10 Best 20th Century Canadian History Books

In these newly collected essays, interviews, and speeches, world-renowned activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis illuminates the connections between struggles against state violence and oppression throughout history and around the world. Reflecting on the importance of black feminism, intersectionality, and prison abolitionism for today’s struggles, Davis discusses the legacies of previous liberation struggles, from the Black Freedom Movement to the South African anti-Apartheid movement. She highlights connections and analyzes today’s struggles against state terror, from Ferguson to Palestine. Facing a world of outrageous injustice, Davis challenges us to imagine and build the movement for human liberation. And in doing so, she reminds us that “Freedom is a constant struggle.” Angela Y. Davis is a political activist, scholar, author, and speaker. She is an outspoken advocate for the oppressed and exploited, writing on Black liberation, prison abolition, the intersections of race, gender, and class, and international solidarity with Palestine. She is the author of several books, including Women, Race, and Class and Are Prisons Obsolete? She is the subject of the acclaimed documentary Free Angela and All Political Prisoners and is Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz. One of America’s most provocative public intellectuals, Dr. Cornel West has been a champion for racial justice since childhood. His writing, speaking, and teaching weave together the traditions of the black Baptist Church, progressive politics, and jazz. The New York Times has praised his “ferocious moral vision.” His many books include Race Matters , Democracy Matters , and his autobiography, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud. Frank Barat is a human rights activist and author. He was the coordinator of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine and is now the president of the Palestine Legal Action Network. His books include Gaza in Crisis and Corporate Complicity in Israel’s Occupation.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The riveting, tick-tock account of the largest manmade explosion in history prior to the atomic bomb, and the equally astonishing tales of survival and heroism that emerged from the ashes , from acclaimed New York Times bestselling author John U. Bacon After steaming out of New York City on December 1, 1917, laden with a staggering three thousand tons of TNT and other explosives, the munitions ship Mont-Blanc fought its way up the Atlantic coast, through waters prowled by enemy U-boats. As it approached the lively port city of Halifax, Mont-Blanc ‘s deadly cargo erupted with the force of 2.9 kilotons of TNT–the most powerful explosion ever visited on a human population, save for HIroshima and Nagasaki. Mont-Blanc was vaporized in one fifteenth of a second; a shockwave leveled the surrounding city. Next came a thirty-five-foot tsunami. Most astounding of all, however, were the incredible tales of survival and heroism that soon emerged from the rubble. This is the unforgettable story told in John U. Bacon’s The Great Halifax Explosion : a ticktock account of fateful decisions that led to doom, the human faces of the blast’s 11,000 casualties, and the equally moving individual stories of those who lived and selflessly threw themselves into urgent rescue work that saved thousands. The shocking scale of the disaster stunned the world, dominating global headlines even amid the calamity of the First World War. Hours after the blast, Boston sent trains and ships filled with doctors, medicine, and money. The explosion would revolutionize pediatric medicine; transform U.S.-Canadian relations; and provide physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who studied the Halifax explosion closely when developing the atomic bomb, with history’s only real-world case study demonstrating the lethal power of a weapon of mass destruction. Mesmerizing and inspiring, Bacon’s deeply-researched narrative brings to life the tragedy, bravery, and surprising afterlife of one of the most dramatic events of modern times.

