Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Canada - Pre-Confederation (to 1867)    4. Historical - General    5. History - General History    6. Ships & Shipbuilding - History   

Reviews (3)

A first-person journey which is stimulating, fun, and never too predictable
Thomas Swick's A Way To See The World: From Texas To Transylvania With A Maverick Traveler isn't your usual travelogue of wild and woolly adventures; for Swick chooses no ordinary path for his journeys. His accounts are unconventional at the least; from attending a hobo convention in Iowa to his search for James Thurber's spirit in Columbus, OH and his entry to the forbidden Cuba on a cultural exchange program. Colorful observations of counter-culture and local color provide a first-person journey which is stimulating, fun, and never too predictable. A fine armchair adventure awaits.
Beyond travel
Tom Swick has written not just an exceptional travel book, but an exceptional book.Period.Horizon broadening, mind opening, amusing, pure pleasure.

The world's mine oyster, which I with pen will open.
Delightful!Thomas Swick's writing is elegant, his observations about the places I've been to are perfect, and his descriptions of places I haven't seen make me feel like I've just been there.Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Canada - Atlantic Provinces    3. Personal Memoirs    4. Swick, Thomas    5. Travel    6. Travelers    7. Travelers' writings, American    8. Voyages and travels    9. Travel / Canada / Atlantic Provinces (NB, NF, NS, PE)   

Editorial Review

On April 23, 1913, 24-year-old William McKinlay, a teacher of mathematics and science in Scotland, was finishing dinner when a telegram arrived. Legendary Canadian explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, it explained, was planning a four-year Arctic expedition between the northernmost shores of Canada and the North Pole. It was to be "a vast scientific project," McKinlay recalls, "involving studying Eskimos, geological surveys, sounding of uncharted Arctic waters, and a look-out for new islands to be discovered for Britain." McKinlay would be the team's magnetician and meteorologist--if he joined. He never thought twice--never mind that the crew was a motley assemblage of scientists and sailors, many of whom had never seen a polar bear outside a zoo. There was no survival training for the uninitiated. This was the heyday of the Arctic expedition--and "scientists were in great demand to bring back information about ... the poles." Read more

Reviews (10)

Vilhjalmur Stefansson's Secret Disaster
The author was a member of Vilhjalmur Stefansson's Arctic Expedition of 1913, and was on board the main expedition ship Karluk when it was frozen into the ice north of Alaska before the expedition was truly begun. The Karluk (abandoned by Stefansson early on) drifted west almost to Wrangell Island before the ship was crushed.
What is a Crowbill ?
Geat time reading ! A classic of first-hand adventure narrative.
A totally gripping true-life adventure, written in 1976 by an 88-year old Glasgow schoolmaster who, prior to serving as an officer in WW1, was one of the survivors ofa horrifically mismanaged Arctic expedition. The "Karluk" was one of three vessels involved in an exploration of the Canadian Arctic in 1913, master-minded by one Vilhajalmur Stefansson, a monomaniac fixated on the idea of the Arctic as a friendly environment in which abundant food could be soured. In the event however none of the expedition members received any relevant training in survival skills before setting out. The ships' crews did not expect to winter in the Arctic while the scientific staff, of whom McKinlay was one, were almost all young men straight from University, with no previous Arctic experience. Steffanson's callousness in deserting the Karluk once it was ice-bound, and starting an independent five-year exploration journey without making any attempt to arrange rescue of its crew, almost beggars comprehension. McKinlay's story of misery, squalor, sickness, death, cowardice and heroism over the following year is at times depressing reading, but is always gripping. Of the Karluk's complement of twenty five, eleven died following the break-up of the ship in the ice north of Siberia, in the attempts to reach land and during the subsequent struggle to stay alive under conditions of extreme privation. That any survived is due to the heroism of the Karluk's captain, Robert Bartlett, who with one Eskimo companion managed to reach the Siberian mainland to seek help while the other survivors attempted to eke out an existence on the bleak Wrangel Island. The author's account is understated as regard his own role but it was obviously critical in maintaining morale and cohesion in an ill-assorted group with no real basis for camaraderie and discipline. It is the lack of these two factors that McKinlay found the great difference with his later, albeit terrible, experiences in Flanders, making the Wrangel Island episode incomparably worse. The writing is simple, spare and elegant and sweeps the reader along. It is the narrative of a decent, courageous man and it deserves to live on as a classic or adventure and exploration. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (1913-1918)    2. Arctic regions    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Canadian Arctic Expedition    5. Discovery And Exploration (General)    6. Discovery and exploration    7. Earth Sciences - Geography    8. Expeditions & Discoveries    9. Karluk (Ship)    10. Polar Regions    11. Special Interest - Adventure    12. Travel    13. Maritime history   

