Canada Books

The Oxford educated author, Raymond Patterson, chucked his staid life as London banker for the extreme conditions of the 1920's Canadian far north, traversing barely navigable rivers and wintering in 40 below conditions far from the nearest supply post.
The accounts are highly colourful, occasionally humorous and truly amazing as real life survivor accounts. Unlike some modern adventure story-telling, the author thankfully omits hyping the risks and achievements, avoids ominous foreshadowing and such devices, and relates his account in a modest but richly descriptive style.

"Dangerous River" is one of the finest Far North adventures ever written. R. M. Patterson and his partner Gordon Matthews were the last of a breed of men who tackled the Far North with nothing but stamina, courage, and consummate skill with rifle, pack and canoe. Trapping and searching for gold in the legendary South Nahanni River country in the 1920's, Patterson describes their adventures in language that makes the reader yearn to see one the premier rivers of the world. Patterson's style is laced with wonderfully dry British humor as well as a poet's skill in describing the breathtaking landscapes. You feel as though you're right beside him throughout his adventures and hungering to go there yourself. You can't ask more a writer and his book than that!

I purchased Dangerous River: Adventure on the Nahanni to use as research for my latest release, The River, an exciting and terrifying techno-thriller that takes place on the Nahanni River.

I found Dangerous River to be invaluable to me, and after reading it, I yearn to travel to the Nahanni River to see this wonderful part of Canada.

I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a true Canadian adventure. The photos take you back to a simpler life, and the author's humor and attention to detail are entertaining.

Cheryl Kaye Tardif, author of The River

Patterson makes a 200 mile snowshoe trek in 50 below weather to pick up the mail seem like slightly unusual walk to the post office!

This tale of wilderness adventure is set in the unexplored region of the South Nahanni river valley in the Nortwest Territories, Canada. It tells of unexplained deaths (the reason it was called Dead-Man's Valley), and the survival tactics and techniques of explorers during the gold-rush days of the area. Patterson spins the tale in a way which makes you feel the icy cold winters and the lavish and wildlife filled summers. His writings are non-fictional, and he includes maps and photographs taken while he was there. It is exciting, and laden with danger about the rapids, ice-flows, and Indian legends. I highly recommend it to anyone with a love of the outdoors, adventure, or wilderness history!

The thing that I appreciated most from this magnificent book was its originality. I have read several romance novels and only very few are about the Roman era. The story is extremely engrossing. Caddaric is so harsh at first with Jilana that I couldn't help but symphatize with her. However she has a very strong strong character (something which i like in romance heroines) and she certainly does not stand meekly to Caddaric not even when he makes her his slave. Caddaric makes Jilana live some of the hardest moments of her life but as he slowly grows to care for her we see him change from harsh soldier to warm lover. The intrigue in this book never lacks and only until the very end do we find out if the lovers will finally find love together.

"Defy the Eagle" is one of the books i enjoyed most reading. It stands in my shelf as one of my favorite books and i would recommend it to whoever would like to read a romance with a difference. Detail in history but eaqually detailed in romance with the original setting of the Roman era.

This was one of the first romance novels I ever read and since then, I have read it countless times. It is the novel I use to convert my friends [to romance lovers that is] and it has worked every time. It makes me cry and makes my heart ache so much I would have to put my hand to my heart to stop the pain. The story is fantastic, raw and passionate and all the characters are so lovable, even Caddaric who epitomised the 'dumb' male and was so mean to Jilana. Read this, and you will fall in love.

This book combined romance and historical content extremly well. It is always nice when an author can blend both in such a way where you care about the characters and what was going on in the background. I love serious romance novels that have two strong characters that complement each other while still having hurdles to overcome, and make you doubt that they ever will. That's what made this book so great, you will be on the edge of your seat.

I read this book back in 87 and still to this day its probably the best book Ive ever read. Even back in 87 I tried to find more books by this author but wasnt succesful...how disaponited I was!! I have read the book over and over again and can strongly recommend reading it. You will be just as captivated by the story as everybody else who read it!

One of the many reasons i have loved this book is becouse of its setting - the Roman empire. I have read several historical romances and this is the only one i have read about this period -it certainly is a refreshing change. But that it is not all. The romance in this book is awesome, poignant and so beautiful it makes you cry.

