Woodstock '69 to '19: Celebrating Fifty Years with Michael Lang

The legend of Woodstock comes full circle! Curated by Michael Lang, one of the original co-founders and promoters for the immortal festival that took place from August 15-18 in 1969 (attended by nearly half a million people), Real Art Press's Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music is the quintessential guide for fans both young and old. Set to release just in time for the anniversary in July 2019, the book includes many never-before-seen photographs, artist setlists and correspondences, along with contracts and design plans for the event. From Hendrix to the Who, Santana to Jefferson Airplane, and Creedence Clearwater Revival to Janis Joplin, all performances live on, thanks to Michael Lang!

Want to explore some more titles by Real Art Press? Visit their website.

Also, check out a sweet promo vid that Real Art Press put together for the book!

Fighting for Israel, Searching for Peace

There are no easy solutions. This sentiment has echoed throughout the world as the conflict between Israel and Palestine has rumbled along generation through generation. In his new memoir, former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak recounts growing up in this reality, the first seven decades of his country's existence and, through candid assessment of his fellow Israeli politicians, its major successes and its biggest misjudgments. Barak recently joined CBC's The Current to discuss his memoir, as well as current Prime Minister Netanyahu and the future of Israel. My Country, My Life: Fighting for Israel, Searching for Peace is available now.

History, Family, Promises

Through touching narrative and surreal illustration, Margie Wolfe's The Promise tells the true story of two sisters, her Mother and her Aunt, forced into labour at Auschwitz during the holocaust. Before being stolen away, they received from their parents three gold coins and a promise to keep - stay together. Wolfe, co-founder of Second Story Press, recently joined CBC's The Next Chapter to discuss the story behind the story, her family's history, and the making of the book - Listen to the full discussion here. 

Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried"

Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried, played a significant part in the making of a PBS documentary on the Vietnam War set to premiere this fall. This is a true indicator of the timeless nature of his knowledge and writing—from his own time spent fighting in Vietnam in 1969, to the original publication of The Things They Carried in 1990, to this 1995 interview with CBC's Writers and Company, to his contributions to the PBS documentary. The Things They Carried, reissued in a beautiful new edition in 2009, is a collection of short stories centered around a platoon of American soldiers in Vietnam, and is worth a read for those interested in history and humanity.

Finding Winnie

We've all seen the fantastic Historica Canada video on the Canadian roots of the bear the world has come to know as Winnie the Pooh from the book series by A.A. Milne. I don't know about you, but I've always wondered how the soldier from the video, Captain Harry Colebourn, came in possession of Winnie in the first place. Well, after reading the lovely picture book FINDING WINNIE, now I know!

Author Lindsay Mattick is the great grand-daughter of Captain Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian who enlisted in 1914 to care for the animals that were sent to serve the troops overseas in WWI. At one of the train stops en route from Manitoba to the training camp in Quebec, Harry bought a bear cub from a trapper. He named the bear Winnipeg (Winnie for short) and she became the mascot for the Second Canadian Infantry Brigade. Before deploying to France, Colebourn donated Winnie to the London Zoo for safekeeping. 

Excerpt:

"That's the end of Harry and Winnie's story," I said. 

"But I don't want it to be over," said Cole.

"Sometimes", I said, "you have to let one story end so the next one can begin."

"How do you know when that will happen?"

"You don't," I said. "Which is why you should always carry on."

It was at the London Zoo that a young boy named Christopher Robin befriended the bear, a friendship that spawned the book series, and later, the Disney films we all know and love.

The book is plotted as a bedtime story that a mother is reading to her son, which she reveals at the end is not just a bedtime story, but rather to be a true family story. The last few pages of the book are set up like a family 'Album' featuring photos of Harry and Winnie and other ephemera.  

Lindsay stopped by the HarperCollins offices in Toronto on Wednesday November 11th between media interviews for a meet and greet with our staff. She gave a very interesting talk about her family history, the process of writing the book, and the reasons why she wanted to share the story with a new generation of children, including her son Cole, who was named after his great-great-grandfather.

