5 comments about The Art of Robert Bateman.

1. My knowledge of English just isn't good enough to do justice to this artist and this book. Robert Bateman translated into paintings all the enchantment I have felt for nature since I was a child. Wish I was much younger to try to follow his footsteps!! Marvellous book!



2. This book, together with "The World of Robert Bateman" is one of the best wildlife art books ever published, and truly shows Bateman at his best. The later collections (especially the very last ones) don't even come close to the beauty of the paintings in these two books. In most paintings the animal is just one character, sometimes not even the main one, while the landscape and the surroundings (depicted in marvelous and maddening detail) almost always plays a central role. Here Bateman shows to be a master of the techniques he uses, and creates pictures of stunning beauty who truly come to life. Both books are highly highly recommended if you life "realistic" wildlife art.



3. THE ART OF ROBERT BATEMAN appears in its 25th anniversary edition to include text by Ramsay Derry and an introduction by noted ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson himself as it provides a stunning blend of full-page color wildlife images and accompanying artist profile. This was the artist's first book and cemented his career: its re-appearance is perfect for collections who either don't have the original or find their lending copies worn.



4. I have 3 Bateman books all are special ,a book for everyone to enjoy



5. To see a Robert Bateman work is to glimpse a moment in Nature's time when an elk treks across a vast winter landscape of snow, conifers & mountains; or a stream bank where tender green plants glow against the moist earth & a minute bird perches; or a trumpeting bull elephant confronts you in a storm of dust. Roger Tory Peterson has written an expressive introduction & Ramsay Derry's profile of the artist makes good reading - especially as he's included a history of who Robert Bateman is; where he's lived; several works-in-progress sketches; photos of the artist in action & on location. A worthy addition to your library.

1 comments about Beijing Confidential: A Tale of Comrades Lost and Found.

1. Jan Wong returns with a second sequel of sorts to "Red China Blues" with "Beijing Confidential". This book, along with "Jan Wong's China, Notes from a Not-So Foreign Correspondent",(1999) returns to Ms. Wong's stomping grounds of Beijing. Beijing Confidential is the more personal of the two, as on this trip she goes to expiate the sin of ratting out one of her fellow Beijing University students who approached her about getting to America, at the tail end of the Cultural Revolution. She takes on the near impossible task of finding this woman, apologizing to her and finding out what her life has been like. Written in Ms. Wong's concise, funny and informative style, Beijing Confidential repeats some of the content of Jan Wong's China, but its personal reportage redeems it. Neither book is available here in the US, but if you like Ms. Wong's work (and I do) both are available at Amazon Canada, and are worth purchasing!

No comments about ONE WHO ALMOST MADE IT BACK: The Remarkable Story of One of World War Two's Unsung Heroes, Sqn Ldr Edward 'Teddy' Blenkinsop, DFC, CDEG (Belge), RCAF.

3 comments about Bay of Spirits: A Love Story.

1. Farley Mowat writes a moving story about how he met his wife Claire by accident while trying to escape a vicious dog, and, in doing so, also "kills two birds with one stone" by portraying the colorful, insular people of Newfoundland in the 1950's as well as the inhabitants of the almost unheard of French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic off the coast of St. John, NF. I would highly recommend this book to those who enjoy learning about new places and people, and at the same time would want to curl up with a well-written love story.



2. This is the tale of two love stories -- one covered extensively, one almost glossed over by books' end.
   
   Farley Mowat came to Newfoundland in the early 1960s and fell in love, both with the land and its people, and with a young artist named Claire Wheeler. It's the former that Mowat dwells upon most in this book, and as a reader I left frustrated because we learn so comparatively little about Claire and about their life together. It takes 1/3 of the book for Mowat to reveal that he was married when he met Claire, and that he the tug of his family -- including two sons -- delayed his eventual divorce. His former family is dismissed in a paragraph.
   
   Having faced the music, Mowat settles down with Claire aboard his famously unseaworthy boat, "Happy Adventure", the star the classic "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float." Readers of "The Boat" will be startled by anecdotes, names and dates changing from one book to another. It gives creedence to the charge leveled against Mowat that he never lets the facts get in the way of a good story.
   
   Ultimately this lovely book covers a period of but seven years, and ends just after Mowat's futile attempt to stop the people of his adopted home of Burgeo from killing a whale that has become trapped in a tidal pond. The whale died, the locals were savaged by the press, and the Mowats decided it was time to leave Burgeo and venture in Happy Adventure to Expo 67 (a voyage that nearly ended many times, if "The Boat" is to be believed.)
   