First of all about the story, since i think a review should always include a bit about the story:

Stripped of her title, her palace and her possessions, Boadicea incited her warrior tribe, the Iceni, to throw off the yoke of the mighty Roman Empire. The Queen turned to Caddaric to help lead the revolt and knew he would stop at nothing to remove the Roman presence from her land.

Harsh and relentless by nature, Caddaric was curiously unable to banish the haunting image of a beautiful girl from his dreams. Then, in an isolated glade, he met with the woman who had so bewitched his nights. Amazement turned to anguish as he realized Jilana was a daughter of Rome - one of the hated enemies he had vowed to destroy.

Her family massacred, her home torn apart, Jilana became a spoil of war: slave to the merciless Caddaric, whose one thought was to possess her, body and soul....(text taken from book's back cover)

All I can add to all that i have already said is that if ever you get the chance read this book and you wont be dissapoint it. It really is great!

I AM VERY HAPPY WITH THIS PURCHASE. I TOTALLY LOVED THIS BOOK! THANX!

A very facsinating book based on the ice road. A documentary based upon this book was on TV and I had to buy it. It was enthralling.

This is an amazing book.....I've read it, lent it out to friends, and finally had to chase it down and take it back because I wanted to read it again, in the midst of the "Ice Road Truckers" series. John Denison was one of the guys that "started it all" up there, building the ice roads. to think that he allowed a woman to come along and write about it just boggles the mind. To think she DID it just boggles the mind. We're talking the 70's here, pre-computer, pre-GPS, pre-cell phone. In this book, John Denison is ailing, but he actually lived to be 84 years old and was honored by the Canadian government for his efforts at the ice road building. A wonderful story. If you are an "Ice Road Trucker" fan, do not hesitate one bit, get this book. If you are just looking for an interesting book with historical perspective on the Far North, this is it. I highly recommend this book.

I first learned about Ice Road Trucking watching a special on TV called "ICE ROAD TRUCKERS". The video was so fascinating that I had to get the book. The BOOK IS MUCH BETTER than any account I have seen on TV. The book gives accounts of individual incidents that add to the book's appeal. Edith Iglauer writes in a wonderful way that holds your attention while giving you enough factual detail. You NEVER have to think "What did she (the author) mean by that". I thoroughly enjoyed the book and have loaned it to friends. Those friends have enjoyed it as well.

This book tells the story of an incredible journey through conditions you won't wish on your worst enemy. It includes their triumphs and failures. Great for anyone working in a boring job that wants to read about those whose jobs are a great adventure!

I encourage anyone that has come in contact with Cancer in any form, to please, please, please, consider this. It has proven itself over and over again, but you will not see it on any commercial.........

After being diagnosed with non-Hodgkins in 1998, my husband was told there was very little hope of his cancer going into remission let alone a cure. After six months the lumps came back after the 1st round, then another 6 months of the strongest he could get. A co-worker loaned him this book--he has been drinking the tea now and has had no lumps return, blood tests and xrays reveal nothing returning-- it is worth a shot!

this is a great book, i could not put it down.if you or someone you know is having medical problems, this book will reveal to you an alternative for modern medicine. you have nothing to lose and maybe everthing to gain by trying this herabl tea. my dad (age 74 ) and father in law (age 75) are both drinking this tea for prostate cancer and heart problems, both were amazed at the immediate difference in how they felt, both have more energy and feel 100 % better while drinking this tea. this tea will clean the toxins from your body and as my father in law says, you will feel 20 years younger. if you love someone who is in bad health, buy it for them. it is not just for cancer, but has been proven to help many ailments. darlene bishop, po box 35, henry , tn 38231

my brother in law got malignant melanoma and after several surgerys and chemo treatments it kept coming back,so the Dr stopped all treatment and we went home with very little hope then i was shown the Essiac Report,when i started reading it i could not put it down and somehow i knew it was our answer so he started on the herbal tea right away and i am happy to say he has been free from any malignant melanomas for 4 years now and i am very thankfull for the book...it was a sign from God for us and i highly encourage anyone to read it, you will not be sorry...

This is an excellent book. I would recommend it to everyone -- not only those who have or know someone who has cancer. It presents a lot of food for thought. The facts and testimonials are true. It informs the reader about Flor Essence Tea and its benefits -- something I truly believe in from personal experience.

