1 comments about Champlain: The Birth of French America.

1. This book is simply stunning, and a bargain at this price. It is a large coffee-table sized volume that combines beautiful production values with scholarly articles on various aspects of Champlain's eventful life. Many perspectives are included, from historians, archaeologists, art historians, archivists, museum curators from around the world. For the professional historian or just the lover of history, this book is a real treat. Original maps and illustrations, photos and images of all kinds delight the eye. It makes Champlain - a true Renaissance man - and his world really "come alive", as well it should, for modern audiences. Dive in and read sections as your interest leads you. The only downside is that because of it's size, you'll have to read it on your lap.

1 comments about A Day in the Life of a Colonial Sailmaker (Library of Living and Working in Colonial Times).

1. Growing up in Philadelphia, James Forton was the son of free black parents. His father made sails for the ships. After his father's death, James has some exciting and frightening adventures during the Revolution! In 1784, he fulfills his dream of becoming an apprentice sailmaker and then a foreman who later was able to own the shop. James Forton became on of the richest men in Philadelphia. He never neglected his own people, and used his own home as a hiding place for escaped slaves.
   
   The process of sailmaking is described with numerous illustrations and photographs. This is accurate history, entertainingly presented with a website for further study.

1 comments about Nahanni Journals: R.M. Patterson's 1927-1929 Journals.

1. Raymond Patterson is a Londoner who finds his journey to Canada's wild Northwest Territories provide adventure and outdoor challenges unlike any of his life. NAHANNI JOURNALS trace his journeys from 1927-1929 and are powerful, revealing stories perfect for armchair adventurers and travelers catering to them. Highly recommended.

No comments about Northrop Frye's Notebooks and Lectures on the Bible and Other Religious Texts (Collected Works of Northrop Frye).

5 comments about The Bronfmans: The Rise and Fall of the House of Seagram.

1. Attention aspiring authors! If you have a mediocre book to peddle, get yerself Nicholas Faith's agent to sell the book to St. Martin's Press. That way you'll be assured of glowing reviews in the national periodicals. As best as I can tell, that's what happened with this book.
   
   I had a difficult time getting through this jumble, and I chose to skip many pages. Part of the problem lies in Nicholas Faith's disdain for simple declarative sentences in favor of serpentine sentences with many subordinate clauses (and lengthy parenthetical asides) - so much so that I'd often have to reread a sentence to determine what, exactly, was being said about whom. I've previously seen such tortured prose only in books by economists or psychologists, and I suppose that explains this book, as Nicholas Faith attempts to be a little of both.
   
   As far as I can determine, Nicholas Faith did no original research for this potboiler. Instead, it's a digest of several previous books about the Bronfmans, predominantly Solomon Gursky Was Here by Mordecai Richler, which may or may not actually be about the Bronfman family. My advice is to avoid this book and get Richler's novel which will certainly be less of a chore to read.



2. I agree with the previous reviewers that Faith brings in too many quotes from other authors. This is strange, because he has really done a lot of "homework" so that he could make the material his own. I was slowed down by his long awkward sentences and unending attributions. I guess it's better to acknowledge your sources rather than plagiarizing, but the book reads like a long term paper.
   Some of his conclusions are just thrown out there, such as this one about Sam's two daughters: "The girls were not even given Hebrew lessons--which makes one wonder if Mr. Sam secretly hoped that they would 'marry out.'" My experience as a young Jewish girl growing up in mid-century America was that it wasn't de rigeur for girls to attend Hebrew School; the boys went because they were preparing for an eventual bar mitzvah. The author previously discussed Mr. Sam's lack of religiosity (he held business meetings on Saturday and had only a nominally kosher kitchen at home). His son Edgar ignored Jewish ritual for a large part of his life, and "married out" several times. So much for the value of Hebrew School!
   An example of the multitude of sentences needing the touch of an editor is this one: "In 1971 his mother, Ann--who remained a staunch supporter--had left his father when he was in his teens after a period in which his father had paid little or no attention to his family."
   Despite my desire to turn the pages a lot faster, I kept with the book and learned a lot about Canadian Jews, bootleggers, Scotch, anti-Semitism, and more. I wish that I had read this before I read "Solomon Gursky Was Here," since that roman a clef would have had a lot more associations for me.