Do check out this beautiful and educational new picture book! 

Want to read more? 

• The fantastic blog Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast did a roundtable discussion back in September featuring the women behind FINDING WINNIE: Lindsay, illustrator Sophie Blackhall, Little, Brown (U.S. publisher) editor Susan Rich and Little, Brown art director Saho Fujii.  Check it out here if you haven't seen it, as it features lots of interesting information about the process of creating the book!

• Lindsay worked with Ryerson University on an exhibit called Remembering the Real Winnie. Many of the family artifacts that are featured at the end of the book were on display at the exhibit. Don't worry if you missed it- Ryerson has made an online archive that you can still access. 

-Rosalyn

More Than Just a Resting Place!

Libraries are a longstanding feature of many well-established hotels worldwide. And while those traditions may have disappeared for a while, there are many newer hotels and inns trying to bring them back to life.  I read an interesting New York Times article about this, where they described some hotels across the world and their efforts to provide guests not just a place to stay, but a way to connect - with books!

1. Ballyfin Hotel - County Laois, Ireland 

A beautiful restored 17th century manor house holds over 5,000 books on mahogany shelves and features topics from ancient law to modern garden design. 

2. Fogo Island Inn - Newfoundland, Canada

The furnishings and crafts are made by local artisans, and the warm cozy fireplace is the perfect spot to read one of the 1,000 books about Newfoundland culture and history. 

3. St. Regis Florence, Italy 

You can find Assouline art books on the coffee tables as they are part of the library's decor!

4. Country Inn & Suites Chain, United States

This chain offers a Read It and Return Lending Library program, where guests can take their unfinished books with them to return on their next visit. How convenient! They even partnered with Random House last year to ensure a wide range of books are always available. 

To read the full article, click here.

Munro's Books: Celebrating 50 Years of Business

Jim Munro, 83, inside Munro's Books 

This month marks the 50th birthday of Munro's Books, the beloved Victoria-based independent bookstore owned and operated by Jim Munro. Munro's fame began with a vision from Jim himself when he relocated his small bookstore to its current location, a stately building formerly used as a bank. Standing in the vacant 6,000 square feet Jim was reminded of a childhood fantasy, and felt like Louis XIV with his Versailles. 

Perhaps it was this vision, along with the beautiful building itself that found Munro's Books on last month's list of 16 Bookstores You Have to See Before You Die (Buzzfeed). 

While Jim admits there have been challenges as an independent bookstore competing with larger retailers such as Chapters, and more, the increasing demand in digital books, the experience of shopping at Munro's is a unique one. The atmosphere is welcoming and the employees are known to make helpful recommendations. Overall, there is a shared love and respect for the books, one that cannot be found just anywhere. Happy 50th Munro's Books! Here's to 50 more!

Hollywood Left and Right

This fascinating book describes how movie stars have influenced American politics. Each chapter is focuses on a different movie star beginning with one of the first stars, Charlie Chaplin. He used his fame to promote socialist views and this got him into trouble with the US government.
Jane Fonda was nicknamed “Hanoi Jane” after a disastrous trip to Vietnam to protest the war. She was also involved in many other causes and was a mentor for several younger celebrity activists like Sarah Jessica Parker. The chapter about Harry Belafonte describes his deep involvement with the Civil Rights movement and his close friendship with Martin Luther King Jr.
Hollywood Left and Right also includes chapters on Arnold Schwarznegger, Warren Beatty, Charlton Heston, Ronald Regan and George Murphy, Edward G. Robinson and Louis B. Mayer.

Taverns, Saloons, Speakeasies and Grog Shops

America Walks into a Bar is an informative and funny book about how taverns and bars helped to shape American history. It was written by Christine Sismondo, a former bartender, who is now a lecturer at York University in Toronto.

In many newly settled colonies in what was to become the United States, the tavern was often the first building to be built. In small communities that didn’t have many public buildings, the tavern often doubled as a courtroom, post office, community centre – and sometimes the library.

