Search:

Results 701 to 710 of 761 | « previous |

The missing millionaire : the true story of Ambrose Small and the city obsessed with finding him / by Daubs, Katie,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The gripping true crime story of the disappearance of a millionaire from Toronto in 1919, one hundred years ago, which captivated the city and remains one of the great unsolved mysteries. For readers of Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City and Charlotte Gray's The Massey Murder. In 1919, Ambrose Small was another ghost in the city of the missing. Thousands hadn't come home from the First World War, but it was the disappearance of Ambrose Small that captivated Toronto's attention. In this brilliant new book, Katie Daubs unwinds the story of the mercurial Small, who assembled an Ontario theatre empire in the dawn of the twentieth century, sold it for an unbelievable $1.75 million, and disappeared before he could spend a cent. Weaving together a remarkable true crime narrative with social and cultural history, Daubs masterfully tells the story of Ambrose's sensational disappearance. She examines the wild lives of the cast of characters who surrounded him and became prime suspects: his independent, powerful wife, Theresa Small; his longtime personal secretary Jack Doughty, charged with theft and kidnapping; his two unmarried sisters; Patrick Sullivan, a lawless policeman; and Austin Mitchell, a hapless detective. As the years passed, a series of sensational trials exposed the relationships and resentments of Ambrose and his inner circle; allegations of sexual impropriety, murder plots, and confessions swirled; and an explosive OPP report revealed the incompetence of the police. But as the main players died off, nobody would be found guilty, and their secrets were buried for good: Ambrose Small would forever be missing. Drawing on extensive research, from police investigations to political dossiers, private correspondence, and press reports, and her own interviews with surviving descendants of key figures, Katie Daubs masterfully recreates Toronto as it was following the First World War, painting a rich portrait of a city undergoing immense cultural and social change, which protected its elite and was just as hard then as it is now."--
Subjects: True crime stories.; Small, Ambrose, 1866-1919.; Missing persons; Cold cases (Criminal investigation);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The fight for history : 75 years of forgetting, remembering, and remaking Canada's Second World War / by Cook, Tim,author.;
"A masterful telling of the way World War Two has been remembered, forgotten, and remade by Canada over seventy-five years. The Second World War shaped modern Canada. It led to the country's emergence as a middle power on the world stage; the rise of the welfare state; industrialization, urbanization, and population growth. After the war, Canada increasingly turned toward the United States in matters of trade, security, and popular culture, which then sparked a desire to strengthen Canadian nationalism from the threat of American hegemony. The Fight for History examines how Canadians framed and reframed the war experience over time. Just as the importance of the battle of Vimy Ridge to Canadians rose, fell, and rose again over a 100-year period, the meaning of Canada's Second World War followed a similar pattern. But the Second World War's relevance to Canada led to conflict between veterans and others in society--more so than in the previous war--as well as a more rapid diminishment of its significance. By the end of the 20th century, Canada's experiences in the war were largely framed as a series of disasters. Canadians seemed to want to talk only of the defeats at Hong Kong and Dieppe or the racially driven policy of the forced relocation of Japanese-Canadians. In the history books and media, there was little discussion of Canada's crucial role in the Battle of the Atlantic, the success of its armies in Italy and other parts of Europe, or the massive contribution of war materials made on the home front. No other victorious nation underwent this bizarre reframing of the war, remaking victories into defeats. The Fight for History is about the efforts to restore a more balanced portrait of Canada's contribution in the global conflict. This is the story of how Canada has talked about the war in the past, how we tried to bury it, and how it was restored. This is the history of a constellation of changing ideas, with many historical twists and turns, and a series of fascinating actors and events."-- Provided by publisher.
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945; Collective memory; Memorialization;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

A flag for Canada / by Archbold, Rick,1950-; Archbold, Rick,1950-I stand for Canada.;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 178-179) and index.Chapter 1. Identity crisis -- chapter 2. Badge of honour -- chapter 3. The great debate -- chapter 4. Maple leaf rising -- chapter 5. A flag for the 21st century."A Flag for Canada is a stunning visual biography of Canada's flag that traces the maple leaf symbol from its colonial origins to its acceptance as the unofficial but unmistakable emblem of Canada. On February 15, 1965, the Maple Leaf was raised for the first time on Parliament Hill. In the almost forty years since, it has become one of the world's great flags - a universally recognized emblem."--Pub. desc.
