role of leadership in international relations. For example, he describes how competent and farsighted leadership in many Asian countries has helped produce impressive economic growth over a period of many decades, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and exerting pressure on neighboring countries to adopt similar export-oriented policies.

In fact, I found his explanation of development processes in East Asia to be particularly illuminating. He describes how Japan pioneered a development path based on trade and government coordination of large, oligarchic export companies. Japan first specialized in textiles and other manufactures that relied on cheap labor. By postponing consumption and sustaining a high rate of savings and investment over an extended period of time, the Japanese achieved a comparative advantage in accumulating capital for investment in capital-intensive manufacturing industries. Finally, having developed a cadre of highly qualified scientists, technicians, and engineers, the Japanese became world leaders in high technology industry. This same developmental path was successfully replicated by the Asian Tigers (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong), and is being followed now by the ASEAN countries.

The Twentieth Century World, now in its fourth edition, is suitable for lower-division undergraduate courses and will also be of interest to the general reader. It includes many useful and attractive maps but no footnotes. The book also includes a 23-page critical bibliography, two glossaries, and a detailed, reliable index. Since I finished the book a couple months ago, it has served me as a reference several times.

The Twentieth-Century World: An International History, by Dr. William R. Keylor, has been recognized as one of the foremost sources for a historical account of the twentieth century by several professors, students, and other applicable parties alike, and for good reason. There are several factors to take into account when determining the merit of such a text, including the tenability of the text, the efficiency of its organization, the cogency of its material, and its physical practicalities in terms of design and dimension, not to mention the price. This text is an assessment, in narrative form of twentieth-century world history which provides comprehensive coverage of affairs related to the United States, Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, all of which is up to date as recently as the year two thousand. Dr. Keylor presents the political, diplomatic and military history of the twentieth century while putting an appropriate significance on the effects of economics as well as on the bearing that geopolitics has over a country, both of which are often overlooked. In doing so, this text sheds light on important yet presumably subtle factors that have played important roles in the development of twentieth-century international history. While this account of international relations in the twentieth century is not only concise and depicted with convincing sensibility, Dr. Keylor manages to accomplish this with coherency and clarity, which substantiates a prepossessing flow from page to page. Perhaps one of the most appealing factors of this text is the language, which is straightforward and understandable without diminishing the quality of the material or compromising its effectiveness. In fact, this method likely affords Dr. Keylor to reach a wider audience that ranges from the individual with only an intermediate comprehension, to the educated and experienced history buff. Furthermore, another important element of this text is its ability to cover the history of the twentieth century concisely and clearly, in an intense analytical framework without boring the reader. This fact is among many of the others which separate it from many of its rivals.

This concrete account of international relations in the twentieth century stands out in its clarity and coherence. And unlike many history books, it's not BORING, perhaps because it offers more than merely a narrative account; it is also set within an analytical framework. My attention was thoroughly held as Professor Keylor imparted his insight into the struggle among the major nations in the world for power, prosperity and prestige. Everything seemed to click into place, and the chapters just flow into one another. As Paul Kennedy said of it: " ...The style is pleasing and extremely lucid, and the emphasis on economic and geopolitical trends is greatly to be welcomed... An excellent synthetic work, and one which can be recommended to students and to interested laymen alike."

Dr. Keylor portrays the political, diplomatic and military history of the twentieth century in the most understandable and straightforward language. He shows how history is responsible for what is currently happening around us, and why we should know the causes of the conflicts he writes about. He pays special attention to World War One, the rise of facism, World War Two, the rise of the Cold War, Latin America and the US, Africa, the Cold War in Asia, Israel and the Middle East, the triumph of and expansion of capitalism throughout Latin America and East Asia, the end of the Cold War, arms control and many other topics. The book is a very valuable reference for any student of law, international relations, politics or anyone else who wants to know more about the world that we live in.

The possibility of gathering mussels under the ice at low tide was absolutely amazing to me. I had never heard of such a thing or imagined it. What a wonderful world we live in! Andrews writes of young Eva's solo walk on the bottom of the sea and she does an intriguing job of it.

The illustrator,Wallace,enriches and expands the written story through his detailed pictures of the village and native life on Ungava Bay.

I hope Andrews & Wallace collaborate again and soon!

This is one of the best books for young girls that I have come across. A young Inuit girl is sent under the ice at low tide to collect muscles for the family.. this time by herself. She gets distracted, the candles burn out leaving her in darkness just as she starts to hear the water returning. What an adventure. I buy this book as a gift whenever I need a present for a beginner reader girl.

My children (1st & 2nd grade) really love this book. The premise had them leaping off the bed in amazement - "She goes under the SEA??? The ice is over her HEAD???? She goes by HERSELF????"

Every detail was interesting to them - the tools used to hack under the ice, the mother letting her child go alone, the small Inuit homes, Eva living in a land where no trees grew - and they had so many questions - most of which were answered by the end of the story.

We used the book to talk about:

1. mussels and how they grow & live,
2. tides, what causes them and how much the water level can vary between high tide and low tide,
3. the climate in northern Canada
4. the Inuits,
5. emergencies - what happens initially to our bodies when we are afraid, and what we should try to do so that we can get out of our emergency safely, and
6. pointillism and the artist Seraut, and we made our own pointillism art masterpieces with Q-tips and paint.

I did search the Internet for actual photographs of what Eva might have seen, but I couldn't find a single one! I couldn't find other references to the Inuit walking under the ice either. I would have loved to have shown those to my children.

It has been said that a good children's book is a good read for people of any age. This book is another example of the truth of that statement. It teaches people who don't live in the northern tundra on the seashore about what their life is like, and it does so in a way that you enjoy the learning.

My five year old son loved it; we read it over again a number of times. But the reason I knew it was such a good book was that I didn't dread reading it after several times. In fact, I looked forward to it.

"Eva Padlyat lived in a village on Ungava Bay in northern Canada. She was Inuit, and ever since she could remember she had walked with her mother on the bottom of the sea. It was something the people of her village did in winter when they wanted mussels to eat. Today, something very special was going to happen. Today, for the very first time in her life, Eva would walk on the bottom of the sea alone..." So begins Jan Andrews' tale of a young girl's first trip alone through the thick winter ice. In painstaking and intriguing detail she describes Eva's adventure; cutting a hole in the ice at low tide, descending to the dark ocean floor below, lighting candles to illuminate the sea bed, collecting mussels, and exploring this beautiful hidden world..... Ms Andrews' engaging tale, filled with history, mystery, drama, and suspense captures the imagination, and is rich in imagery and magic. Illustrator, Ian Wallace's quiet, dreamy artwork, in soft, textured tones, pulls the reader beneath the ice and right into the story. Perfect for youngsters 5-9, Very Last First Time is a fascinating and evocative experience that shouldn't be missed, and works well as part of a unit introducing the Inuit culture and way of life, or as a stand-alone for story time.