My copy of this book is in tatters, because I have read it so much. Since buying the book I went on a canoeing expedition to one of the northern rivers Cliff talks about in the book. I would agree with most of what Cliff recommends. This book or the newer edition is a must if you are going to do an extended canoe trip in the wilderness.

Good reference book, interesting read. The section on BEARS pays for the whole thing. Here I thought I was doing right, but now I find that I am lucky I ain't been et yet.

This book takes you through the planning, paddling, and post adventure stages of an expedition canoeing experience. It is a very thorough collection of expedition canoeing issues, from one of the leading authorities on expedition canoe travel.

A terrific read for novices and pros alike. The writing is easy to follow and accompanied by detailed diagrams and photos.

It is required reading for all of our guides and clients taking part in one of our expeditions.

This is not a book for the novice. I suppose it would be enjoyed but to really apprieciate the excellent ideas and tips, I think one would need to have many wilderness miles in your log. I rank this book with Colin Fletcher's [The Complete Walker] from back in the 70's at the top of the advanced "how to books" list. Well written with just the right amount of stories and humor. This is not to be read by just those useing canoes or traveling the far north. If you spend as much time as you can get away with "out there" you will love this read.

Cliff Jacobson has once agian set a new standard for canoe tripping literature. In his most recent publication, Expedition Canoeing: A guide to Canoeing Wild Rivers in North America, Jabobson goes where no other book of this kind has gone. The book is a thorough and comprehensive collection of every aspect of expedition canoe travel. Jacobson covers everything from choosing a river to the meals that you can prepare in barren land, but what sets this book apart from others is that he includes his own novel concepts for the trail alongside time-tested techniques that only someone with his experience can add. This book will surely become the standard against which all other books of this nature will be measured. The book is an absolute must for anyone wishing to venture north with a canoe.

Excellent cookbook with easy to follow recipes, accompanied by wonderful, funny anecdotes!

'Food That Really Schnmecks' and 'More Food That Really Schmecks' are both wonderful books. Story books with recipes. I received Edna Staebler's 'Food that Really Schmecks' as a gift from my Grandmother. It's very special to me not only because of whom it's from but because my entire family uses these recipes - they're handed down from generation to generation. I'm from Kitchener - the same area as Edna - she and her recipes are very popular there and I am now 'spreading' them in the US.

Edna's recipes are so easy to follow and prepare and the food really does "schmeck"! Wonderful books from a very friendly, wonderful woman. I wish she had time to publish more "schmeck's". These books are worth buying.

Written by award-winning journalist Edna Staebler, Food that Really Schmecks: Mennonite Country Cooking is the commemorative edition of a classic cookbook originally published in 1968, now featuring a new foreword by award-winning author Wayson Choy and a new introduction by food writer Rose Murray. Interspersed with Staebler's true stories and anecdotes about cooking, Mennonites, her own family, and daily life in the Waterloo region, recipes in Food That Really Schmecks range from Crusty Chicken Potpie to Beet and Red Cabbage Salad to Porridge Bread, Maple Custard, Emanuel's Dandelion Wine, and much more. A mouth-watering medley of country home cooking recipes that pass the test of time with flying colors.

If I could only have 2 or 3 cookbooks, this would be one of them. I have been using this and "More Food that Really Schmecks" for years. The recipes are easy, interesting and taste great! There's a no-nonsense, comforting quality to them. The short stories add interest. I have over 400 cookbooks and keep going back to this favorite.

I'm not a big cook, but this is one cookbook that I have added to my library. Edna Staebler, now 97 years of age, was a native of the Waterloo region of Ontario, which is really the heart of Canada's German community, and is where many Mennonites and Amish settled. Although she worked as a journalist for some time, she eventually put together this cookbook based on recipies that she had gathered primarily from fiends and family. Many of the recipies are Mennonite or influenced by Mennonite and German cooking. This book also consists of a number of anecdotes, so not only is it a great cookbook, but an entertaining read as well.

This is the third book of Parkman's that I've read. Previously, I read Pioneers of France in the New World and The Jesuits in North America. About all three I would say a) they are absolutely amazing works of brilliant, inspired scholarship, b) Parkman's measured, objective, caring approach to the topics -- and the beauty and tone of his writing -- is extremely compelling, and c) my grade school, high school, and college education did not provide me with the gritty, fascinating facts about what REALLY happened back in the 17th Century in North America.

