At a time when it’s all too easy to see history in black-and-white terms, historian Jacques R. Pauwels urges readers to let go of conventional history textbooks and re-examine historical events outside the bounds of conventional ideologies and agendas.Pauwels uses twelve key events, from the French Revolution onwards, to debunk well-known accepted historical narratives in the western canon. He challenges readers to rethink their views by compiling the recent work of specialized scholars whose research demonstrates that the facts contradict the myths that have been offered to explain these events.Beginning with a reconsideration of the impacts of the French Revolution, Pauwels finishes by dismantling the American narrative surrounding the use of nuclear weapons in the Second World War and the real rationale for the Cold War and the U.S.’s postwar global democracy project.

John Lennon was the world's biggest rock star in the late Sixties. With his new wife Yoko Ono, the duo were icons of the peace movement denouncing the Vietnam War. In 1969, at the height of their popularity, they headed to Canada. Canada was already a politically charged place. In 1968, Pierre Elliott Trudeau rode a wave of popularity dubbed Trudeaumania for its similarities to the Beatlemania of the era. The sexual revolution, hippie culture, the New Left and the peace movement were challenging norms, frightening the authorities and provoking backlash. Quebec nationalism was putting the power of the English-speaking minority running the province on the defensive, and threatening the breakup of the country. John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged a "bed-in for peace" at an upscale downtown Montreal hotel. The couple, aided by the CBC, saw a steady stream of journalists, musicians and activists arriving for interviews, political discussions, singing and art-making. The classic Give Peace A Chance was recorded there with the help of local Quebecois musicians. Three months later they were back in Canada with Eric Clapton and other friends to play a concert festival in Toronto arranged by local promoters. American acts like Little Richard, The Doors, Bo Diddley and Alice Cooper, along with many Canadian pop musicians of the time, played at the festival. At year's end, the duo met with Prime Minister Trudeau in Ottawa. By this time Trudeau was cracking down on dissent, mainly in Quebec, and falling out of favour with the counterculture crowd, John and Yoko included. Recounting the story of these events, historian Greg Marquis offers a unique portrayal of Canadian society in the late Sixties, recounting how politicians, activists, police, artists, musicians and businesses across Canada reacted to John and Yoko';s presence and message. John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the Year Canada Was Cool is an illuminating and entertaining read for anyone interested in this fascinating moment in Canadian history.

This fully illustrated edition offers more than 50 visuals including maps, operational plans, photographs and war art related to the incredible stories of our unsung heroes. With a completely selfless indifference to enemy fire, the quiet heroes featured in this book faced danger and atrocity. With courage and audacity they fought for their lives - and they fought for ours. From the whistling of enemy shells and pounding of explosives come these inspiring stories of friendship, loyalty, determination, and bravery. Relive the events that influenced the outcome of World War II and meet the heroes who helped shape life as we know it today.

"Smart cities" use surveillance, big data processing and interactive technologies to reshape urban life. Transit riders can see the bus coming on a map on their phones. Cities can measure and analyze the garbage collected from every household. Businesses can track individuals' movements and precisely target advertisements. Google's failed Sidewalk Labs proposal in Toronto, which drew sharp criticism over surveillance and privacy concerns, is just one of the many smart city projects which have been proposed or are underway in Canada. Iqaluit, Edmonton, Guelph, Montreal, Toronto and other cities and towns are all grappling with how to use these technologies. Some cities have quickly partnered with digital giants like Uber, Bell and IBM. Others have kept their distance. Big tech companies are hard at work recruiting customers and shaping – sometimes making – public policy on data collection and privacy. Smart Cities for Canada: Promise and Perils is the first book on smart cities in Canada. In this collection, experts from across the country investigate what this new approach means for the problems cities face, and expose the larger issues about urban planning and democracy raised by smart city technology. This is a valuable, timely, independent‐minded book for Canadians.

The skills, knowledge and experience that took Captain James Cook to the South Seas and around the world seemed to come out of nowhere. In fact, as author Jerry Lockett has discovered, their foundation was laid during the time he spent in Atlantic Canada. His experiences on Canada's east coast and the naval men he met there shaped him to become one of the most successful explorers of all time. Cook arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1758 as a competent but undistinguished warrant officer in Britain's Royal Navy. Over the next nine years he learned the complex skill of navigation and prepared many detailed maps of the coastline and key harbours. He left with the skills and reputation that made him an obvious choice to lead a voyage of exploration to the far side of the world. In this absorbing and well-researched biography Jerry Lockett tells us of Cook's experiences as a young man and of the influential men who became his mentors and patrons. He also describes Cook's role in the key British military actions at Louisbourg and Quebec which brought an effective end to the French regime in North America.