   This is a wonderful book but I wanted more -- what happened to Happy Adventure? What happened to Mowat's sons? Where did they settle after the Expo trip? Much has happened between 1967 and now! -- I hope to hear more about the Mowat's voyages though these most interesting times.



3. Farley Mowat's notion of an idyllic day's sail more often than not involves heavy seas in shallow, rocky waters, accompanied by gale force winds, pelting rain and/or pea-soup fog, in a leaky boat with engine issues.
   
   Therefore armchair adventurers will enjoy this memoir of Mowat's 1960s love affair with "a special woman and a special world" as much as romantic sorts looking for travel among the bygone fishing villages of Newfoundland.
   
   Readers familiar with Mowat, however, will know there must be bitter with the sweet. The Newfie fishing communities, fiercely independent and attached to their way of life like limpets to a rock, were in serious decline by the 1960s. The teeming schools of fish had disappeared under the relentless onslaught of the big fishing operations and the government wanted to resettle the fishermen in factory towns, bringing Newfoundland (which had only joined Canada in 1949) squarely into the 20th century.
   
   The book opens with Mowat's harrowing and exhilarating trip aboard a 200-foot coastal steamer, one of six (now gone), which took freight and passengers to the outposts of Newfoundland, their main contact with the world.
   
   "Newfoundland is of the sea. A mighty granite stopper thrust into the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, its coasts present more than five thousand miles of rocky headlands, bays, capes, and fiords to the sweep of the Atlantic. Everywhere hidden reefs, which are called, with dreadful explicitness, sunkers, wait to rip open the bellies of unwary vessels."
   
   Though Mowat saw little of the coast, due to foul weather and impenetrable fog, he was hooked. He bought a fish-slimed schooner, renamed it Happy Adventure and arranged to have it refitted for cruising.
   
   But, flying in to reclaim his refurbished boat, he makes a dismaying discovery. "My wishes had conflicted with centuries of tradition, which dictated that space allotted to people aboard a boat must be kept to the irreducible minimum so as to leave as much room as possible for fish."
   
   Then, on its maiden voyage the boat sprung a leak, a serious leak. The bilge pump jammed, the fog rolled in, water engulfed the engine and they (Mowat and his friend and longtime publisher, Jack McClelland) luckily ran aground. Next trip out they realized they should have had the compass adjusted while fixing the leak.
   
   It was while working on Happy Adventure that Mowat met Claire Wheeler, a Toronto artist. It was love at first sight, but after several mostly idyllic (including the requisite sprinkle of sudden storms, engine troubles and fog) the pair go their separate ways. Mowat was already married, with two small children, a fact he had previously failed to mention to the reader and which naturally casts a bit of a pall.
   
   Though Mowat makes no excuses, his friends and family - and hers too - seem remarkably enthusiastic about the romance. Either his first marriage was something awful, which does not seem the case, or his memory has reshaped itself. Eventually Mowat tells his wife and goes off with Claire.
   
   They take up residence in Burgeo, Newfoundland, and continue spending summers sailing the coast and meeting its people. While a few communities are insular and suspicious, most are immediately hospitable, inviting the couple into their homes for meals, drink, stories and, when called for, a bed.
   
   Arriving in Francois (Fransway) during a Force 7 gale, he and Claire are taken in by a friend who fed them rabbit soup and roast caribou. Mowat then "learned that it would be necessary for Les to take us to visit every single one of the family connections to show he and Carol weren't trying to hoard us. Visitors had to be shared, just like everything else in an outpost."
   
   The anecdotes and tall tales Mowat collects form an endlessly fascinating portrait of people's work lives, bravery, quirks, superstitions, and customs. These are seamlessly complemented by historical research and interviews, documenting the long and inexorable decline of a proud, hardscrabble way of life. There is regret and sadness, but no self-pity among the Newfies.
   
   Mowat has written more than 40 books, mostly about the people, places, creatures and history of a rapidly disappearing natural world. While this book meanders more than some, his customary passion, humor and eloquence draw the reader into his world.
   
   But it's a world in which he remains an outsider. He is reminded of this from time to time, but the senseless killing of a lone whale (documented in "A Whale for the Killing") stranded in a nearby lake, ends the book and the Mowats' happy sojourn in Burgeo. Though many disapproved of the louts who slaughtered the whale for sport, more disapproved of Mowats' actions in bringing the press down upon them.
   