Your source for North American coins! With tens of thousands of individual coin listings, more than 6,500 coin images and updated coin values for the United States, Canada and Mexico, 2019 North American Coins & Prices is the ultimate single-source reference for coin coverage of North America. Organized by country, government, denomination and date of issue, this expanding reference remains a clear, detailed and easy-to-use resource for a vast array of highly collected coins. The U.S. section offers listings for early Colonial coins and tokens of the 17th and 18th centuries through Federal issues from 1791 to date. Mexico listings begin in 1701 and flow chronologically through many government changes while Canada’s listings begin with its earliest unified coinage in 1858 and continue through their many 21st century commemorative issues. Inside you’ll find: • Description and photos for coin issues of the United States, Canada and Mexico • Pricing in the most frequently encountered and significant grades of preservation • Historical market performance graphs for U.S. coins of note • A Grading Guide to U.S. and World Coins For nearly three decades, North American Coins & Prices has provided unique, complete and authoritative information. Experience for yourself why this exceptional reference is the best guide of its kind on the market.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The riveting, tick-tock account of the largest manmade explosion in history prior to the atomic bomb, and the equally astonishing tales of survival and heroism that emerged from the ashes , from acclaimed New York Times bestselling author John U. Bacon After steaming out of New York City on December 1, 1917, laden with a staggering three thousand tons of TNT and other explosives, the munitions ship Mont-Blanc fought its way up the Atlantic coast, through waters prowled by enemy U-boats. As it approached the lively port city of Halifax, Mont-Blanc ‘s deadly cargo erupted with the force of 2.9 kilotons of TNT–the most powerful explosion ever visited on a human population, save for HIroshima and Nagasaki. Mont-Blanc was vaporized in one fifteenth of a second; a shockwave leveled the surrounding city. Next came a thirty-five-foot tsunami. Most astounding of all, however, were the incredible tales of survival and heroism that soon emerged from the rubble. This is the unforgettable story told in John U. Bacon’s The Great Halifax Explosion : a ticktock account of fateful decisions that led to doom, the human faces of the blast’s 11,000 casualties, and the equally moving individual stories of those who lived and selflessly threw themselves into urgent rescue work that saved thousands. The shocking scale of the disaster stunned the world, dominating global headlines even amid the calamity of the First World War. Hours after the blast, Boston sent trains and ships filled with doctors, medicine, and money. The explosion would revolutionize pediatric medicine; transform U.S.-Canadian relations; and provide physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who studied the Halifax explosion closely when developing the atomic bomb, with history’s only real-world case study demonstrating the lethal power of a weapon of mass destruction. Mesmerizing and inspiring, Bacon’s deeply-researched narrative brings to life the tragedy, bravery, and surprising afterlife of one of the most dramatic events of modern times.

” Offers uncommonly penetrating insight.…A rare glimpse into Covert and Black Operations.– New York Times Bestselling author, Governor Jesse Ventura, from his Foreword. The Secret Team , L. Fletcher Prouty’s expose´ of the CIA’s brutal methods of maintaining national security during the Cold War, was first published in the 1970s. However, virtually all copies of the book disappeared upon distribution, having been purchased en masse by shady “private buyers.” Prouty’s topics include: * President Kennedy tried to control the CIA. * The nature of clandestine operations. * The Dulles-Jackson-Correa Report in action * Defense, containment, and anti-communism * Khrushchev’s Challenge: the U-2 dilemma * From the Bay of Pigs to Dallas. * And much more! Prouty’s allegations–such as how the U-2 Crisis of 1960 was fixed to sabotage Eisenhower-Khrushchev talk–cannot have pleased the CIA. The Secret Team appears once more with a new introduction by bestselling author, Governor Jesse Ventura. “Like it or not, we now live in a new age of ‘One World.’ This is the age of global companies, of global communications and transport, of global food supply and finance and . . . just around the corner . . . global accommodation of political systems. In this sense, there are no home markets, no isolated markets and no markets outside the global network. It is time to face the fact that true national sovereignty no longer exists. We live in a world of big business, big lawyers, big bankers, even bigger moneymen and big politicians. It is the world of The Secret Team.”