Born into a dark, unhappy childhood and battling severe mental and physical health issues all through her adulthood, Lucy Maud Montgomery had a challenging private life. But she gave the world Anne Shirley - the freckle-faced, fiercely independent redhead as representative of Canada as the maple leaf. Anne of Green Gables is considered one of the greatest works in Canadian literature. Available in thirty-two editions, it continues to be immortalized on television, film and stage. Determined to succeed against all odds, Lucy Maud Montgomery published twenty-three books over a thirty-year period - her writing still resonates with readers today. Updated with the latest research - encompassing the last few years of Lucy's life and death - and beautifully illustrated with photographs, this biography recounts the story of Anne's creator and her contrasting public and private lives.

Petroleum is the most valuable commodity in the world and an enormous source of wealth for those who sell it, transport it and transform it for its many uses. As the engine of modern economies and industries, governments everywhere want to assure steady supplies. Without it, their economies would grind to a standstill. Since petroleum is not evenly distributed around the world, powerful countries want to be sure they have access to supplies and markets, whatever the cost to the environment or to human life. Coveting the petroleum of another country is against the rules of international law — yet if accomplished surreptitiously, under the cover of some laudable action, it's a bonanza. This is the basis of "the petroleum game," where countries jockey for control of the world's oil and natural gas. It's an ongoing game of rivalry among global and regional countries, each pursuing its own interests and using whatever tools, allies and organizations offer possible advantage. John Foster has spent his working life as an oil economist. He understands the underlying role played by oil and gas in international affairs. He identifies the hidden issues behind many of the conflicts in the world today. He explores military interventions (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria), tensions around international waterways (Persian Gulf, South China Sea), and use of sanctions or political interference related to petroleum trade (Iran, Russia, Venezuela). He illuminates the petroleum-related reasons for government actions usually camouflaged and rarely discussed publicly by Western politicians or media.Petroleum geopolitics are complex. When clashes and conflicts occur, they are multi-dimensional. This book ferrets out pieces of the multi-faceted puzzle in the dark world of petroleum and fits them together.

This is the story of two thrilling generations of Bounty. First, the original eighteenth century British Naval Transport ship, on which the most infamous mutiny in British naval history played out. Pulling together details from various contemporary accounts of these events author and filmmaker Geoff D'Eon tells the tale of a harsh leader cast out to sea who miraculously finds his way back to England and pursues his beached subordinates in search of justice. Then the glorious twentieth century Hollywood recreation of Bounty from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and her crew spend delightful weeks in the South Pacific. Years later, Bounty fights for survival as her captain sails her straight into violent Hurricane Sandy. A dramatic rescue effort saves the crew, but the ship, the captain and one young crew member are lost.Spanning four centuries, this is a story of romance, risk, exotic travel, cruelty, lust, loyalty, jealousy, misadventure, hubris, heroism and death. Fully illustrated with paintings, photographs and artifacts, this book tells one of the greatest sea stories of them all.

In 1876, at only 29 years old, Alexander Graham Bell completed the invention that would turn him into a household name: the telephone. What began as a tool for his deaf students, the device would ultimately change the way people communicate forever. Driven by a keen scientific mind and a desire to find new ways to assist people, Bell produced groundbreaking inventions in an astonishing range of fields, including aviation and medicine. Jennifer Groundwater tells the story of his most important discoveries, and his passionate, lifelong quest to improve the way things work. This new illustrated edition offers 50+ visuals including blueprints, artifacts, and behind-the-scenes photos of Bell developing inventions.

The Halifax explosion was unprecedented in its devastation with regards to casualties, force and radius of the blast, and widespread damage to property.This book offers a collection of carefully selected visuals that tell the story of the devastation caused by the explosion and the impact it had on Halifax. Joyce Glasner focuses on the impact of this wartime disaster on the thousands of survivors.