   A postscript lists other Mowat Newfoundland books, including "This Rock Within the Sea" "Sea of Slaughter," and "The Farfarers." "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float" describes his restoration of the Happy Adventure.

1 comments about The Rancher Takes a Wife.

1. I own originals of Hobson's three books and re-read them every few years. His ability to vividly portray the life that he and The Top Hand and later Mrs. Hobson had in the interior of British Columbia is to have been there. It is hard in today's comfortable way of life to envision the situations and dangers that were simply a part of how it was back then. Having grown up in the mountains of the U.S. West, I can only marvel at the abilities of these adventuresome pioneers in the cattle country of B.C. To have met Rich Hobson was of great interest to me... I simply waited too long and he had passed away. The travels and travails through Hobson's life would make an awsome story for a movie. Note: Make sure you read the three books in sequence... and enjoy!

1 comments about High Latitudes: An Arctic Journey.

1. A sad book. High Latitudes focuses on the disintegrating culture of North Canadian Natives. Much of the book is transcription of the natives in their own words and gives excellent insight into their plight. An overriding theme of the book is the devastating effect bureaucratic decisions of government and big business has had on these Inuits (Eskimos) and others.

   This wasn't the adventure story I was expecting from Farley Mowat like "People of the Deer" in which he lived with an arctic community. This trip, taken in 1966, he travels by plane. Still none the less an adventure, he keenly describes a variety of northern communities including: Churchill ("a ...collection of mostly wooden structures between taiga and open tundra"), Povungnituk (the place that stinks), Old Crow (where "people catch lots of rats, won't let you go hungry there"), and many others. In typical fashion, Farley Mowat creates a gripping pathos about past cultures and events never to return, and often includes rich historical background for places he explores.

   If you're a Farley Mowat fan, I would rate this as important but not as engaging as some of his other books (I've read four others: "People of the Deer", "And No Birds Sang", "Never Cry Wolf", and "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float"). The book ends somewhat abruptly but he saves a great anecdote from the Yukon Territory for the end. A frustrating aspect about the events you read about in this book is that they took place in the sixties. I'd like to know how these settlements he visited have done since then. I'll probably never know.

5 comments about The Black Devil Brigade: The True Story of the First Special Service Force in World War II.

1. My grandfather served with the Devils Brigade, and since knowing that I wanted to learn more about this extraordinary elite unit of WWII. What I found was perhaps one of the best oral recount's of one of the finest units to ever exist. Having grown up in East Helena (3 miles east of Helena, Montana) and working at one point out at Ft. William Henry Harrison, this book gave me a new found respect for my grandfather and the great men who served in the First Special Service Force. Having finished the book I passed it on to my grandfather and he couldn't let it go. Driving by Memorial Park in Helena and watching the American and Canadian Flags both flying next to the First Special Service Force memorial, day and night, 365 days a year, I can't help but utter a simple, "thank you" everytime I go past it to those that are still living and those that perished for the freedom they helped provide for both countries.
   
   I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a greater depth of knowledge of this elite unit, or for the military buffs who wish to learn about or learn more of this outstanding unit!



2. My grandpa happened to pass away about 6 years ago, and he happened to be a part of the Black Devil Brigade. His accounts are in this book, his name is Fred Hubbard, and throughout the book he moves from a 2nd LT to a Captain. The funny thing is, I married a man who just commissioned into the army as a 2nd LT. and will soon be deploying. It is amazing to hear the story of what my grandfather when through captured in a book. The things these men endured for our freedom will always amaze me. I will always wish that I spent more time picking my grandpas brain while he was alive, but I am thankful to have this book to remember these things. This book really captures the essence of what these men went through, and what began what is the special forces today.



3. Mr. Springer may have been initially motivated by the desire to honor his uncle (killed serving with the First Special Service Force) but his work honors all who served in that unit. One seldom sees an oral history which tells the story of a unit so well. All the contributions by unit members tell the story without the distractions often found in other compilations. Always engaging, you just don't want to put the book down. Not only does one learn about the unit and individuals who made up that unit but one also learns about the equipment used, how it was acquired, and the soldiers' opinions of its performance. An amazing amount of information presented in a way that also entertains and honors the men who served.