Many events central to the history of the US took place in bars, including some of the Salem witch trials. Plans for the Boston Tea Party were hatched at the Green Dragon, and the Declaration of Independence was ratified at a tavern in New Jersey. For runaway slaves escaping to Canada, it was often tavern owners who provided food and shelter to the refugees. Even the Star Spangled Banner has a connection to a bar; it was written over a few pints at the Fountain Inn to the tune of an old drinking song.

Take the Slow Train. . .

Maybe this was an odd choice of book to read on an airplane, but it certainly made my recent trip out to Calgary fly by.

On The Slow Train: Twelve Great British Railway Journeys by Michael Williams is part travelogue, part fond, nostalgic look at the great days of British steam trains, and an entertaining profile of the many Britons who still devote their time, and in some cases significant money, to their obsession and love of railways.

The "Slow Train" refers first to a philosophy that mirrors the global Slow Movement, where, as Williams writes, "the journey becomes a moment to relax, rather than a stressful interlude imposed between home and destination. Slow travel re-engineers time, transforming it into a commodity of abundance rather than scarcity." It also recalls a 1963 song called "Slow Train" by the British comic duo Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, written during the year when over 4,000 miles of track and many local stations were permanently shut down under the reign of Richard Beeching - a short-term solution to funding problems. The song was an ode to all those old, local railway stations that would no longer be in use. Fortunately, despite the cuts, some of these were saved after public protest and still exist today, although many communities still don't have any access to service.

Williams picks his favourite slow train journeys around England, Scotland and Wales, and certainly makes you want to go out, buy a BritRail pass, and pootle along. They range from the short - the picturesque St. Ives Bay line along the Cornish coast, just four and a quarter miles long - to the "Deerstalker Express" from Euston to Scotland. He'll tell you why London tube trains are running on the Isle of Wight, which route travels around "Dolly's Nipple", and which viaduct the Hogwarts Express rumbles over in the Harry Potter films. Along the way he gets out at some extremely deserted yet still functioning stations, and meets an assortment of odd, yet passionate guides to the local history and topography. One of the most intriguing journeys, and one I certainly will take next time I'm in London, is a trip around the city itself on the North London Line, from Stratford station to Richmond. It was also the route that experienced the first murder on a British train, back in 1864. Grisly details also come in the form of descriptions of various train accidents and in the number of deaths involved during the incredible engineering projects building the tunnels and bridges that in its heyday, allowed the train to dominate the British landscape. Many of us fell in love with trains through books or the movies - as a child I was hooked on the Thomas the Tank Engine series and Brief Encounter remains one of my favourite films - and this book is filled with nods to the frequent absorption of railways into British culture.

Reading this book had me daydreaming about a future trip to England which only intensified when I got back from Calgary to find a copy of Great British Walks: 100 Unique Walks Through Our Most Stunning Countryside by Cavan Scott on my desk. I really like the format of this guide. Each walk gets a double-page spread. On the left is a written description of the walk, helpfully pointing out sites of interest at various stages. On the right is a blow-up of the ordinance map for the area with the route clearly marked out. Length both in distance and time is indicated along with the level of walking difficulty. The walk on Chesil Beach has just been added to my bucket list.

And I think you can get to the start point of many of these walks by train.

Have a great long holiday weekend. Get out on the bike. Take a long walk. Spend some time with friends and family and sink into a comfy chair and finish those one or two or three books you're currently in the middle of. Those at least are my plans.

The Delightful Book Kingdom of Shire or Why I've Been Musing on Muslin. . .