Reviews (2)

great book
Thisbook issurprising gem of exploration and biography. Johnson makes excellent use of a vast colection of maps, something sorely lacking in many similar books. His grasp of history and the ocean make this a particularly good and informative read.

An excellent biography of Henry Hudson
Not much is known about Henry Hudson, and records are few, but Johnson manages to piece together all of the main elements into one easily-readable book. Johnson also brings his own experience as a sailor to the book, giving it a new facet for readers. Based mostly on Hudson's own journals, this is a concise picture of Hudson's known voyages, with a lot of interesting and informative asides. I recommend this book ... Read more

Subjects:  1. America    2. Biography    3. Explorers    4. Great Britain    5. History: World    6. Hudson, Henry,    7. d. 1611    8. American history    9. Canada    10. Geographical discovery & exploration    11. Hudson, Henry    12. Maritime history   

Reviews (3)

Eye Opener!
I feel so foolish after reading this book.I thought that all it would take to end the barbaric and cruel seal "hunts" is join along with millions of others who are against it, let it be known in a letter or an email and wait to see what happens.I guess I could never fathom a good people, a good government that would allow animal cruelty and to allow it as a proud tradition, a heritage, a right.Yet the world has not seen even a inkling of what really happens come March every year.Cameras aren't allowed.Videos aren't allowed to record the cruelty.If by chance cruelty is recorded, it is a fake, a lie, made up.
Everyone who cares about earth should read this book
Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society are true heroes, and this book will inspire you to help end the barbaric Canadian seal hunt once and for all. This book is a great story - and very hard to put down.

A Great Man, A Great Story
I am 3/4 done with this book but couldn't wait to post a review on Amazon.This is a great story about a great man who has courage, vision, compassion, a sense of justice and humor, to boot!It is hard for me to put this book down.Sometimes I can't wait to see what will happen next and other times, I am cracking up from their antics! (ie. pie filling in their cannons...hysterical!)They are so funny while on such a serious mission....the best way to be, I guess. There is everything in it....politics, travel, adventure, culture, sabotage, suspense, and silliness.The story is interesting on many levels.I learned alot about the history of sealing, the beauty and danger of the ice floes, Newfoundland, the tensions between the English and French of eastern Canada, the corruption of the Canadian government and what it is like to be the only ship among 80 sealing ships out there in the bitter cold trying to stop the slaughter of these innocent beings.
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Subjects:  1. Animal Rights    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Canada    5. Conservationists    6. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    7. General    8. Harp seal    9. Mammals    10. Nature    11. Nature/Ecology    12. North Atlantic Ocean    13. Personal Memoirs    14. Sealing    15. Nature / Animal Rights   

Reviews (4)

Anne Revisted
When the thousands of Lucy Maud Montgomery fans make their pilgrimage to Prince Edward Island every year they expect to find everything in its place.Nancy Rootland, a writer from sunny California, has some insights to share about this in her illustrated book entitled Anne's World, Maud's World: The Sacred Sites of L.M. Montgomery (Nimbus).Her text slides easily from Montgomery's childhood, memorable moments and quotes from Anne of Green Gables to Rootland's own feelings as she enters these 'sacred sites' and experiences the places she has only ever read about but of which she feels so much a part.Add to this a collection of high quality photographs and you have a book that is a delight to the eye and a joy to read.Rootland delights in placing herself in scenes from both Maud and Anne's lives.Looking at herself in the china cabinet she sees the reflection of Katie Maurice.She visits the beach and watches Nate, Maud, and Amanda talking about their teenage hopes and dreams as the sun sets.She stands on the platform of Kensington Station with Maud and her grandfather waiting for the train that will take them to Prince Albert.Rootland surmises that in 1880 they did not know the future anymore than she does for herself a century later, except that she knows she will return to the sacred sites someday.Rootland experiences deja vu.Everything is where it should be, right down to Marilla's amethyst brooch on her night stand, "where it belongs", where she, and thousands like her, expect it to be, every day, every year, now and forever.