4. Hats off to Joe Springer....! He did the men of 5-2 and the FSSF an honor. My father was a Lieutenant in 5-2 FSSF and one of the main characters of the book, and Joe's Uncle was one of my father's NCO's who was KIA on Anzio. The personal accounts in the book may sound far fetched and exaggerated. However, this is far from the truth. The exploits of the men of the FSSF are a matter of record. Every man who served in the FSSF is a very unique individual. I got to know many of these gentlemen over the years by attending the annual FSSF reunions. And yes, what an honor and a privilege to just meet and speak with them about WWII and life in general. Every man in the FSSF willingly, and knowingly volunteered to join a unit where the odds of being accepted in the unit is less than 20%, and your chances for survival were even less. Thank You Joe for getting my father to open up regarding his experiences during WWII for your book. It also meant so much to him to honor the men in his command who were taken, that were not only soldiers/warriors, but true friends forever.



5. TAKE ABOUT FIFTY AMERICAN AND CANADIAN WORLD WAR TWO COMBAT VETERANS THAT WILLINGLY VOLUNTEER FOR A WINTER SUICIDE MISSION BEHIND GERMAN LINES. THEY ALL HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF EXPLOSIVES, THEY ARE SKIERS, PARATROOPERS, AND ARE EXPERT SHOOTERS. THEY BECOME THE BEST TRAINED AND HIGHLY MOTIVATED AND FIERCEST SOLDIERS THAT THERE GENERATION AND NATIONS PRODUCED. SEND THEM TO CENTRAL ITALY, ANZIOBEACH, AND SOUTHERN FRANCE WHERE THEY SLAUGHTER FIFTEEN TO TWENTY THOUSAND GERMANS. MORE THAN SIXTY YEARS PASS BY AND THEN THESE SAME FIFTY COMMANDOS INVITE YOU INTO THERE HOMES AND TELL YOU ABOUT THE FUNNY, SAD, AND ASTOUNDING THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO THEM IN COMBAT. THAT IS WHAT THIS BOOK IS ALL ABOUT.

5 comments about Fallen Angel: The Unlikely Rise of Walter Stadnick and the Canadian Hells Angels.

1. good book with great, little known info about the Angels and there members



2. I knew Nurget and had the pleasure of riding with him in the mid 70's when I lived in Hamilton. He was a fun, smart and happy guy. I was surprised that he made such a name for himself. Langton seems to jump around throughout the whole book, leaving the reader confused at times. Perhaps he could have got some help writing the book from a real writer. It is obvious he sides with the police authorities, giving a very one sided view of the biker lifestyle. He has made several errors pertaining to the biker culture and some of the events that took place.



3. Not only is the author a bad writer.....jumping from timeline to time line...not able to tell a story in order.....he tries to pose the Hell's Angels as the bad guys. Anyone with a solid head on their shoulders will see thru his rhetoric and realize HA is a stand up orginization that takes care of business like any normal person would. The crimes they were accused of, weren't crimes at all......they were simply the exercising of human rights against agressors that would try to deny said so rights......in fact in the entire book, i found no fault with the Angel's actions, and applaud them for their efforts.



4. The author have gone though a great deal to find the facts in hundreds of events during many years. He covers hundreds of people. Hundreds of crimes and killings. He could have picked a few events, clubs or people and written their full story. Instead the book hops between people and clubs, between centuries and continents like a school book. Theres no story, but namedropping enough to confuse anyone. Stadnik is one of hundreds of figures skidding though events, none of them with depth. People are shot and stabbed, but you find it difficult to care, since none is in the book for more than a page, and you dont get to know them. It feels disorganised. If it was in cronical order, or at least with chapter names reveiling what every chapter will cover it would be easier. Perhaps its interesting and understandable for the surviving few who were there. If your looking for facts its fine, but its too packed with facts for me. I need a story.



5. This book provides a lot of information on Walter Stadnick and the Canadian Hells Angels along with information on lesser clubs in Canada. The author, Jerry Langton, however, has made numerous disturbing errors in reporting on certain aspects of the Hells Angels and other clubs. Langton reports on page 26 that prospective members (prospects) are awarded the top rocker (Hells Angels) along with the center patch. Langton then states that the prospects recive the bottom rocker which identifies the chapter's geographical location upon earning full membership. THE OPPISITE IS TRUE for the Hells Angels and ALL OTHER CLUBS! It is hard to believe that Lanfton could make such an obvious error in his writing.
   