One of the more interesting imprints that I'm lucky enough to sell is a lovely small press out of England called Shire. You mostly see their books in museum stores - they publish short, beautifully designed and illustrated books on a variety of very specialized, esoteric, collectible and historical subjects ranging from Dolls House Furniture to the history of Old Lawnmowers or English Post Offices. If you collect antiques, love the Victorian era, steam engines or industrial history in particular, then you must check out their full backlist at www.shirebooks.co.uk (And if you are having trouble finding any of their books at your local bookstore, just ask the staff to special order them for you - they are very easy to get).
Shire also boasts what has to be my favourite author name of all-time - Twigs Way, author of books on topiary, garden gnomes and vegetable allotments. (The name initially conjured up the image of a friendly, grandfatherly-like gardener in tweed with a peaked cap, but in fact the author is a female archaeologist and historian and has endeared herself to me even more because she supports the Rabbit Welfare Association that helps improve the lives of pet rabbits of which she has fourteen, adopted from rescue centres. Next to Jonathan Coe, she's the author I'd most like to have a cup of tea with. Honestly.)

I've just finished reading a delightful new book published by Shire and written by Sarah Jane Downing called Fashion in The Time of Jane Austen. Downing looks at the fashion trends between 1791 and 1817 during the years when Austen was at the height of her writing career, a period described as, "a unique moment in fashion unequalled in its daring nudity, cropped hair and masculine styling until the jazz age nearly a century later." She shows how the French Revolution, the Napoleonic wars, Beau Brummel and the works of Sir Walter Scott and Lord Byron all influenced how women, men, children and Austen characters dressed and how their clothes not only defined their status in society but also how they quite literally moved within in. Shoes and accessories are also covered. I learned some fascinating tidbits of social history such as the use of "falsies" by men which were inserted into their tight fitting breeches in order to make their calves look more "poetic", or the invention of what sounds like the equivalent of today's Spanx - a tube of flesh-coloured knitted stockinette worn tight around the legs so that the airy material of the dresses wouldn't too clearly expose the outline of the buttocks or - most scandalous of all - get caught between them!

The book is amply filled with colour plates of paintings and illustrations from the newspapers and fashion magazines of the era. This is a must read not only for Jane Austen fans, but anyone who loves the history or literature of this period, who likes to watch historical dramas on TV, or simply loves their clothes. And here's a funny blog post on the recycled costumes used in various BBC literary adaptations from the terrific blog Jane Austen's World that not only covers all things Austen, but is a great resource for researching more about fashion during the Regency era.

Remembrance Day Recommendations

One of my picks this Fall is Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel & Brett Witter. A great choice for Rememberance Day, this book recounts the fascinating yet little known contributions of a division of the Allied Forces in WWII- the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archive Section.
This group of 315 men and women from thirteen nations risked their lives in the final year of the war and beyond to track, locate and recover artwork and items of cultural significance that had been stolen by the Nazis during the war on the orders of Hitler. They also assessed damage and protected buildings of architectural or historic significance. Faced with so many stories he could tell, Edsel focuses strictly on the stories of one group of Monuments Men- the eight men assigned to cover France, the Netherlands, and Germany in the 11-month period from D-Day to VE Day. With no supplies, vehicles or radios, they had to use their wits in order to get the job done. The book is based on field journals, war reports, dispatches and orders from command, diaries and letters home as well as interviews with some of the survivors. Also included are the contributions of two French civilians, one of whom was Rose Valland, art historian, member of the French Resistance and one of the most decorated women in French history. Fiction readers might recognize her story too- the character of Rose Clément in Sara Houghteling's book Pictures at the Museum was based on Valland. A volunteer at a museum adjacent the Louvre, she spied on the Nazis throughout the occupation and her detailed notes were instrumental in the recovery and tracking of numerous works of art.

The book is very accessibly written and packed with incredible stories. Anyone interested in art or WWII history will find this of interest. The stories in here make your heart ache for all that was lost, but also profoundly grateful for the actions of these men and women, who risked (and some gave) their lives to save what they could of these important cultural artifacts for future generations to enjoy. It was just reviewed in the Toronto Star last weekend. Click here to read what they had to say.

Robert M. Edsel is also the co-producer of the related documentary film, The Rape of Europa, which was inspired by the book of the same name by Lynn H. Nicholas. He also wrote a mainly photographic companion book called Rescuing Da Vinci. Those in Ontario can watch the first part of the documentary on TVO Thursday November 12th at 10:00 pm, which is airing as part of their Masterworks series.

