Author: Hilary

With so much of our own news coming from the Middle East these days, it is interesting to read of this remarkable woman who played a big role in that part of the world some 100 years ago.

Gertrude Bell was born into a rich family of industrialists in the north of England in 1868. She was the first woman to get first class honours in Modern History at Oxford University. She set off to explore the world and found her love in trips through Middle East deserts, making seven independent expeditions in all. She learned Arabic, and also turned to archaeology, and photography. She served the British armed forces during World War I, as intelligence expert, becoming an army major.

She worked for self-determination of the Arabs and contributed to the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and the founding of the new Iraq. She understood the importance of what she called “a just comprehension of the conflicting claims of different classes of the population” and  “gaining the confidence of the people so as to secure their cooperation.” We are still trying to do this today.

There have been many books written about Gertrude Bell. In this one, Georgina Howell has collected her papers and letters. They give an excellent picture of her life and times.

Reviewed by Anne McDougall

Bob Rae believes that democracy is challenged in Canada, as it is everywhere in the world. In his new book, he looks at the key political and legal institutions – the Courts, the House of Commons, and the Senate – and considers ways to make them more transparent, better-managed and clearly defined across all levels of government.

Bob Rae himself was elected eleven times federally and in Ontario. He served as Ontario’s twenty-first Premier, in an NDP government, and also interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2011 to 2013. In this book he examines some of the problems facing government today: from Senate scandals and big-money politics, to  Aboriginal questions, economic downturns and the muzzling of free speech. He says young voters are tired of seeing political promises broken. They, and everyone else, are fed up with partisan spin taking the place of government leaders working together to solve problems.

He dedicates this book, his fifth, to his parents. His father, Saul Rae, served in Canada’s Foreign Service from 1940 until his retirement, at a time when many distinguished Canadians, including Mike Pearson, worked with members from all parties to get the best political result.

Reviewed by Anne McDougall

This book came out last year in hard cover;  this is the new paperback edition and very timely for the current election.

Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal party, gives a straight-forward account of his life, first as son of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and now entering politics himself. He tells of living at 24 Sussex Drive, the sadness of his mother’s illness, many trips to British Columbia to visit his Sinclair relatives, and life in Montreal. He got his BA at McGill and a second degree in the Faculty of Education at UBC. He had decided to teach and worked at West Point Grey Academy in B.C. There was tragedy when his youngest brother Michel was drowned in 1998.

Back in Montreal, he met Sophie Gregoire, TV host, whom he would marry and start a family with great happiness. He also found himself turning to politics and describes the hard work involved in running as candidate for Papineau riding – which he won.

This is a good book to introduce Trudeau and his ideas to Canadian voters.  He believes strongly that our country is strong because of the diversity of people who live here. This, and economic achievement, should bring us together on common ground.

Reviewed by Anne McDougall

This is the first full biography of Arthur Erickson, one of Canada’s most famous, though controversial, architects.

The author, David Stouck, lives in Vancouver where Erickson had his home base.  Now Professor Emeritus of English at Simon  Fraser University, Stouck has written biographies of Ethel Wilson and Sinclair Ross. With Erickson, he had a chance to check his material between 2005 and 2009, when Erickson died. The result is a fascinating look at some of the criticisms surrounding famous buildings such as Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Simon Fraser University and the Canadian Chancery in Washington.

Erickson was born in Vancouver in 1924, when the city numbered barely 117,000 people. At school he quickly showed talent in drawing and sketching and was taught by Lawren Harris, who recognized his talent. He went on to the McGill School of Architecture where John Bland was the distinguished director, and Gordon Webber a brilliant professor. He won a travelling scholarship and set off for Europe as well as the Middle East where he never forgot the beauty of Greece’s Parthenon or Istanbul’s Hagia Sofia.

This book takes a fair look at Erickson’s considerable ability and personal charm. He gained fame around the world but this was shattered by a high-living life style that eventually left him broke. There are excellent photos of his work, as well as his famous friends. It is a sympathetic look at many sides of a genius.

Reviewed by Anne McDougall

This is a new edition of Ernest Hemingway’s 1935 book on a hunting safari in East Africa. He travelled with his wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, whose own experiences are recorded here for the first time.

Green Hills of Africa gives a wonderful description of both the beauty of the countryside, and the thrill of the chase. Hemingway tries to explain this thrill at a time even then, when the animals were being threatened by the incursions of man. His wife writes more fully on the lives of the Africans they got to know; their music and dancing and festivals of life.

There is also a personal foreword by Patrick Hemingway, the author’s sole surviving son, who spent many years as a professional hunter in East Africa, as well as a new introduction by Sean Hemingway, grandson of the author. There are photographs of Ernest Hemingway with the safari crew and rhino they killed as well as Hemingway with his lion on the Serengeti Plain. There are also copies of his list of trophies, i.e. the animals killed, and some pages from his original manuscript, showing changes he marked.

Hemingway’s books, The Sun also Rises and A Farewell to Arms established him as one of the leading literary lights of the 20th century. He won the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. This edition of an earlier book shows how his writing developed.

Reviewed by Anne McDougall