Subjects: History.; Flags; Maple leaf (Emblem); Drapeaux; Feuille d'érable (Emblème); Flags.; Maple leaf (Emblem);
© ©2008., Stanton Atkins & Dosil Publishers,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

George VI and Elizabeth The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy [electronic resource] : by Smith, Sally Bedell.aut; Landor, Rosalyn.nrt; CloudLibrary;
A revelatory account of how the loving marriage of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth saved the monarchy during World War II, and how they raised their daughter to become Queen Elizabeth II, based on exclusive access to the Royal Archives—from the bestselling author of Elizabeth the Queen and Prince Charles “An intimate and gripping portrait of a royal marriage that survived betrayal, tragedy, and war.”—Amanda Foreman, bestselling author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire Granted special access by Queen Elizabeth II to her parents’ letters and diaries and to the papers of their close friends and family, Sally Bedell Smith brings the love story of this iconic royal couple to vibrant life. This deeply researched and revealing book shows how a loving and devoted marriage helped the King and Queen meet the challenges of World War II, lead a nation, solidify the public’s faith in the monarchy, and raise their daughters, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. When King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in 1936, shattering the Crown’s reputation, his younger brother, known as Bertie, assumed his father’s name and became King George VI. Shy, sensitive, and afflicted with a stutter, George VI had never imagined that he would become King. His wife, Elizabeth, a pretty, confident, and outgoing woman who became known later in life as “the Queen Mum,” strengthened and advised her husband. With his wife’s support, guidance, and love, George VI was able to overcome his insecurities and become an exceptional leader, navigating the country through World War II, establishing a relationship with Winston Churchill, visiting Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in Washington and in Hyde Park, and inspiring the British people with his courage and compassion during the Blitz. Simultaneously, George VI and Elizabeth trained their daughter Princess Elizabeth from an early age to be a highly successful monarch, and she would reign for an unprecedented seventy years. Sally Bedell Smith gives us an inside view of the lives, struggles, hopes, and triumphs of King George VI and Elizabeth during a pivotal time in history.
Subjects: Audiobooks.; Royalty; World War II;
© 2023., Penguin Random House,
unAPI

That Churchill woman : a novel / by Barron, Stephanie,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."The Paris Wife meets PBS's Victoria in this enthralling novel of the life and loves of one of history's most remarkable women: Winston Churchill's scandalous American mother, Jennie Jerome. Wealthy, privileged, and fiercely independent New Yorker Jennie Jerome took Victorian England by storm when she landed on its shores. As Lady Randolph Churchill, she gave birth to a man who defined the twentieth century: her son Winston. But Jennie--reared in the luxury of Gilded Age Newport and the Paris of the Second Empire--lived an outrageously modern life all her own, filled with controversy, passion, tragedy, and triumph. When the nineteen-year-old beauty agrees to marry the son of a duke she has known only three days, she's instantly swept up in a whirlwind of British politics and the breathless social climbing of the Marlborough House Set, the reckless men who surround Bertie, Prince of Wales. Raised to think for herself and careless of English society rules, the new Lady Randolph Churchill quickly becomes a London sensation: adored by some, despised by others. Artistically gifted and politically shrewd, she shapes her husband's rise in Parliament and her young son's difficult passage through boyhood. But as the family's influence soars, scandals explode and tragedy befalls the Churchills. Jennie is inescapably drawn to the brilliant and seductive Count Charles Kinsky--diplomat, skilled horse-racer, deeply passionate lover. Their impossible affair only intensifies as Randolph Churchill's sanity frays, and Jennie--a woman whose every move on the public stage is judged--must walk a tightrope between duty and desire. Forced to decide where her heart truly belongs, Jennie risks everything--even her son--and disrupts lives, including her own, on both sides of the Atlantic. Breathing new life into Jennie's legacy and the gilded world over which she reigned, That Churchill Woman paints a portrait of the difficult--and sometimes impossible--balance between love, freedom, and obligation, while capturing the spiritof an unforgettable woman, one who altered the course of history"--