Homage to home,a tribute to the 'sacred sites' of Lucy Maud
"The Sacred Sites of L.M. Montgomery" seems a pretty silly subtitle for a book unless you're a total fan of Lucy Maud.I am not one.However, to my surprise, I found this small book, titled Anne's World, Maud's World, to be readable, enjoyable - even at times - thought-provoking. How Nancy Rootland came to write it is a remarkable story in itself."In January of 1981," she relates, "I was browing in a bookstore in Southern California when the title Anne of Green Gables caught my eye...I slid the book off the shelf and started leafing through the pages - and that was it.I could barely put it down long enough to get over to the sales desk, and while I was driving home my eyes kept wandering over to the package on the seat next to me."She finished the story in one sitting, amazed at how Anne's experiences paralleled her own.She found she shared the author's and Anne's perception of nature.That summer she read all 20 of L.M. Montgomery's novels.For 11 years, Nancy Rootland learned more about her favourite author while waiting for the time when she'd be free to make the long journey to Prince Edward Island.This book is the record of what she found there and how she reacted to the "sacred sites."She was not disappointed .A fine writer herself, Rootland knows how to convey atmosphere, feelings, the sense of past and present meeting - all that's so difficult to articulate without sounding silly.She doesn't sound silly.Here's an example."Such is the beauty and spiritual grandeur of this enchanted isle and the remarkable sons and daughters of its history, that access to the sacred, which thrives in sites both natural and constructed, is always possible.So convinced am I of this power of place that I invite you, reading these words, to come here and find out for yourself.All you need to take with you on your journey is an open heart and a bit of imagination."No need to spell out how Anne's World, Maud's World, conveys the spirit of home.Rather I'll mention what a beautiful little (110 page) book this is.Fine, coloured photographs of the " sacred sites" alternate with Rootland's commentary, which, in turn, is studded with quotations from Montgomery.First we see Anne's World, then Maud's.Two simplified maps at the end show the relevant places of PEI and in the Cavendish area.For an Anne-lover or Montgomery-lover, this book would make a perfect present.But anyone who's wondered about the mystery of how a character can some alive enough to fill an area with his or her presence will also appreciate Anne's World, Maud's World.

Author brings us closer to 'Anne'
Nancy Rootland's book explores environment of Montgomery and Anne.Through the writing of LM Montgomery, the world has an opportunity to look in on a beautiful rural community. A sense of home and of belonging are strong themes in the Anne books and Nancy Rootland uses this message to show us some of the places that were so dear to the author of Anne of Green Gables and places that have become sacred to readers.In Anne's World, Maud's World: The Sacred Sites of L.M Montgomery, Nancy Rootland has transported us to that place where Anne and her people live.Rootland expects to see Anne and Marilla or Matthew emerge from the fields or orchard at any time, and so do we.The photographs of the places that are so pivotal to the world of Anne and of Maud herself, will captivate the reader and invigorate the imagination of those who have read and re-read the books.The author invites the reader to experience this incredible place and uses her prose to evoke the writing style of Maud Montgomery, the pictures lead us on a journery of discovery for Anne and for our own sense of peace and tranquility.Rootland's background in teaching and as a teacher of child psychology provides some of the insights for her portrayal of the emotional story of the orphaned Anne and the lonely Maud.There is real feeling and caring for the child that Anne charaterizes and that Maud really was.Beautiful photos, and evocative text permit the reader to join Anne and Maud on the journey home. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (Lucy Maud),    2. 1874-1942    3. 20th century    4. Authors, Canadian    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. General    9. Guidebooks    10. Homes and haunts    11. Literary landmarks    12. Literature - Classics / Criticism    13. Montgomery, L. M    14. Montgomery, L. M.    15. Prince Edward Island    16. Women    17. American English    18. Modern fiction    19. Novels, other prose & writers: from c 1900 -    20. Shirley, Anne (Fictitious character)   