3. First my biases: I'm a Canadian by birth who once lived just a couple of miles from the Bronfman house in Regina. I now live in the NYC suburbs and stood marvelling at the Seagram bldg on Park Ave only 2 weeks ago. In the interim, I've been a consumer market researcher and Seagram has been a client off and on for more than 10 years. I'm also more than a bit interested in booze.
   
   Given the above, I find this book tremendously interesting with literally hundreds of details that were absolutely new to me... and I probably know more about the Bronfman family & Seagram than the average bear. If you're at all interested in the Bronfmans, Seagram or booze, you'll find this to be a fascinating read.
   
   But there are a lot of stylistic problems here as well. First, as other reviewers noted above, Faith's constant references to other authors / biographers is almost annoying. It's like he's personal friends with the other writers for goodness sake.
   
   Second, for some reason, Faith treats the Richler book (Solomon Gursky Was Here) as a more important reference source than personal interviews, biographies or other non-fiction sources. I read the Richler book and loved it but not sure why Faith needs to keep coming back to it?
   
   Third, the editing in this book is simply a mess - there's just no other word for it. Usually I don't even think about editing but with this book, it was so bad I almost stopped reading after the first 50 pages. In the first 4-5 chapters, Faith not only makes the same point multiple times but sometimes uses the same sentence! It was like deja-vu all over again. It's this last point that is most confusing to me - Faith is a former senior editor of The Economist so if anyone should get the editing right, its him.
   
   Anyway, I'll still give it 4 stars. Its a great story and filled in a lot of blanks for me.



4. Unbelieveably badly written. How can you make this family boring? Also, seemed to "borrow" from a lot of other authors. Don't waste your time.



5. This isn't a bad book but Nicholas Faith has a problem acknowledging the gangster beginning of the Bronfman fortune. Pure and simple Sam B et all were thugs and likely murders. Mr. Faith goes to grea great endless endless lengths to explaine how anti-semnitism shaped the Bronfman's. Huh. It never seems to occur to him that the alleged anti- Jewish sentiment could have been whipped up precisely because the Bronfmans made such a big deal of their religion/heritage solely to cover up their ways. That most of the people they dealth with and enriched were also Jewish thugs doesn't help. Mr. Faith's inability to deal with this fact almost ruins the book.
   
   Luckily however he is honest enough to move the story along and present many of the dirty facts even if he does always try to gloss over them There is also a little too much info on whiskey blends. A more detaled analysis of the ethnic root of prohibition and a clearler focus on the political bribery that grew the Bronfman fortune might put some of their alleged present day charitable acts in a clearer focus. Since Edgar is big on reparations how about reparations for the lives ruined by thier crooked empire? You might want to read this book but keep one eye over your shoulder wide ope for the whole truth.

3 comments about First Crossing: Alexander Mackenzie, His Expedition Across North America, and the Opening of the Continent.

1. This book is a welcome collection of facts about the stupendous exploits of Alexander Mackenzie's Canadian exploration. But the words are curiously bleak & dispassionate, and separate panels of information on the pages, intrude into the flow of the narrative.
   What is needed now is for someone to take on the story, light it up with the raw romance of the period, paint the picture of the landscape, add colour photos of the places in the text, tell us about the man, and keep the size of the book down to normal.
   Let us see the landscapes in all their glory.
   The raw detailed story of the man remains to be told.