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Historical fiction.; Churchill, Randolph Spencer, Lady, 1854-1921; Aristocracy (Social class); Americans;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The splendid and the vile : a saga of Churchill, family, and defiance during the blitz / by Larson, Erik,1954-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake delivers a fresh and compelling portrait of Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz On Winston Churchill's first day as prime minister, Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next twelve months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold the country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally-and willing to fight to the end. In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson shows, in cinematic detail, how Churchill taught the British people "the art of being fearless." It is a story of political brinkmanship, but it's also an intimate domestic drama set against the backdrop of Churchill's prime-ministerial country home, Chequers; his wartime retreat, Ditchley, where he and his entourage go when the moon is brightest and the bombing threat is highest; and of course 10 Downing Street in London. Drawing on diaries, original archival documents, and once-secret intelligence reports-some released only recently-Larson provides a new lens on London's darkest year through the day-to-day experience of Churchill and his family: his wife, Clementine; their youngest daughter, Mary, who chafes against her parents' wartime protectiveness; their son, Randolph, and his beautiful, unhappy wife, Pamela; Pamela's illicit lover, a dashing American emissary; and the cadre of close advisers who comprised Churchill's "Secret Circle," including his lovestruck private secretary, John Colville; newspaper baron Lord Beaverbrook; and the Rasputin-like Frederick Lindemann. The Splendid and the Vile takes readers out of today's political dysfunction and back to a time of true leadership, when-in the face of unrelenting horror-Churchill's eloquence, courage, and perseverance bound a country, and a family, together."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Churchill, Winston, 1874-1965.; Prime ministers; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
unAPI

Hubris maximus : the shattering of Elon Musk / by Siddiqui, Faiz,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The rise, fall, and revival of the Caesar of Silicon Valley. Elon Musk has cast himself as the savior of humanity, an altruistic force whose fortune is tied to noble pursuits from halting our dependence on fossil fuels to colonizing Mars. Once frequently heralded as a modern-day Edison, Musk has taken up a new place in the public consciousness with his growing desire to disrupt not just the automotive and space industries but the policies that shape our nation, placing him at the center of America's most complex undertakings in manufacturing, politics, and defense and technology, even as his increasingly erratic personal behavior has raised questions about his stability and judgement. Musk famously leads his companies from a bully pulpit, eroding guardrails and cutting through red tape whenever possible with little regard for the fallout as long as it serves his larger goals. Many in his orbit have seen their lives upended or their careers throttled by believing in his utopian vision. As the scale of the wagers he makes with his fortune and concerns about his credibility have grown in recent years, he alternately seems to be in complete command or on the verge of a meltdown. Yet in the long run, he has only become wealthier, and now the stakes have risen. Thanks to astute political maneuvering, Musk is no longer limited to gambling with a company's bottom line or the livelihoods of his workers; he is poised to apply his uncompromising approach to business to the foundational rules and regulations that hold our society together. At a moment when America's tech gods are more influential than ever, Hubris Maximus is a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of lionizing magnetic leaders. Washington Post journalist Faiz Siddiqui offers a gripping, detailed portrait of a singularly messy and lucrative period in Musk's career, as well as a case study in the power of using one's platform to shape the public narrative in a world that can't turn away from its screens. --Pubisher's website.