This is not James Michener (as much as I have enjoyed his works) packaging and making sense of history -- or the dry, intellectualized expert texts I had to read in school -- or the politically correct wholesome simplified upbeat teachings of my youth, with for example the perfect Puritans and the friendly Indians sharing Thanksgiving.

This is what really happened, detail by detail, based on exhaustive research of original texts -- letters, reports, maps, government documents, earlier histories, etc. Fortunately for Parkman, the early adventurers did a lot of writing, including many of the members of religious orders who accompanied or in some cases led the explorations.

My main takeaway from these true histories is how incredibly dangerous, unsuccessful, and unpredictable the courses of events were in these times (and probably in our time as well). In a way they are like anti-stories, or anti-history. Good often does not prevail over evil; heroes do scandalous things; scoundrels act heroic; no one is assuredly, consistently good or evil; when you least expect it there is a generous caring act; and when you least expect it, when all is going well, there is a foolish, unfortunate, destructive act that ruins all that has been accomplished, etc.

That is, while there may be certain patterns in events, these patterns themselves are constantly shifting, and the most logical and predictable outcomes almost never happen. In other words, Parkman has truly captured life in all its shades of grey and inconsistencies.

His treatment of the Indians is a perfect example. By modern day standards, it is egregiously politically incorrect. But he reveals them in all of their savagery, helpfulness, childish immaturity, wisdom, thievery, generosity, deceit, and unpredictable kindness. The commonplace cannibalism and similarly common extreme forms of repulsive torture done by Indians are carefully documented and reported throughout his texts, as well as the way their easily given friendship essentially saved the lives of most of the key European adventurers at one time or another.

These books are definitely not for the faint of heart or people who want a simplistic "Dummies Guide" to history!

While there is a new Introduction, this is the historic account of Robert LaSalle's exploration of the Louisiana territory in the 1680s. Parkman first published this treatise in 1869; it has since been reprinted numerous times. An excellent, thoroughly engrossing recounting of the exploration of the territory which LaSalle claimed for France in 1682, through which the reader not only learns of the daily travails of the little band of explorers, but also, the human frailties of the man, Robert Cavelier, known as LaSalle. This book gives life to a name from history, and exemplifies the methodical research done by Parkman in the days before telephones, faxes, and copiers. I was thoroughly impressed by the subject and the writer. Excellent; informative, totally enthralling reading-writers of today should take note! Kudos to the publishers (and Krakauer) for bringing this series (back) to life!

Parkman is that unusual combination of great scholar and wonderful writer. His books depicting the history of French exploration of North America and the conflict between the French and the British for control of North America remain the basic narratives of these events. Parkman's writing, combining narrative, psychological insight into major historical actors, and use of rhetoric that seamlessly reflects his narrative, is often superb. This particular book is almost entirely devoted to the career of the Sieur De La Salle, the French explorer obsessed with establishing French control over the Mississippi valley. Parkman provides vivid portraits of the almost incredible hardships of travel in North America, the character of politics in the French colonies, and an insightful treatment of La Salle and his associates. Parkman's powerful but restrained language often recalls the style of Tacitus.

I picked this up on a lark and found I couldn't put it down. A fascinating story, extremely well written and a pure pleasure to read. I travel extensively and found it amazing how many places I go to regularly have a direct link to La Salle. Couldn't recommend it more.

Frances Parkman was a man who lived and breathed his history. He not only researched his subjects thoroughly, but seems to have crawled inside their heads as well.

Parkman's gift for bringing people alive is nowhere more evident than in this complex story of Robert Cavalier de la Salle's attempt to realize his dream of making France a leader in the new world. Parkman's skillful examination of the man behind the story lets the reader understand why LaSalle and his ideas were the cause of such controversy. At the same time, Parkman paints a vivid picture of the new world frontier as it existed in LaSalle's time. This is a book that can be savored on many levels: as an entertaining adventure story, a psychological thriller, and a historical reference.

Parkman's prose is rich and full of details you will need to understand the complexity of the charcters and the consciousness of the times. Therefore, you should be prepared to spend time working your way through this book. Whenever I tried to hurry through a section, I found that I missed something important that was needed later on. In other words, patience is needed, but well worth it. Parkman was a true lover of history and the people who shaped it and it shows.