   Langton goes on to say that newly minted members are forced to endure a ritualistic ceremony wherein [...] ect.... are spewed on the colors (patched vest) and that the new member is forbidden to wash it. This is absoulutely untrue. No Hells Angel would desecrate the patch and show such disrespect. The fact that Langton would believe and further this myth is a statement to his lack of knowledge.
   
   Also, on page 224, langton refers to the Outlaws patch having a Deaths Head center refered to as "Charlie." This is true of the Hells Angels. The Outlaws center patch is a pair of crossed pistons. I would suggest that the next time langton writes a book, he should have someone with knowledge of the subject matter proof-read his work.

3 comments about Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy.

1. This enjoyable and well-written cowboy memoir takes readers to the hinterlands of central British Columbia during the war years of 1939-1942. The author and his partner Panhandle Phillips take over the two-million-acre Frontier Cattle Company, located in grassland valleys among the mountain ranges, several days' ride from the nearest town and over 200 miles from the nearest rail line. It is a land where winters are severe, and the first challenge facing them is a December cattle drive that ends in near-disaster as the men are overtaken by a fierce blizzard and sub-zero temperatures.
   
   The son of an admiral in the U.S. Navy, Hobson is an educated Easterner living a life of pioneering adventure on one of the last western frontiers on the continent. His story is peopled with a large cast of memorable characters, including cowhands, ranchers, storekeepers, and Indians. His gifts as a writer are many, as he intensifies the suspense and drama of several high-risk enterprises and fully relishes the humor in others. The attempt to transport a herd of wild horses by night from an offshore island to the Vancouver stockyards is told with a masterful grasp of knee-slapping farce. There's even a little romance, as our cowboy hero goes in breathless search of the girl of his dreams, armed only with a snapshot of her standing beside a prize Jersey bull. Readers will also enjoy Paul St. Pierre's short stories and novels set a decade later in the same remote ranch country.



2. I've read all three of Hobson's excellent books about his adventures in the Canadian wilderness. My son, who is a real cowboy in Montana, told me about the books, saying, "These books tell the real story, mom--this is what it's like out here, particularly during the long, lonely, winter days and nights." Hobson's writing style, simple yet eloquent imagery, is perfect. I actually got chills when reading about grizzly attacks and those 70-degree below nights when both man and beast had to work to stay alive. Great stories, great writing!



3. AS exciting as the other two books.Humerous,yet portrays the adventure and hardship of that era.

4 comments about And No Birds Sang: The Farley Mowat Library.

1. Outstanding and emotionally wrenching memoir of the Sicilian and early part of the Italian campaigns. The book start off with hijinks and comedy, but progressively descends into despair and terror. Highly recommended.



2. Farley Mowat impressed me with his writing years ago. Even more impressive is the fact he is still prolific and as sharp as ever. I thought I'd re-visit this book before starting one of his new ones. I enjoyed it as much as the first read, for so often I find things I missed. He has a journalistic style when he writes that isn't dried-out like some of the non-fiction I read. Farley has the talent to write about real events while retaining the entertainment flavor fiction readers love. I believe this is why so many readers who like a variety of genres say they turn to Mowat when they need to appease their appetites for great nonfiction story-telling. I highly recommend Farley Mowat's books.
   Chrissy K. McVay - author



3. Mowat developed into a fine writer, and you can see that he was destined to record his generation's fight with the Germans. He's that classic "writer guy" immortalized in so many books and movies.
   
   Unlike most of those, he is utterly real, and thus, believable. The result is that the non-battle portions of the book are just as gripping as the battle scenes, and there are plenty of fine examples of both.
   
   When his unit is sent to scale the cliffs behind the Germans, it is fabulous reading. I had never heard of the assault on Assoro, so following Mowat as he leads the men climbing up the cliff, I had no idea how it would come out.
   
   It's better than fiction - as it should be. I'm now going on to read more Mowat!



4. This is a much overlooked classic now days. Mr. Mowat has given us a vivid first hand account of his expierences during WWII and this book ranks at the top of such works. Not only do we get a first hand view of the actual fighting (found in many/most accounts), but we also see the other side of the war. The horrible loneliness and boredom. Mr. Mowat is an acute observer of human nature, something he uses with a cutting edge in this book. For this amature historian of this period, and those just passingly interested, this is a good read and I highly recommend it.