Douglas and McIntyre (2013) Ltd. – förlag

With its trademark "you are there" style, Mark Zuehlke''s tenth Canadian Battle Series volume tells the story of the 1942 Dieppe raid. Nicknamed "The Poor Man''s Monte Carlo," Dieppe had no strategic importance, but with the Soviet Union thrown on the ropes by German invasion and America having just entered the war, Britain was under intense pressure to launch a major cross-Channel attack against France.Since 1939, Canadian troops had massed in Britain and trained for the inevitable day of the mass invasion of Europe that would finally occur in 1944. But the Canadian public and many politicians were impatient to see Canadian soldiers fight sooner.The first major rehearsal proved such a shambles the raid was pushed back to the end of July only to be cancelled by poor weather. Later, in a decision still shrouded in controversy, the operation was reborn. Dieppe however did not go smoothly. Drawing on rare archival documents and personal interviews, Mark Zuehlke examines how the raid came to be and why it went so tragically wrong. Ultimately, Tragedy at Dieppe honors the bravery and sacrifice of those who fought and died that fateful day on the beaches of Dieppe.

A Drifting Year finds Haitian expatriate Laferrière plagued by his recollections. In this short novel written in stanzas, the young exile arrives in the unfamiliar city of Montreal. Here, he quickly discovers all the things endemic to the Canadian immigrant experience; racism, poverty, and disorientation plague the budding writer.Here is an author at his best when fiction and memoir exploit each other. The dreamscape at the end of the longer novel easily eclipses the cold streets of Montreal and the stinking slums of Port-au-Prince. If A Drifting Year is exploratory surgery, Dead Men is life-saving trauma. Despite all advances in medicine, time will not be cheated. Only writers like Laferrière can hope to make the living walk the earth forever. -Excerpt from Hal Niedzvieck''s review in Quill and Quire, November 1997

At Vij''s, one of North America’s most innovative Indian restaurants, owner Vikram Vij and his wife Meeru use the freshest local ingredients and original ideas to create exciting new takes on the cuisines of India. Though far from traditional, the dishes remain true to one glorious hallmark of Indian cooking: fabulous spicing. Among the luscious offerings included here are yogurt and tamarind marinated grilled chicken, seared venison medallions with fig and roasted pomegranate khoa, and marinated lamb popsicles in fenugreek curry. Vegetarian selections abound, with dishes like portobello mushrooms in porcini cream curry, coconut curried vegetables, and jackfruit with cayenne and black cardamom. Recipes for naan, chapattis, raiti, and other sides, staples, vegetables, and desserts allow readers to prepare an Indian feast from beginning to end. As beautiful and sumptuous as the recipes it contains, Vij''s is a delicious manifesto for a new style of Indian cooking.

Review in Bookviews (blog), March 2015A gripping debut teeming with drama and scathing insight into the world of an all-girl private high school.For years, Audrey Brindle has dreamed of attending George Eliot Academy, the school where her mother, Ruth, has taught for a decade. But when she is finally admitted, she discovers a place of sly bullying and ferocious intolerance. Ruth, meanwhile, finds her world upended by the arrival of a new teacher, Henry Winter.An acutely observed exploration of ambition, betrayal, and cruelty, The Eliot Girls deftly explores the intimacies and injustices of privileged female adolescence and the relationship of a mother and daughter for whom life will never be the same.

The border between Canada and the United States- the longest undefended border in the world-was laid out in many stages over more than a century, but the biggest part of the job was the long, (mostly) straight line across the prairies. On September 18, 1872, a full five years after confederation, two large teams of army surveyors-one from each country-met at the Red River on the Manitoba-Minnesota border. They were there to fix, for the first time, the precise location of the 49th Parallel between the swampy shores of the Lake of the Woods-where the border had an awkward, keyhole-shaped notch that was the source of much tension-and the summit of the continental divide in the Rockies. Over the next two years, the members of the International Boundary Commission went about the business of surveying, mapping and placing markers across nearly 900 miles of unforgiving territory. Through the work of its brilliant naturalists, the Commission created the first accurate descriptions of what was still largely terra incognita. In drawing the Medicine Line across the High Plains, the Boundary Commission defined the final shape of a new nation and ended, once and for all, the old American dream of Manifest Destiny.

Wang Chin-yun, a Buddhist nun born in Taiwan in 1937 and now known as the Venerable Master Cheng Yen, is one of the world''s most inspiring yet largely unrecognized women. At the age of 29, she established the Tzu Chi Foundation, an organization committed to compassion and relief that today numbers 5 million volunteer members in more than 45 countries worldwide, including the United States. In the United States, Tzu Chi members provided assistance during many catastrophic events including the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the 9/11 attacks in New York, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Challenges details Master Yen''s extraordinary vision, her tenacity in the face of numerous hurdles, and the lessons she and her followers have learned over the years.

