Most Popular Books by Hugh Brewster

RMS Titanic takes us behind the panelled doors of the Titanic’s elegant private suites to present compelling, memorable portraits of her most notable passengers, including many prominent Canadians. Canadian historian Hugh Brewster seamlessly interweaves personal narratives of the lost liner’s most fascinating people with a haunting account of the fateful maiden crossing. Employing scrupulous research, he accurately depicts the ship’s brief life and tragic end, with the very latest thinking on everything from when and how the lifeboats were loaded to the last tune played by the orchestra. Among the many Canadians onboard were Harry Markland Molson, Lady Duff-Gordon, Charles Hays and Arthur Peuchen. With them, we gather on the Titanic’s sloping deck on that cold, starlit night and observe their all-too-human reactions as the disaster unfolds. More than ever, we ask ourselves, what would we have done?

Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage takes us behind the paneled doors of the Titanic’s elegant private suites to present compelling, memorable portraits of her most notable passengers. The Titanic has often been called "An exquisite microcosm of the Edwardian era,” but until now, her story has not been presented as such. In Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage, historian Hugh Brewster seamlessly interweaves personal narratives of the lost liner’s most fascinating people with a haunting account of the fateful maiden crossing. Employing scrupulous research and featuring 100 rarely seen photographs, he accurately depicts the ship’s brief life and tragic denouement and presents compelling, memorable portraits of her most notable passengers: millionaires John Jacob Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim; President Taft''s closest aide, Major Archibald Butt; writer Helen Churchill Candee; the artist Frank Millet; movie actress Dorothy Gibson; the celebrated couturiere Lady Duff Gordon; aristocrat Noelle, the Countess of Rothes; and a host of other travelers. Through them, we gain insight into the arts, politics, culture, and sexual mores of a world both distant and near to our own. And with them, we gather on the Titanic’s sloping deck on that cold, starlit night and observe their all-too-human reactions as the disaster unfolds. More than ever, we ask ourselves, “What would we have done?”

Historical fact and fiction blend in this riveting novel set aboard the Titanic. Fourteen-year-old Jamie Laidlaw is returning to Canada from England aboard the Titanic. In his four days on board, he busies himself with new friends, finding ways to explore the ship''s forbidden areas, and generally landing himself in trouble. When disaster strikes and the horrifying scramble for survival ensues, Jamie is on the front lines — struggling to help free the lifeboats and get people on board them. When a huge wave washes over the ship''s sloping deck, it''s time for Jamie to take action — and take his fate into his own hands. With hundreds of others, he dives into the sea, hoping he will find a way to survive. Since its launch in Fall 2010, the I Am Canada series has been praised for its accurate and energetic exploration of fascinating moments in Canadian history, through the eyes of young men who lived through them. In Deadly Voyage, award-winning author and noted Titanic historian Hugh Brewster draws from his vast knowledge of that fateful journey to create an enthralling tale of historical fiction — the ultimate adventure, whose terrifying end we know all too well.

Picture-book biography of little-known musician Joseph Bologne Saint-George. Born on Guadalupe to a slave mother and a wealthy French father, he was taken to Paris by his father. and where he excelled in music and in military skills, becoming a composer, a commander in the French Revolution, a diplomat sent by France to confer with Toussaint on Saint-Domingue.

Illustrated in scrapbook style with young Anastasia''s photos and watercolor paintings, this intimate glimpse brings to life the unspoiled princess of the last of the czars. Drawing on precious personal keepsakes, personal letters and diaries, and memories of loved ones, this piercing portrait will enthrall all readers who are curious about Anastasia Romanoff''s fascinating--if tragically brief--life. Photos, many in color.

The story of a little girl who takes part in the creation of John Singer Sargent''s well-loved painting.

Hugh Brewster captures the remarkable heroism, sacrifice, and victories of Canadian soldiers during the Great War. All was not quiet on the Western Front during the last years of WWI. Soldiers faced mud, trench foot, bombardments, barbed wire, snipers, and poison gas. Despite dreadful odds, the Canadian Corps moved forward, reaching deep inside enemy-occupied Belgium. The war cost Canada 60,661 of its finest citizens and thousands more who were wounded in body and mind. After their hard-won victory at Vimy Ridge, Canadians earned the admiration of the world -- and a reputation as soldiers who could get the job done. From that moment in 1917, Canadian soldiers proved themselves again and again on the bloody battlefields of Passchendaele, Lens, Hill 70, and Amiens, during the Hundred Day''s offensive. From Vimy to Victory is presented in an engaging and accessible scrapbook style, with facts and details accompanied by first-person accounts, letters describing life at the Front, wartime diaries, and numerous images, maps, and diagrams that bring World War I to vivid life.

A young soldier''s gritty account of "the bloodiest nine hours in Canadian military history" - the tragic Dieppe raid of WWII Alistair "Allie" Morrison lets his friend Mackie talk him into enlisting for WWII, even though he''s only 18. After months of endless training Allie''s eager for battle. But his first action is not just any battle... it''s the disastrous raid on the German-held port of Dieppe. He and his unit are under orders to take one of the main beaches, but they disembark from their landing craft onto a killing ground. As Allie gets his bearings and makes sense of the horror on every side, he witnesses friends advance into a massacre. All told, almost a thousand Canadian soldiers died that day. In the resulting chaotic evacuation, Allie and Mackie are captured as POWs and sent to Stalag VIIIB in Germany. Still shell-shocked from their fighting, the soldiers struggle to maintain their courage. Others, like Mackie, are determined to plot an escape and outwit their captors, at any cost. Historian Jack Granatstein vetted Prisoner of Dieppe to ensure historical accuracy.