From inside book jacket:

On July 23, 1983, Captain Bob Pearson climbed into the cockpit of a twin-engine Boeing 767, one of the most sophisticated airliners in the world. Preparing to guide Air Canada flight 143 from Montreal to Ottawa and then on to Edmonton, he checked his systems and entered into the computers the information he received from the ground crew. One of the maintenance men, in charge of fueling the craft, experienced a bit of difficulty with his math. The 767's computers utilized only metric calculations, and the maintenance man struggled to convert conventional measures into the unfamiliar numbers. He informed Pearson that the plane was fully fueled when, in fact, it was 26,000 pounds short.

The stopover in Ottawa was brief. They had no plans for refueling and now there was no apparent need.

Then, with no warning, 41,000 feet and westbound over Red Lake, Ontario, the portside engine failed. Seconds later, Pearson and Quintal, his copilot, realized that the starboard engine also had failed, terminating all electrical power. An eerie silence shrouded the plane as flight crew and passengers attempted to deny reality. They were now floating silently at 41,000 feet. The nose of the plane dipped precipitously; the gliding craft lost airspeed and altitude. They had a maximum of twenty-nine minutes to prepare for their certain death.

Freefall is the story of Flight 143. A brilliant recreation in which we relive the terror of those twenty-nine minutes through the eyes of those who experienced it. You will never look at flying in exactly the same way again.

Bill and Marilyn H offer, freelance journalists, together have produced over one thousand magazine articles and nine books, including the international bestseller Midnight Express, and Not Without My Daughter. They live in Virginia.



From back of book jacket:

Maurice Quintal gripped his cockpit microphone.
"Winnipeg Center, Air Canada 143," he called.
"Air Canada 143, go ahead," came the reply.
"Yes, sir," Quintal said. Then he spoke the four words that would carry, not only to Winnipeg ATC, but to aircraft cruising over a wide radius. Pilots throughout the skies of central Canada now picked up their ears. Gone was the droning routine of the early Saturday evening. Crew members in other cockpits turned to look at one another, as they heard Quintal's voice crackle over the radio: "We have a problem."

Suddenly, at 22 seconds past 0121 GMT, the cockpit was plunged into darkness. The bright, color-coded, easy-to-read data units provided by the flight management computer, the bank of digital displays that reported airspeed, altitude, compass direction, navigational data, engine speed, temperature, and the RPMs, fuel flow, oil quantity-- even the clock and the cabin thermometer--the entire array of "gee-whiz" electronic gadgetry in the cockpit of the world's most sophisticated airliner--vanished in an instant.
The glow of the late afternoon sun illuminated the faces of the three men in ghastly relief.

"How come I have no instruments?" Pearson asked, incredulous.

The answer was as simple as it was terrifying. The Space Age technology of the 767 cockpit feeds upon electricity supplied by generators run by the two massive engines. The engines, in turn, are powered by type Jet A-1 fuel. It had never happened before--in fact, neither Boeing, nor Air Canada, nor Pearson, nor Quintal, nor Dion had ever contemplated the scenario--but if a 767 runs out of fuel, a diabolical domino effect takes place. The engines quit. In turn, this stops the generators, halts the production of electricity, and transforms the computerized cockpit displays into darkened, totally useless cathode ray tubes. To Pearson it seemed as if the cockpit had become the darkest place in the world.

Incredible as it seemed, they had run out of fuel.

--from Freefall



This is an excellent book, especially recommended for pilots, who will understand better than most how difficult the job of the flight crew in saving this plane and its passengers and how amazing their survival was.

How can so much fictional garbage sell for $20.00 or so, while a grippingly-well-narrated TRUE story like this goes for $0.25 used - itsa bargain !

I read this book while on a recent 10 hour trans-Atlantic flight to pass the time and kind of spice things up (e.g. turn my long flight into a Disneyesque "Roller Coaster of Death" ride, where you really know you're going to step off perfectly intact at the end).

This great non-fiction book gives a detailed recounting of Air Canada flight 143, which in 1983 ran flat out of fuel while at 41,000 feet over Middle of Nowhere, Manitoba. Yes, TRUE STORY! (Don't let the 41,000 feet scare you -- altitude is your friend when out of fuel).

The writers give a little biography of some of the key crew members and passengers, which was only somewhat interesting to me (however, I was very interested in the flying history/experience of the cockpit crew). The star of the story however, is the fuel-less Boeing 767 and the frantic efforts of the Air Canada team to get the plane on the ground safely.