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Emigration and immigration    3. History: American    4. Maritime Provinces    5. Oral History    6. Social History    7. Canada    8. Shipping industries   

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Biography    3. Canada - General    4. General    5. Historic buildings    6. History    7. History: World    8. Monuments historiques    9. Nouvelle-âEcosse    10. Nova Scotia    11. Pioneers   

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Canada - General    5. Canada - History -Early 20th Century    6. Description and travel    7. Grenfell Labrador Medical Miss    8. Historical - General    9. Labrador (N.L.)    10. Merrick, Kate Austen,    11. Newfoundland and Labrador    12. Nurses    13. Women    14. d. 1989    15. Biography & Autobiography    16. Merrick, Kate Austen    17. Northeastern & North Atlantic states    18. Nursing & Ancillary Services    19. Social history   

Subjects:  1. Atlantic Ocean    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Campaigns    5. History - Military / War    6. Military    7. Military - Canada    8. Military - World War II    9. Naval operations, Canadian    10. World War, 1939-1945   

Subjects:  1. 1771-1820    2. 19th century    3. Belfast    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Canada    6. Canada - General    7. Earl of,    8. General    9. History    10. History: World    11. Pioneers    12. Prince Edward Island    13. Red River Settlement    14. Scots    15. Selkirk, Thomas Douglas,    16. American history    17. Immigration & emigration    18. Scotland   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography    3. British Columbia    4. Canada - General    5. Canada - History - 20th Century (General)    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Sawmills    10. Telegraph Cove    11. Telegraph Cove (B.C.)    12. Local history    13. Maritime history   

Subjects:  1. Canada - General    2. History    3. History - General History    4. Military - Other    5. Biography: Adventure    6. Biography: Canadian    7. Biography: Crime    8. History / Canada    9. History: Maritime   

Subjects:  1. 1913-    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Canada - History    4. History    5. Maritime Provinces    6. Quebec (Province)    7. Wade, Mason,    8. Wade, Mason   

Subjects:  1. Adventurers & Explorers    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Canada - General    5. History - General History    6. Maritime History   

Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. Baffin Island    3. Baffin Island (Nunavut)    4. Canada - General    5. Canada - History - 1760-1899    6. Commercial Fishing    7. Description and travel    8. Europe - Great Britain - General    9. History    10. History - General History    11. History: World    12. Military - Naval    13. Nunavut    14. Social life and customs    15. Whaling    16. Women    17. Biography: general    18. Canada    19. Diaries    20. Maritime history    21. Penny, Margaret    22. Penny, William    23. World history: c 1750 to c 1900    24. c 1800 to c 1900   

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Canada - General    4. General    5. History - General History    6. Biography: general    7. History / Canada    8. Maritime history    9. Nova Scotia   

Subjects:  1. 1849-1919    2. Biography    3. Canada    4. Harris, Robert,    5. Individual Painters And Their Work    6. Portrait-painters    7. Prince Edward Island    8. Harris, Robert   

Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. Atlantic Coast (Canada)    3. Atlantic Coast (U.S.)    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Canada, Eastern    7. Canoes and canoeing    8. Description and travel    9. Essays & Travelogues    10. Historical - General    11. History    12. Travel - Foreign    13. United States    14. Waterways    15. Bishop, Nathaniel H    16. Journeys   

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. British Columbia    3. Canada - General    4. Cuneah,    5. History    6. History - General History    7. History: World    8. Indians of North America    9. Maquinna,    10. Native American    11. Native Americans - Northwest    12. a Haida chief    13. a Nuu-chah-nulth chief    14. American history    15. Biography: general    16. Canada    17. Cuneah    18. History / United States / General    19. Legaik    20. Maquinna    21. Maritime history    22. c 1700 to c 1800    23. c 1800 to c 1900