Making the Past Live in Words and Images
Russell Rabjohn was just eighteen years old when he joined up to fight in the First World War. In his three years of soldiering, he experienced the highs and lows of army life, from a carefree leave in Paris to the anguish of seeing friends die around him. Like many soldiers, he defied army regulations and recorded everything he saw and felt in a small pocket diary, but Private Rabjohn was a trained artist, and as such he was assigned to draw dugouts, map newly captured trenches, and sketch the graves of his fallen comrades. This allowed him to carry an artist's sketchbook on the battlefield—a freedom he put to good use, drawing everything he saw. Here, in vivid detail, are images of a shell exploding amidst a platoon of soldiers on the crowded streets of Ypres; the captured pilot of a downed German aircraft; the trials of the men, mules and horses in the horrific Flanders mud; a German observation balloon exploding in midair; and the jubilant mood in the streets of Belgium when the Armistice is finally signed. The dramatic images are accompanied by extracts from his pocket diary and carefully researched text that place Rabjohn's experiences of war in a broader context. With no surviving veterans of the First World War, Rabjohn's drawings are an unmatched visual record of a lost time.
If You Could See: Sketches of the Great War by R. H. Rabjohn was originally published in 2017 in hardcover as A Soldier's Sketchbook The Illustrated First World War Diary of R. H. Rabjohn. This new paperback edition contains the entire original work and adds a new appendix presenting an extensive collection of previously unseen drawings. The result is a wonderfully detailed and dramatic account of the war as seen through an artist's eyes.
"…a captivating introduction to the realities of the Great War." Booklist
"…it's a story of unmitigated horror, highlighting more than any textbook the futility of war. This unique compilation of firsthand impressions of the Great War will be a valuable resource for…[anyone]…with an interest in this turning point in world history." Kirkus Starred Review.
A new edition with the original maps, illustrations and sidebars that were omitted in the eBook.
"…a fascinating read for anyone interested in the planet on which we live and how it came to be as it is." Geoscience Canada
This book is more than the story of how a continent formed over 4 billion years. Told in readable, entertaining prose and filled with personal and geological anecdotes, Ghost Mountains and Vanished Oceans tells the story of our world, and in doing so, it tells our story. As the author says: "An understanding of the geology of the Earth is essential to truly understanding our place on it. To put it the other way round, we cannot understand life and our place in it without understanding the ball of rock on which, and out of which, it evolved. We are not just passengers on a dead piece of cosmic debris whirling through space; we are an integral part of an exceptional, dynamic system that produced both ourselves and our Earth. In a very real sense, geology made us."
"…this book is a true, well-crafted page-turner…If you've ever wondered how the continents and the particular slab of rock you live on came about, you will love this book. Even if you don't, you'll still love it. Highly recommended." Amazon Reviewer
"…a consummate storyteller…in John Wilson's hands the pitfalls of playing with truth are avoided and the dilemmas and paradoxes are fairly portrayed."—Ormsby Review
Once upon a time, a shy kid from Skye almost drowned in nostalgia as he sat in the corner of a high-ceilinged room listening to fabulous tales of earthquakes, rebellion and crocodile hunting in a magical lost world. He grew up and survived his troubled teenage years in gang-ridden Paisley, field work in war-torn Rhodesia, near-death helicopter experiences in northern Canada and several encounters with bears. A mid-life crisis encouraged him to realize the importance of that childhood nostalgia and, using a life-long passion for history and his real-life adventures, he became a successful storyteller and author of fifty historical novels and non-fiction books for kids, teens and adults. He is still searching for that lost world, but this is the tale so far.
"…a highly readable and interesting book about the life of one boy growing up in the second half of the twentieth century, but whose family had their roots in British India…sad…amusing…full of colour…I would strongly recommend it." Amazon reviewer
Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?
That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.
The Land of Lost Content
A.E. Housman
"I couldn't put the Bethune story down…It is an inspirational tale as well as a historically important one." Times-Colonist
As a young man, Norman Bethune served as a stretcher-bearer in the First World War. The experience left him with the dedication and passion to lead crusades to find a cure for tuberculosis, to introduce universal health care in Canada, and to introduce mobile blood transfusion units to save wounded soldier's lives on the battlefield. He served with the Republican armies during the Spanish Civil War and in China where he died of blood poisoning in 1939. Because of his left wing politics, Bethune was ignored for decades in his home country. His childhood home in Gravenhurst, Ontario sees large numbers of visitors each year, although a majority are tourists from China where he is revered as hero for his work with Mao's army in its battle against the Japanese invaders. Regardless of politics, Bethune deserves to be more highly regarded everywhere for his lifelong struggle against injustice and suffering wherever he encountered it.
".…John Wilson makes the private man come alive…[a] gripping story of a larger-than-life Canadian hero." Quill & Quire
"…the best life of Franklin yet produced…(a) wonderfully engaging book." Arctic Book Review
Sir John Franklin was many things in his life: an officer in the great naval battles of Copenhagen and Trafalgar; governor of Van Diemen's land; an explorer from Australia to the Arctic, but it is for his mysterious death and the deaths of his 128 crew that he is remembered today. The mystery of the disappearance of the Franklin Expedition to the Northwest Passage has captivated thousands in the 174 years since his men buried Franklin in an unknown grave in the frozen land that kept calling him back. For most of that time only a handful of graves, scattered bones, fragments of debris and Inuit stories have fuelled the speculation as to what killed them all. Now, the wrecks of both of Franklin's ships have been found, preserved in the frigid waters off King William Island, and may contain answers that have been sought for generations. This is the story of the man whose name will forever be associated with the greatest tragedy in Arctic exploration history.
An "…excellent overview, the reader is left with an appreciation of the enormous task early exploration of the Arctic represented…a first rate story. Highly Recommended." CM Magazine