In this book Arthur Manuel and Grand Chief Ronald Derrickson challenge virtually everything that non-Indigenous Canadians believe about their relationship with Indigenous Peoples and the steps that are needed to place this relationship on a healthy and honourable footing. Manuel and Derrickson show how governments are attempting to reconcile with Indigenous Peoples without touching the basic colonial structures that dominate and distort the relationship. They review the current state of land claims. They tackle the persistence of racism among non-Indigenous people and institutions. They celebrate Indigenous Rights Movements while decrying the role of government-funded organizations like the Assembly of First Nations. They document the federal government's disregard for the substance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples while claiming to implement it. These circumstances amount to what they see as a false reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. Instead, Manuel and Derrickson offer an illuminating vision of what Canada and Canadians need for true reconciliation.In this book, which Arthur Manuel and Ron Derrickson completed in the months before Manuel's death in January 2017, readers will recognize their profound understanding of the country, of its past, present, and potential future.Expressed with quiet but firm resolve, humour, and piercing intellect The Reconciliation Manifesto will appeal to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who are open and willing to look at the real problems and find real solutions.

400 Years in 365 Days gives readers a fun, trivia-filled record which reflects the communities and peoples of Nova Scotia spanning the past 400+ years. Leo Deveau has assembled over a thousand entries that reflect events in the lives and histories of virtually every settlement and group in the province, covering a range of interests from military history to arts and sports. Illustrating the entries are 300+ visuals including full colour paintings, drawings, photos, and archival objects. This informative, entertaining and illuminating volume is a great reference book and a great gift for anyone interested in Nova Scotia’s colourful past and lively present.

For big business in Germany and around the world, Hitler and his National Socialist party were good news. Business was bad in the 1930s, and for multinational corporations Germany was a bright spot in a world suffering from the Great Depression. As Jacques R. Pauwels explains in this book, corporations were delighted with the profits that came from re-arming Germany, and then supplying both sides of the Second World War.Recent historical research in Germany has laid bare the links between Hitler's regime and big German firms. Scholars have now also documented the role of American firms — General Motors, IBM, Standard Oil, Ford, and many others — whose German subsidiaries eagerly sold equipment, weapons, and fuel needed for the German war machine. A key roadblock to America's late entry into the Second World War was behind-the-scenes pressure from US corporations seeking to protect their profitable business selling to both sides.Basing his work on the recent findings of scholars in many European countries and the US, Pauwels explains how Hitler gained and held the support of powerful business interests who found the well-liked oneparty fascist government, ready and willing to protect the property and profits of big business. He documents the role of the many multinationals in business today who supported Hitler and gained from the Nazi government's horrendous measures.

This book offers a close-up look at the First World War as it was experienced by ordinary Canadian soldiers. It portrays the war experience of tens of thousands of young Canadians. Reading their accounts offers a no-holds-barred picture of fighting, life in the trenches, the human cost in lives lost, and the physical and emotional aftermath for survivors. This new edition is extensively illustrated with photos and artists' drawings and paintings.

Why have democratic governments failed to take serious steps to reduce carbon emissions despite dire warnings and compelling evidence of the profound and growing threat posed by global warming? Most of the writing on global warming is by scientists, academics, environmentalists, and journalists. Kevin Taft, a former leader of the opposition in Alberta, brings a fresh perspective through the insight he gained as an elected politician who had an insider's eyewitness view of the role of the oil industry. His answer, in brief: The oil industry has captured key democratic institutions in both Alberta and Ottawa.Taft begins his book with a perceptive observer's account of a recent court casein Ottawa which laid bare the tactics and techniques of the industry, its insiders and lobbyists. He casts dramatic new light on exactly how corporate lobbyists, politicians, bureaucrats, universities, and other organizations are working together to pursue the oil industry's agenda.He offers a brisk tour of the recent work of scholars who have developed the concepts of the deep state and institutional capture to understand how one rich industry can override the public interest.Taft views global warming and weakened democracy as two symptoms of the same problem — the loss of democratic institutions to corporate influence and control. He sees citizen engagement and direct action by the public as the only response that can unravel big oil's deep state.

The battle of Vimy Ridge in April 1917 saw Canadian troops storm a 14-kilometre long escarpment that was believed to be impregnable. This was the first time in Canada's history that a corps-sized formation fought together as a unit under its own leadership. Canadian troops persevered under heavy fire to take the ridge. The battle has since been much celebrated in Canada, as historians and descendants seek to explain the huge losses that military and political leaders accepted in a war that produced few gains for any nation. Tom Douglas recounts the events of this battle, and his narrative is accompanied by over 50 photos, drawings, and paintings by Canadian war artists.