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Musk, Elon.; Businessmen; Businessmen;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Before the lights go out : a season inside a game worth saving / by Fitz-Gerald, Sean,author.;
" A love letter to a sport that's losing itself, from one of Canada's best sports writers. Canadian hockey is approaching a state of crisis. It's become more expensive, more exclusive, and effectively off-limits to huge swaths of the potential sports-loving population. Youth registration numbers are stagnant; efforts to appeal to new Canadians are often grim at best; the game, increasingly, does not resemble the country of which it's for so long been an integral part. These signs worried Sean Fitz-Gerald. As a lifelong hockey fan and father of a young mixed-race son falling headlong in love with the game, he wanted to get to the roots of these issues. His entry point: a season with the Peterborough Petes, a storied OHL team far from its former glory in a once-emblematic Canadian city that is finding itself on the wrong side of the country's changing demographics. Fitz-Gerald profiles the players, coaches and front office staff, a mix of world-class talents with NHL aspirations and Peterborough natives happy with more modest dreams. Through their experiences, their widely varied motivations and expectations, we get a rich, colourful understanding of who ends up playing hockey in Canada and why. Fitz-Gerald interweaves the action of the season with portraits of public figures who've shaped and been shaped by the game: authors who captured its spirit, politicians who exploited it, and broadcasters who try to embody and sell it. He finds his way into community meetings full of angry season ticket holders, as well as into sterile boardrooms full of the sport's institutional brain trust, unable to break away from the inertia of tradition and hopelessly at war with itself. Before the Lights Go Out is a moving, funny, yet unsettling picture of a sport at a crossroads. Fitz-Gerald's warm but rigorous journalistic approach reads, in the end, like a letter to a troubled friend: it's not too late to save hockey in this country, but who has the will to do it?"-- Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Peterborough Petes (Junior hockey team); Hockey teams; Hockey;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Clint : the man and the movies / by Levy, Shawn,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."C-L-I-N-T. That single short, sharp syllable has stood as an emblem of American manhood and morality and sheer bloody-minded will, on-screen and off-screen, for more than sixty years. Whether he's facing down bad guys on a Western street (Old West or new, no matter), staring through the lens of a camera, or accepting one of his movies' thirteen Oscars (including two for Best Picture), he is as blunt, curt, and solid as his name, a star of the old-school stripe and one of the most accomplished directors of his time, a man of rock and iron and brute force: Clint. To read the story of Clint Eastwood is to understand nearly a century of American culture. No Hollywood figure has so completely and complexly stood inside the changing climates of post-World War II America. At age ninety-five, he has lived a tumultuous century and embodied much of his time and many of its contradictions. We picture Clint squinting through cigarillo smoke in A Fistful of Dol-lars or The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; imposing rough justice at the point of a .44 Magnum in Dirty Harry; sowing vengeance in The Outlaw Josey Wales or Pale Rider or Unforgiven; grudgingly training a woman boxer in Million Dollar Baby; and standing up for his neighbors despite his racism in Gran Torino. Or we feel him present, powerfully, behind the camera, creating complex tales of violence, morality, and humanity, such as Mystic River, Letters from Iwo Jima, and American Sniper. But his roles and his films, however well cast and convincing, are two-dimensional in comparison to his whole life. As Shawn Levy reveals in this masterful biography -- the most com-plete portrait yet of Eastwood -- the reality is richer, knottier, and more absorbing. Clint: The Man and the Movies is a saga of cunning, determi-nation, and conquest, a story about a man ascending to the Hollywood pantheon while keeping one foot firmly planted outside its door."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Eastwood, Clint, 1930-; Motion picture actors and actresses; Motion picture producers and directors; Motion pictures; Motion pictures;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Elizabeth Taylor : the grit & glamour of an icon / by Brower, Kate Andersen,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Residence and First Women, the first ever authorized biography of the most famous movie star of the twentieth century, Elizabeth Taylor. No celebrity rivals Elizabeth Taylor's glamour and guts or her level of fame. She was the last major star to come out of the old Hollywood studio system and she is a legend known for her beauty and her magnetic screen presence in a career that spanned most of the twentieth century and nearly sixty films. But her private life was even more compelling than her Oscar-winning on-screen performances. During her seventy-nine years of rapid-fire love and loss she was married eight times to seven different men. Above all, she was a survivor--by the time she was twenty-six she was twice divorced and once widowed. Her life was a soap opera that ended in a deeply meaningful way when she became the first major celebrity activist to lead the fight against HIV/AIDS. A co-founder of amfAR, she raised more than $100 million for research and patient care. She was also a shrewd businesswoman who made a fortune as the first celebrity perfumer who always demanded to be paid what she was worth. In the first ever authorized biography of the Hollywood icon, Kate Andersen Brower reveals the world through Elizabeth's eyes. Brower uses Elizabeth's unpublished letters, diary entries, and off-the-record interview transcripts as well as interviews with 250 of her closest friends and family to tell the full, unvarnished story of her remarkable career and her explosive private life that made headlines worldwide. Elizabeth Taylor captures this intelligent, empathetic, tenacious, volatile, and complex woman as never before, from her rise to massive fame at age twelve in National Velvet to becoming the first to negotiate a million-dollar salary for a film, from her eight marriages and enduring love affair with Richard Burton to her lifelong battle with addiction and her courageous efforts as an AIDS activist. Here is a fascinating and complete portrait worthy of the legendary star and her legacy."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Taylor, Elizabeth, 1932-2011.; Motion picture actors and actresses;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Results 701 to 710 of 761 | « previous |