2. First Crossing by historian Derek Hayes is the amazing story of Alexander Mackenzie, and his trailblazing journey across the North American continent before civilized society conquered the North American wilderness. Illustrated throughout with maps and photographs in black-and-white and color, the deftly researched and meticulously reported details of Mackenzie's voyage vividly reconstruct an 18th Century expedition of truly insurmountable bravery and pivotally important discovery.



3. OK, there is some new information here. Mostly it seems that Hayes has helped illustrate the travels of Mackenzie, something that was not available previously. Barry Gough's book is notoriously lacking in any illustration of Mackenzie's voyages and Mackenzie's own book is virtually without useful illustration. Maybe having read the previous two books makes me jaded but Mackenzie's voyages can only be retold so many times.
   Hayes has presented us with a slightly new take on telling the story with pictures, maps and historical vignettes but I hunger for a more thorough job. Perhaps more in the nature of Moulton's "Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition". Finding someone willing to wade through Mackenzie's rather impenetrable prose may be a challenge.
   Notwithstanding the above this is probably the best explanation of Mackenzie's voyages since the original journals.

No comments about The Man Who Swam into History: The (Mostly) True Story of My Jewish Family (Jewish Life, History, and Culture).

3 comments about The Essential Trudeau.

1. I was one of those people who never voted and never had an opinion on anything political. But after reading PET's views and thoughts about Canada and her people, I can say I am a Liberal. This book helped me come to a more complete vision on what a Canadian should strive to be. I was looking for a guide to help me understand Canada, and without Trudeau I would still be in the dark. In a world where there is no left or right and everyone just flip flops around the middle, this book stands up for what being a Liberal is about. The book doesn’t dictate, it just cuts out the BS and leaves you with something to think about. You will get slapped in the face with the honest and straight to the point style of the book.



2. Trudeauites search no more! In this small book, you'll find all of Trudeaus quotes and thoughts, culled from thousands of pages of materials. They are grouped by relevant section (Quebec sovereignty, etc) and the quotes used make great conversation starters. Love Trudeau or hate him, this book gives both sides plenty of ammo.



3. "The Essential Trudeau" is a well crafted novel that manages to amalgamate all of Trudeau's views on politics into one pocketbook sized novel. What made it very interesting was its ability to seize the reader with it simplicity. Unlike most other political books, this one manages to use language that can be understood by the youngest of Trudeauites. Pierre Trudeau himself contributes to the novel by adding new information on his views and justification for past political decisions while he was in office. This is a very brave book that looks at the views of a man considered to be Canada's most influential Prime Minister. An entire range of topics are covered in this book, including "The state of Quebec nationalism" and "The Role of the state". I highly recomend this novel, as it presents the views of a man who will go down in history as a true liberal.

5 comments about Dylan and Cohen: Poets of Rock and Roll.

1. What makes this book such a unique and significant contribution to its genre is that it is written with the insight and sensitivity of a spirit that seems deeply attuned to those of its subjects. Not only does the reader come away with a better understanding of the historical times and political contexts that shaped these men, and the personal struggles and psychological bents that motivated their writing, but also with a clearer understanding of what attracts their devotees to their work.
   
   Throughout the book, Boucher weaves explorations of various aspects of the lives and cultural context of Dylan and Cohen that strongly affected them and their work. These include the civil rights movement, drugs, women, sexuality, God and religion, what it means to be reluctantly identified as the voice of a generation, and -- particularly for Cohen -- the holocaust. Boucher also explores the influence of other artists on their work, from Woody Guthrie for Dylan to Lorca for Cohen, as well as the influence that Dylan and Cohen had on each other.
   