Hailed as “masterly” ( Wall Street Journal ), “a monumental achievement!” (Douglas Brinkley), “a mesmerizing read” (Bing West), and “an essential part of anyone’s library” (Doug Stanton), The Force tells the riveting, true story of the group of elite US and Canadian soldiers — mountainmen, lumberjacks, hunters, and explorers — who sacrificed everything to accomplish a crucial but nearly impossible WWII mission. In December of 1943, as Nazi forces sprawled around the world and the future of civilization hung in the balance, a group of highly trained U.S. and Canadian soldiers from humble backgrounds was asked to do the impossible: capture a crucial Nazi stronghold perched atop stunningly steep cliffs. The men were a rough-and-ready group, assembled from towns nested in North America’s most unforgiving terrain, where many of them had struggled through the Great Depression relying on canny survival skills and the fearlessness of youth. Brought together by the promise to take part in the military’s most elite missions, they formed a unique brotherhood tested first by the crucible of state-of-the-art training-including skiing, rock climbing, and parachuting- and then tragically by the vicious fighting they would face. The early battle in the Italian theatre for the strategic fort cost the heroic U.S.-Canadian commando unit-their first special forces unit ever assembled- enormous casualties. Yet the victory put them in position to continue their drive into Italy, setting the stage for the Allies’ resurgence toward victory in WWII. The unit, with its vast range of capabilities and mission-specific exercises, became a model for the “Green Berets” and other special forces groups that would go on to accomplish America’s most challenging undertakings behind enemy lines. Knitting first-hand accounts seamlessly into the narrative-drawing on interviews with surviving members and their families; the memoirs, letters, and diaries of Forcemen; and declassified documents in the American, Canadian, British, and German archives — The Force tells a story that is as deeply personal as it is inspiring.

Fans of All the Light We Cannot See , The Nightingale , and Unbroken will enjoy this riveting true story of a boy’s courage in the face of unbeatable odds. EASTERN HUNGARY, 1941 – desperate to escape his father ‘s iron fist, 12-year-old Adam fled. But when his father traced him to the mountain village where he was living under the guise of an orphan, Adam knew he’d have to go further next time. The military recruitment station in Vienna seemed like the perfect solution, and the age of their recruits no longer mattered to the Germans. As autumn turned to winter and Adam lay terrified and starving in a frozen foxhole on the Eastern Front , he knew he’d made a horrible and deadly mistake. In front of him, enemy fire rained down from the approaching Russians. Behind him, his German commander’s orders were clear – hold steady. Then, a Russian bullet found its mark, catapulting Adam into a series of terrifying captures and narrow escapes from enemy forces , as Europe reeled from the final destruction of WW2. Never standing still, Adam struggled through war-torn landscapes to find his family , and began to build a life from the ashes, until the results of a medical examination at an American Embassy in Germany changed the course of his future forever. Praise for The Upside of Hunger: ” Rarely do we see a book of this era written from the perspective of a German from Hungary. What an educational opportunity for all of us–even those of us familiar with the time period–to learn how much we just don’t know!” ” Sometimes truth is better than fiction , and the story of Adam’s life is truly so.” ” Beautiful, shocking, at times painful … the magnificently told story of a boy who triumphed over the limitations of history to become his greatest self. ” ” A story that needed to be told. If you ever wondered what life is like in war torn countries and what happens to people affected by war this book is a must read.”

NATIONAL BESTSELLER A thrilling new telling of the story of modern Canada’s origins. The story of the Hudson’s Bay Company, dramatic and adventurous and complex, is the story of modern Canada’s creation. And yet it hasn’t been told in a book for over thirty years, and never in such depth and vivid detail as in Stephen R. Bown’s exciting new telling. The Company started out small in 1670, trading practical manufactured goods for furs with the Indigenous inhabitants of inland subarctic Canada. Controlled by a handful of English aristocrats, it expanded into a powerful political force that ruled the lives of many thousands of people–from the lowlands south and west of Hudson Bay, to the tundra, the great plains, the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific northwest. It transformed the culture and economy of many Indigenous groups and ended up as the most important political and economic force in northern and western North America. When the Company was faced with competition from French traders in the 1780s, the result was a bloody corporate battle, the coming of Governor George Simpson–one of the greatest villains in Canadian history–and the Company assuming political control and ruthless dominance. By the time its monopoly was rescinded after two hundred years, the Hudson’s Bay Company had reworked the entire northern North American world. Stephen R. Bown has a scholar’s profound knowledge and understanding of the Company’s history, but wears his learning lightly in a narrative as compelling, and rich in well-drawn characters, as a page-turning novel.