Authors William and Marilyn Hoffer did an excellent job of providing the technical aspects of the aircraft and industry without ever going over my head. I felt like I understood at each stage of the story, why something had happened to the aircraft, and what the impact was. Ditto for the sequence of actions by the entire flight crew.

I'm assuming the reader has figured out that this wasn't a mass loss of life disaster (duh, there is even a previous Review by a person that claims to have been on the flight). Not wanting to give too much away, I'll merely add that many fortuitous "coincidences" in the tale were not lost on me. Such as: Captain Bob Pearson was a hobby glider pilot (767s are not designed to "glide", but when in such straits, every bit helps), and, another occupant on the plane "vaguely recalled" a possible landing sight. There were many such bits and pieces which fit together and kept this from become a huge disaster. I was AMAZED at how many things were outside of the pilots scope of training and flight manual contingencies (This was 1983. Things are better now.?).

Plenty of white-knuckle moments. There were even some injuries . . . the source of those is a bit of irony. A few slow parts to the book, but then back to the cockpit and the excitement. The suspense becomes literally heart-pounding as the plane sinks ever closer to the ground.

It's an easy, quick, and rather educational read. Pick up a copy for your next long flight.

This book is like glue. Once you put it into your hands you can't put it down. This is a story based on factual events that could not have a better ending. Great analysis of the chain of events that led to this incident. I strongly recommend it.

Hey, my name is chris, i happend to be on flight 143, the flight this book is wriiten about. when it happend, i was only 3, although i still remeber it. I read this book when i was 12, and from my memories of the flight, it was dead on, great book.

We love all of the books in Max Velthuijs' Frog Series. Our all-time favorite is "Frog is Frog"--but this one rates high up there as well!

A Frog and a Duck - love knows no boundaries. Anyone who has ever experienced that sick feeling of falling for someone - where you can't eat, sleep, think or talk will love this book! Frog in his red and white board shorts falls in love with white duck - a book to explain the beauty of love to young children and a book to give to the one you've fall in love with.

This is a wonderfully written story about Frog who is in love with Duck. The morale of the story is "love knows no boundaries"--color doesn't matter. :)

This must be it : the greatest love-story ever written. Any age ! Love can't be love without a violin playing frog...

I first came across "Frog In Love" as a pre-school teacher. I was asked to read it for our Valentines Day celebration. I was deeply touched by Max Velthuijs's amazing ability to tenderly convey such a hopeful message that both young children, as well as adults can grasp easily. My husband and I were very much like frog and duck when we were good friends. Ironically, just as frog meets with an accident, so did my husband and just like duck, I was able to help him and we admitted our deep affection for eachother. Naturally I went and bought the story for my husband and read it to him. When I got to the last page, and read the words "Love knows no boundaries" we both had tears in our eyes. Someday when we have our children, we'll read this lovely story to them!

There is a scene in the beginning of the movie ANCHORMAN where Ron Burgundy says to his would-be conquest "You may not know this, but in this town I am really somebody."

In the 1960's, in the original six NHL, and on Chicago's West Side, Glenn Hall was really somebody. All the Black Hawks were. Glenn Hall filled out a line-up that was as charismatic as any on ice.

Hockey was a different appeal at that time. Jacque Plante first introduced the goalie face mask, and Glenn Hall was one of the very last to embrace it.

It wasn't until Bill Masterson of the Minnesota North Stars passed away after getting checked along the boards that players wore helmets. The game was more intimate. Local TV stations brought the product into the home, and because the players did not wear helmets, fans knew what players looked like.

Because there were only six teams in the league, we would see all the players many times in a season. As a boy, I could recite player numbers, goals, assists, and even penalty minutes of almost any player in the league. There were less than 100 players!

Glenn Hall had some quirks. He would vomit before each start. It was his ritual. But he pioneered the butterfly technique of goalkeeping, which is a standard today.

He was a workhorse, and one in a long line of great Black Hawk goalies.

The author revisits Hall, now in his 70's, and and gives him the due respect of an idol. Hall proves to be a worthy idol, being a down to earth and decent family man.

He also takes us through his life and times in the NHL, with the Red Wings, Black Hawks, and finally and most satisfying to Hall, winding his career down with the Blues.