Also airing on TVO November 11th at 9 pm is the documentary Paris 1919, inspired by the book from Margaret MacMillan. We were lucky to see a screening of the film while up in Ottawa last week. Despite some technical difficulties, I found the film was absolutely fascinating. The visuals (archival footage from the time as well as dramatic recreations of the events) are fantastic.

Paris 1919: The Documentary. . .

If you are a fan of Margaret Macmillan's bestselling book Paris 1919, or a history buff fascinated by the historical details surrounding the end of the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles, then you'll want to check out the NFB's documentary based on the book. Starting next week it will be screening in a number of Canadian cities (in many cases at the libraries). You can find the full schedule here. Some of the Deweys will be in Ottawa next week - we're looking forward to catching it there.

Canadian Culture from A-Z

Did you know that the first lending library in Canada opened in 1783?
The Quebec Library was opened in Quebec City in 1783 with roughly a thousand volumes. However, at £5 to join and an annual £2 subscription, it was only accessible to the wealthiest citizens. Montreal opened a similar library three years later.

Did you know that the first English Canadian novel was published in 1769?
The History of Emily Montague was written by Frances Brooke, who only spent a few years in Canada before returning to England with her husband, a chaplain in the army. The four-volume novel, which was set in Quebec City, became a kind of travel guide for Europeans who wished to learn more about Canada.

The first novels written by native-born writers:
St. Ursula’s Convent by Julia Beckwith (1824)
L’Influence d’un livre by Philippe Aubert de Gaspé (1837)

Did you know that Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish-American steel magnate, funded the building of more than 100 libraries in Canada?
Over the course of twenty years, Andrew Carnegie funded 125 libraries in Canada, the vast majority of them in Ontario. The first Carnegie library was opened in January 1903 in Chatham, Ontario. The $2.5 million that Carnegie handed out to Canadian libraries made an enormous difference in the cultural life of many communities.

For more fascinating facts about libraries, publishing, books and Canadian culture in general, pick up a copy of The History of Canadian Culture by Jonathan Vance.

"Jonathan Vance has made an essential contribution to the always consuming and often perplexing landscape of Canadian culture and identity - it is also a terrific read" Paul Gross

Germany at the Oscars. . .

Gearing up for the big awards ceremony this Sunday, I have to say that even though I'm not too excited by most of the nominations, I will nevertheless be glued to the TV and will be watching two awards in particular - rooting for Slumdog Millionaire to take Best Picture and for Kate Winslet to finally win an Oscar for her performance in The Reader.

This latter film is of course based on Bernhard Schlink's bestselling novel. I was recently lucky enough to interview him for our Booklounge.ca website and you can watch a brief video clip of him talking specifically about The Reader and his post-war German generation. You have to sign up to be a member with your e-mail, but it's absolutely free and you'll get access to book information and the opportunity to win books and enter various contests. Once you've signed up, click on the "Audio and Video" tab at the top and you can watch a number of other author videos as well. Due to time constraints, only about 5 minutes of my interview is on the clip but we also chatted about his latest novel Homecoming (which I highly recommend if you enjoyed The Reader and are interested in the same themes of the next generation of Germans coming to grips with their Nazi past) and his Gerhard Self detective novels (Self's Punishment and Self's Deception). I hope to find the time shortly to transcribe the rest of the interview and then I'll post it on this blog.

If you are interested in post-war German history, then also up for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category is Germany's The Baader Meinhof Complex about a group of students in the late 1960s who started out peacefully protesting the Vietnam War but ended up becoming bombers, arsonists and murderers under the name the Red Army Faction. The leaders were eventually arrested and convicted but the violence continued as supporters kidnapped the president of the German Employers' Association and later hijacked a Lufthansa jet. The movie is based on the book of the same name by Stefan Aust, who has done the definitive book on the subject and it looks to be a fascinating read; I had never previously heard anything about this group. I'm really looking forward to seeing the movie as well.