A Guidebook to Contemporary Architecture in Toronto provides a comprehensive look at the resurgence of city-building in Toronto over the past 20 years. Each project is featured on a two-page spread with a concise descriptive text, project information, photographs, and drawings. The projects are organized by neighborhood and allow the reader to take a self-guided tour. Maps at the introduction of each neighborhood provide context, and an index provides easy referencing of projects throughout.

A Guidebook to Contemporary Architecture in Vancouver explores buildings constructed as the city experienced unprecedented growth, beginning with Expo ‘86 and continuing through the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The guidebook features buildings and public spaces grouped by areas, with maps so that a visitor can create walking tours, including ones through downtown Vancouver, Richmond, the North Shore, and Kitsilano. The convenient size and format, including an index, allows visitors to put this guidebook in a pocket and go.

A whimsical, hilarious, heartbreaking tour of the world--a book of immense range and depth, the record of a world-class traveller''s many discoveries and insightsSince making his first voyage as a sailor -- to earn his passage from his native Holland to South America -- Cees Nooteboom has been captivated by foreign countries and cultures and has never stopped travelling.Now a selection of his most enjoyable travel pieces are gathered together in this wide-ranging collection, informed throughout by the author''s humanity and humour. From exotic places like Isfahan, the Gambia and Mali to more familiar locales such as Australia and Zurich, Nooteboom shares his view of the world, showing us the strangeness in places we thought we knew and the familiarity of places most of us will probably never see for ourselves. His phenomenal gifts as an observer and the wealth of his reading and learning make him an authoritative and delightful companion. Beyond the places he visits, he also meditates, as every traveller has, on the ideal hotel.: a nomad''s hotel for a global nomad.With a new introduction from fellow world-class traveller and writer extraordinaire, Alberto Manguel.

Fourteen Quebec federalists dare to re-imagine the province and its defining role within a stronger CanadaQuebecers have been debating their future relative to Canada since before Confederation, though the discussions have been most heated during the past four decades. In this time the debate has gone around in circles. Now, instead of presenting the often-repeated theme of Quebecois as constantly victimized by Canada, 14 Quebec personalities come together to propose a new vision which affirms Quebec''s autonomy and includes it in building a strong, federal Canada. Eschewing traditional arguments which they claim prevent modern Quebec from advancing, lead to sterile debates, allow Quebecers to shirk responsibility and feed their victim complex, the contributors to this volume draw on their varied professional backgrounds as politicians, militants, intellectuals to invite Quebecers (and other Canadians) to rediscover the extraordinary potential of a well-crafted and properly realized federalism. Among the arguments, former provincial justice minister Martin Cauchon analyzes the evolution of the Constitution, discusses how Quebecois have used it as a tool to feed political debate and makes the argument that Quebec should acknowledge that the document reflects diversity and sign it, the sooner the better. Law professor Jean Leclair refutes the claim that nationality is exclusive, urging Quebecois to consider themselves both Quebecois and Canadian. UNESCO ambassador Marie Bernard-Meunier critiques the existing Canadian federal structure which she claims denies the provinces an institutionalized role at that level and suggests that an elected Senate and a commitment to unity might solve the problem. Although it was largely ignored by the French Canadian media when it was first published in French in 2007, The Reconquest of Canada is a breath of fresh air in the ongoing debate regarding Quebec''s position relative to Canada. In this important book, the authors deliver a strong message that federalism provides Quebecers with the opportunity not only to find autonomy but to participate in the building of a united Canada. It is a clear, conciliatory treatise that paves the way for fresh voices and constructive discussion about the future of Canadian politics.

Referencing a classic Haida oral narrative, this spectacular full-color graphic novel blends traditional Haida imagery with Japanese manga to tell the powerful story of Red, an orphaned leader so blinded by revenge that he leads his community to the brink of war and destruction. When raiders attack his village, young Red escapes dramatically. But his sister Jaada is whisked away. The loss of Jaada breeds a seething anger, and Red sets out to find his sister and exact revenge on her captors. Tragic and timeless, Red''s story is reminiscent of such classic tales as Oedipus Rex, Macbeth, and King Lear. Not only an affecting story, Red is an innovation in contemporary storytelling from the creator of Haida Manga and the author of Flight of the Hummingbird; it consists of 108 pages of hand-painted illustrations, and when arranged the panels create a Haida formline image 13 feet long. A miniature version of the panel in full-color is on the inside jacket.

When an 80-ton Fin Whale became trapped in a lagoon near his Newfoundland home, Farley Mowat rejoiced: here was a unique chance to observe one of the world''s most magnificent creatures up close. But some of his neighbours saw a different opportunity altogether: in a prolonged fit of violence, they blasted the whale with rifle fire, and scarred its back with motorboat propellers. Mowat appealed desperately to the police, to marine biologists, finally to the Canadian press. But it was too late. Mowat''s poignant and compelling story is an eloquent argument for the end of the whale hunt, and the rediscovery of the empathy that makes us human.