In my eyes, the early and mid 1960's were the Golden Age of hockey. Hall was a worthy standard bearer. Was he the greatest goalie of all-time? Fans of Sawchuck, Esposito, Hasek, Roy, and Brodeur all have good arguments. The author makes his case for Hall, and I am not prone to disagree.

I enjoyed the book, for its simplicity, for the passion the author has for the subject, and for my own great memories of those great Black Hawk teams, and Hall himself.

For the Baby Boomer Hockey fan, two thumbs up.

The author is basically a fan of Hall rather than a bitter journalist and because of this he gets it right. I was most interested in Hall's days sharing the nets with Jacques Plante in St. Louis and it shows how Hall basically helped turn St. Louis into the NHL's best new market back in 1967. Hall also comes across as no dummy and a very honorable teammate and man.

It's really great that when his story was told, it was told by someone who understands that Hall not Sawchuk, Roy, Plante, Hasek or Tretiak is hockey's greatest goalie.

The only points he missed were no action shots inside showing Hall's famous V, or butterfly, style that truly revolutionized goaltending (sorry, Patrick Roy, but it wasn't you) and he kept calling his "glovehand" his "catch glove" which I have never heard in all the years I've played or watched hockey.

This is a good book for hockey enthusiasts. Coach-Tom Adrahtas
traces Mr. Goalie's rise to stardom with a series of stories
and centerfold pictures. The height of the star's success
is the Stanley Cup earned in 1961. The author captures the
enthusiasm of the croud during the cheering in the St. Louis
arena. In addition, the author relates Hall's "Jack Dent Award"
for an MVP on the Windsor Spitfires. The NHL doors opened for
him when he arrived at the Red Wing Camp. The factual content
of Hall's career is conveyed at major juncture points by
the author. The book is a worthy investment for sports buffs.

This book is must reading for goalies, for St. Louis Blues fans, for Chicago Blackhawk and Detroit Red Wings fans, for NHL fans, for "Original Six" fans, for anyone who loves hockey today and wants to get a sense of the history of the game, and of course of the great Glenn Hall's place in that history. Tom "Chico" Adrahtas brings Hall's phenomenal career to life with passion and clarity. Whether it's the "slow-motion" detail with which Adrahtas describes some of Hall's career highlights, or some cutting and lucid insight into the mind and life of one of the best hockey players of all time, you cannot help but be drawn in. Adrahtas states up front that he intends to prove that Mr. Goalie was the greatest goaltender of all time, and then with a refreshingly unabashed dosage of heroe worship, he proceeds to do just that. And he does it not only with the cold, hard statistics that bear out Hall's greatness (e.g. his "impossible" 502 consecutive games in the NHL, the first "expansion" team player in the Hockey Hall of Fame), but perhaps more importantly by getting to the core of his character. Adrahtas, himself a goalie and a teacher of goalies, develops impressively throughout the book how goaltending is essentially a "character" position, what he calls "the most mentally demanding of all positions in sport." And while doing so he succeeds in convincing the reader that Glenn Hall's character is what sets him apart from, and elevates him above, the likes of Jacques Plante and Terry Sawchuk, his closest contemporary peers, and also apart from and above the best goalies of the modern era. This book is marvelous reading, a heartfelt tribute to a wonderful man who was surely the greatest goaltender of all time: Glenn Hall, Mr. Goalie.

Everyone who has ever donned the pads and has even the slightest sense of hockey history has waited for someone to tell the amazing story of one of the creases greatest denziens. Glenn Hall's amazing accomplishments on the rink have been enshirened in sport's almanacs and stat books for all to see, but no one has ever been able to bring his personal story to light. No one until Tom Adrahtas.

Mr. Adrahtas tells the story masterfully, skillfully inserting personal quips and candid comments from the people who knew Hall best, while narrating the career of this Hall-of-Fame goaltender. In addition to this unusual but highly entertaining style of sports biography, Mr. Adrahtas goes a step further and includes his own personal essays and thoughts on goaltending and growing up around the game of hockey. Normally, it is not recommended that an author try to add to an already amazing story, but Mr. Adrahtas pulls it off beautifully. Far from detracting from the subject matter, Mr. Adrahtas' sidebars are enlightening and essential for appreciating the authors passion for the game. What's more they are essential to understanding what drove great goaltenders like Glenn Hall.

In the end, it was hard to tell which was more enriching; Glenn Hall's life story or Tom Adrahtas' passion for goaltending. In either case, no goalie can afford to miss this book.