Spud reading. . .

Okay, this is an odd little list, but I do love a good potato. Honestly, is there any better comfort food on the planet?

John Reader, author of The Untold History of the Potato, has compiled a list of his ten favourite potato books. Yes, really.

The Ants Come Marching

I have to admit, when I first heard about Six-Legged Soldiers: Using Insects as Weapons of War at sales conference, I wasn’t really that interested. However, when I started to make my sales calls to various booksellers and librarians, they were so enthusiastic about this book that I decided to give it a try. It really is a fascinating book, packed full of unusual and surprising facts.
One of the most interesting chapters is “Bee Bombs and Wasp Warheads”. For thousands of years, throwing bee hives or wasp nests at an enemy was a very common strategy of war. The Romans and Greeks both used bee hives to fire at their enemies, which is reflected in the language we still use today: “bombos”, the Greek word for bees, is closely connected to the word “bombard”. The Mayans would create clay containers and set them in places where bees would likely move in, then during a battle they would plug up the holes and start throwing these clay “footballs” at their enemies. During the Middle Ages, all ships carried bee hives or wasp nests as part of their arsenal.
There are also many Canadian historical references in this very unusual book. During WWII, Sir Frederick Banting, the Canadian hero who discovered insulin, was a great proponent of biological warfare. The Canadian government wouldn’t give him any money to do experiments, so he collected over a million dollars from the presidents of Canadian companies such as Eatons, Seagrams and the CPR. His team was working on a scheme that would use mosquitoes to spread yellow fever among the Nazis, however, nothing ever came of these experiments.

The Manuscript in the Suitcase. . .

If you're in New York over the next few months, you should make your way down to The Museum of Jewish Heritage near Battery Park. They have an exhibit entitled Woman of Letters: Irène Némirovsky and Suite Française that displays the suitcase in which the now famous manuscript was found, along with the manuscript itself. If you can't make it in person, do check out their website where you can see both artifacts online plus family photos and learn more about her life and work. (thanks to the Literary Saloon for the link).

And if you enjoyed reading Suite Française, do check out some of her other books that have recently been brought back into print: David Golder, Fire in the Blood, Le Bal, The Couriloff Affair (out this October) and All Our Worldly Goods (out this November).

Maud versus Maurice. . .

Two huge Canadian icons, two big centenaries, lots and lots of books.

If you're Canadian, you would have to have been living under a rock not to know that 2008 marked the 100th anniversary of the publication of Anne of Green Gables. And coming this November, will be a big, meaty biography of its author. Mary Henley Rubio has spent over twenty years researching Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings and this promises to be the definitive biography. I've only read snippets so far, but I can already tell this will be my major reading over the Christmas holidays.

And then there's the inevitable hockey frenzy that will accompany the centenary of the Montreal Canadiens in 2009. It's inexplicable to me, despite over fifteen years in the book business, how the Canadian market can sustain so many hockey books on every conceivable subject, season after season after season. However, even I fully understand the gluttony of books that will appear on this historic occasion. Growing up in a suburb of Montreal, I too had a Guy Lafleur hockey card. And of course, who hasn't cherished Roch Carrier's The Hockey Sweater? First out at the end of this month is D'Arcy Jenish's The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory, in which he constructs the history of the team using the work of the contemporary sports journalists as his major source material. His goal was, "to recapture the spirit and excitement of events as they unfolded" because "history is never more exhilarating than the day it happens." And though there are photos and illustrations, this is really a solid biography of the team and its personalities, not a glossy coffee table book.

I actually have a bet with my boss as to which book will have sold the most after one year. I expect both will be very popular as gifts during the holiday season and based on initial orders, hockey has taken a lead in the first period. But don't count Maud out just yet, or the power of Anne. Maybe I'm naive but don't more women than men read and buy books? (and yes, I know there are tons of female hockey fans out there as well). I've also got my hopes pinned on the P.E.I. summer tourists. Look for Lucy Maud to take it in the third. Let the battle begin.