   Just as Dylan and Cohen make poetry an accessible part of popular culture, with equal skill Boucher makes philosophy of art and interpretation accessible as well. He points out that our experience of lyric poetry is informed by the questions we bring to it and he explains that the richest experience is to be had when the most appropriate questions are asked. Boucher uses the theories of several philosophers such as R. G. Collingwood, Henry Jones, and Michael Oakeshott, to identify which questions are most appropriately asked of particular works at particular moments in the artists' creative development. He also shows the fruitlessness of asking the wrong kind of questions of a particular poem, as is the tendency of many thinkers. He describes various forms of artistic expression: pseudo-art, or art as magic; art as the expression of emotion, or imaginative art; and inspirational art, or poetry which delights in images. He then demonstrates how, at various stages in Dylan's artistic development, his work takes all three forms of expression, whereas Cohen's work primarily takes the form of the last two. He then offers examples from their poetry to illustrate which form(s) of expression is/are being inhabited by a particular work and he supports his demonstrations with quotations about their work from the artists themselves.
   
   Finally, Boucher helps to bring the period to life for his reader by including several pictures of book covers, concert and film posters, magazine covers and various photographs. The overall result of the book is that Boucher successfully positions his readers to have a richer experience and a deeper understanding and appreciation of the lyric poetry of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.



2. This is an excellent study of the music and lyrics of the 2 greatest rock "poets." Boucher explores whether or not their lyrics even qualify as poetry and keeps the subject interesting! He effectively delves into their psyches,as well, without getting hung up on personal, biographical details which have been over analyzed in other places. I found the final chapter "The Religious Experience" to be some of the best writing that I've seen on Dylan and Cohen's spiritual journeys. I highly recommend this to fans of either man's work.



3. The irate and intemperate person signing himself pepidude in a previous review seems incapable of being able to appreciate an argument or of understanding the nature of the exercise that David Boucher has undertaken. It is a thematic book with a wide range of references, not a book of facts about Bob Dylan.The author introduces us to the complexities of issues relating to the difference between popular music lyrics and poetry, between origins and originality, the poetry of imagination and inspiration and much more. Anyone interested in ideas and issues, and in theories as well as facts will find this book immensely stimulating and fascinating.



4. David Boucher has written a book that examines in detail the contribution of both artists to the worlds of both literature and rock & roll. In his intoduction he looks at the progress of Cohen from serious poet to rock & roll recording artist and performer. This transition cost him status in the literary world but aided by the legendary "golden voice" and some consummate musicians it allowed him to reach a hitherto undreamed of audience.

   Dylan, whom he refers to as "The Changing Man" in Chapter Three, was the chameleon-like performer who picked up, and discarded new personas and new musical styles at the drop of his very famous hat. The obvious example here is the infamous "electric tour" where Dylan was heckled and called "Judas". This abuse was, the book shows, not only for his perceived betrayal of the acoustic folk movement, but also a reaction to the contempt with which Dylan treated his audience. Dylan had always been a confrontational performer, and his response to such attacks was to become louder and less acoustic than ever. What David Boucher also shows is that this signified a shift from the community centred ethic of the folk movement to the excessive individualism and nihilism of the Beat poets who through the drug culture wanted, like Rimbaud, to experience the extremes.

   In other chapters the myriad influences on both performers are examined as well as their involvement with political and religious organisations. Finally David Boucher gives us an insight into the road travelled by both men in search of their own personal salvation.

   Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen are complex men and complex performers. To listen to, or to read the works of either man is always challenging. In this book the author has written an analysis that is equally challenging exploring, as it does, the anger and the angst of the 1960s and beyond. I enjoyed every minute of the challenge.




5. David Boucher's masterly work 'Dylan & Cohen' is essential reading, not simply for devotees of these 'Poets of Rock and Roll' but for anyone with an interest in the history of the radical cultural, political and musical changes in the last century.

   It is clear from this eloquent book that neither Dylan nor Cohen wished to speak for anyone but themselves and equally clear that the strength of their work would be seized upon by a generation looking for a new direction. Thankfully they both continued to write through their tribulations and we have a bank of some of the most evocative music to continue to listen to.

   I urge you to buy this book but with a word of warning: you won't want to stop reading once you've started.

No comments about William Lyon Mackenzie King: Dreams and Shadows (The Quest Library).