June 6th, 2004 will mark the 60th anniversary of D-Day, when Canadians landed on Juno Beach. This outstanding book contains unpublished accounts of D-Day eyewitnesses and participants, and through their eyes we are able to see what it was like to live through the assault on Hitler''s Atlantic Wall and the massive invasion that followed. Captivating photographs and memorabilia bring these stories to life, and the topic of Juno Beach works directly with school curriculum

Provides a glimpse into the lives of the world''s most captivating princesses, including Mary, Elizabeth I, Marie Antoinette, and Anastasia.

Before Chanel there was Lucile. She was one of the world''s most glamorous women and the most famous fashionista of the Edwardian age. Yet, couturiere Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon was born as just plain Lucy Sutherland and grew up in a stone farmhouse in Ontario, Canada. How she went from a backwoods farm to presiding over an international fashion empire is a remarkable story of unshakeable determination and female achievement at a time when it was thought that a woman''s place was in the home. Unsinkable Lucile is a lavishly illustrated story of Lucile''s lively childhood, her rise to the top of the fashion world and her survival of the Titanic disaster and its aftermath, during which she was unjustly vilified. Time and time again, she proved that nothing could sink her spirits or stop her drive to innovate and create. Among Lucile''s many innovations were the first fashion shows, the first fashion models and the Edwardian craze for oversized hats. She also helped free women from the corset and coined the word chic. Lucile was also a fashion adviser to millions and the creator of clothes seen in over 115 movies. Replete with historical photos and beautiful paintings by award-winning illustrator Laurie McGaw, Unsinkable Lucile is a humorous, touching and empowering tale of a woman who beat the odds, never backed down and changed the world of fashion forever.

April 9, 2007 marks the 90th anniversary of the pivotal World War I battle - one that many historians view as the battle that defined Canada as a nation. At Vimy Ridge, Canadian soldiers achieved what more experienced soldiers from Britain and France could not - taking the strategic position of Vimy Ridge from the Germans. It was the battle that helped a young country discover its national pride, as for the first time, Canadians fought as Canadians, and achieved a significant victory.

À quatorze ans, Jamie Laidlaw revient au Canada. Il quitte l''Angleterre sur le Titanic qui fait son voyage inaugural. Mais le navire heurte un iceberg et sombre, emportant avec lui 1 500 personnes. La nuit du naufrage, Jamie réussit à atteindre un canot retourné et grimpe dessus. Des cris affolés déchirent la nuit avant de s''éteindre peu à peu... Jamie doit lutter toute la nuit dans le froid glacial pour garder son équilibre sur le canot retourné qui risque à tout moment de couler. Une fois à bord du navire de secours le Carpathia, Jamie doit accepter le fait que son père s''est noyé. Parmi les 2 200 passagers du Titanic, environ le tiers a survécu.À New York, les rescapés sont abasourdis de voir les milliers de personnes qui attendent l''arrivée du Carpathia : c''est l''histoire du siècle. Quelques semaines plus tard, Jamie apprend que le corps de son père a été retrouvé et qu''il a été envoyé à Halifax. Il entreprend alors de s''y rendre avec son frère.

Alistair Morrison, ou Allie, se laisse entraîner par son ami Mackie et s''enrôle dans l''armée pour participer à la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. Il n''a que 18 ans. Après plusieurs mois d''entraînement intensif, il prend part à une première opération militaire : le débarquement de Dieppe. Ce jour-là, près d''un millier de Canadiens perdent la vie et les survivants, comme Allie et Mackie, sont capturés, puis emprisonnés en Allemagne. Les conditions de vie au camp allemand sont extrêmement difficiles. Les jeunes hommes s''entraident pour assurer leur survie et font de leur mieux pour garder espoir. Plusieurs d''entre eux, comme Mackie, sont déterminés à organiser leur évasion... à tout prix.

Discusses species of dinosaurs found on the continent of North America 70 million years ago.

Les troupes canadiennes débarquent à Juno, en Normandie. Voilà le récit de la célèbre bataille, raconté par des soldats et des témoins oculaires. Pour décrire l''assaut, des photos personnelles ou d''archives, des illustrations et des cartes, souvenir d''un chapitre dramatique de l''histoire canadienne.

L''histoire du Titanic est racontée à travers l''expérience vécue par deux authentiques passagers : Frank Goldsmith, neuf ans, et Billy Carter, douze ans. Tandis que le premier voyage dans une minuscule cabine de troisième classe, le second occupe avec sa famille une cabine de luxe. Mais les deux garçons partagent la même excitation en ce mois d''avril 1912, ils vont participer au voyage inaugural du plus grand paquebot du monde. Ce livre géant, somptueusement illustré par l''un des grands spécialistes du Titanic, révèle tous les détails insolites du majestueux navire à travers de spectaculaires vues en coupe ; un dépliant offre un panorama complet de cette véritable ville flottante. Des croquis expliquent les différentes étapes du naufrage, depuis l''heure où le Titanic heurta un iceberg jusqu''à celle où il sombra dans l''océan.

Text and cut-away illustrations feature the stories of real-life children who sailed aboard the Titanic on the night of its disaster in the North Atlantic.