EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

Book The Beatle Bandit

    Book Details:
  • Author : Nate Hendley
  • Publisher : Dundurn
  • Release : 2021-11-16
  • ISBN : 1459748123
  • Pages : 204 pages

Download or read book The Beatle Bandit written by Nate Hendley and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2021-11-16 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The sensational true story of how a bank robber killed a man in a wild shootout, sparking a national debate around gun control and the death penalty. WINNER of the 2022 Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book On July 24, 1964, twenty-four-year-old Matthew Kerry Smith disguised himself with a mask and a Beatle wig, hoisted a semi-automatic rifle, then held up a bank in North York, Ontario. The intelligent but troubled son of a businessman and mentally ill mother, Smith was a navy veteran with a young Indigenous wife and a hazy plan for violent revolution. Outside the bank, Smith was confronted by Jack Blanc, a former member of the Canadian and Israeli armies, who brandished a revolver. During a wild shootout, Blanc was killed, and Smith escaped — only to become the object of the largest manhunt in the history of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force. Dubbed “The Beatle Bandit,” Smith was eventually captured, tried, and sentenced to hang. His murderous rampage had tragic consequences for multiple families and fuelled a national debate about the death penalty, gun control, and the insanity defence.

Book Edwin Alonzo Boyd

Download or read book Edwin Alonzo Boyd written by Nate Hendley and published by James Lorimer & Company. This book was released on 2003-08-26 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Edwin Boyd woke up, rolled out of bed, and got ready to rob his first bank. He began his preparations by disguising himself. He shoved wads of cotton into his cheeks and nostrils, smeared black mascara on his eyebrows, and rubbed rouge on his cheeks. This book will be especially fascinating for all readers interested in: history, biography, true crime. Toronto's dashing "Gentleman Bank Robber" was a charismatic felon who masterminded a series of daring robberies with his legendary gang. The most famous bank robber Canada has ever produced was responsible for a three-year crime spree which caught the public's imagination and made him an instant celebrity.

Book Al Capone

    Book Details:
  • Author : Nate Hendley
  • Publisher : Dundurn
  • Release : 2021-07-06
  • ISBN : 1459749189
  • Pages : 154 pages

Download or read book Al Capone written by Nate Hendley and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2021-07-06 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chicago mob legend Al Capone set the template for future crime bosses, offering a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of being an underworld leader. Al Capone could have pursued an honest career and quiet life with his wife and son. Instead, he chose to become a towering mob boss in Chicago, overseeing an underworld empire based on bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, and other rackets. Quick to recognize the value of sympathetic media coverage and alliances with local politicians, Capone amassed almost unimageable wealth, prestige, and power. He also had syphilis which affected his judgement and a violent streak which brought him to the attention of federal authorities. While rival gangs couldn’t kill Capone, he faced a more formidable challenge when bureaucrats began scrutinizing his tax returns. This concise account tells the story of America’s best-known gangster in a succinct, descriptive manner.

Book The Flying Bandit

Download or read book The Flying Bandit written by Heather Robertson and published by Lorimer. This book was released on 1981-01-01 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In December 1957, Kenny Leishman came to Toronto from Winnipeg and robbed his first bank. By the time he disappeared in a plane crash over northern Ontario 22 years later, he was a legend. Smooth talking, flashy, with a string of bank jobs to his credit, Leishman catapulted into the national spotlight--and into the hearts of millions of Canadians--by pulling off the biggest gold heist in the country's history. Canadians cheered on the man they affectionately dubbed The Flying Bandit. From coast to coast, in small towns and big cities, everyone wanted Leishman to get away with it. His status as a folk hero was assured. Based on Leishman's private diaries, extensive research and personal interviews with family and friends, The Flying Bandit recreates the life and times of one of Canada's most flamboyant criminals.

Book Being Prime Minister

    Book Details:
  • Author : J.D.M. Stewart
  • Publisher : Dundurn
  • Release : 2018-06-16
  • ISBN : 1459738497
  • Pages : 345 pages

Download or read book Being Prime Minister written by J.D.M. Stewart and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2018-06-16 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Being Prime Minister sheds light on the lives of prime ministers as ordinary people, examining them through a variety of experiences most Canadians share.

Book Black Donnellys

Download or read book Black Donnellys written by Hendley, Nate and published by James Lorimer & Company. This book was released on 2018-06-01 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The gruesome saga of the Black Donnellys has been heavily mythologized beginning with the first book on the story by Thomas Kelley in 1954. A thick layer of rumour, legend and hearsay has built up around the facts of the case. But one thing is clear — the murderous events that occurred near the town of Lucan, Ontario, in the 1870s are unforgettable. This new edition of Black Donnellys by Nate Hendley has been updated to include numerous black and white and colour photos pertaining to the Donnelly family. This book was the subject of a leading case in Canada's Federal Court on whether anyone can claim copyright on historical facts. The court's decision in 2021 was definitive -- no one owns history, and no one owns the facts -- and was not appealed. This book offers a short account of Canada's most notorious 19th century case of vigilante action leading to murder. The killers were by men from a community harassed by a no-holds-barred criminal family. They went to their graves protected by a conspiracy of silence among those in the know. The story has been told and retold in books, songs, plays and a movie -- and in this readable and engaging account by author Nate Hendley.

Book The Castleton Massacre

Download or read book The Castleton Massacre written by Sharon Anne Cook and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2022-07-26 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A former United Church minister massacres his family. What led to this act of femicide, and why were his victims forgotten? On May 2, 1963, Robert Killins, a former United Church minister, slaughtered every woman in his family but one. She (and her brother) lived to tell the story of what motivated a talented man who had been widely admired, a scholar and graduate from Queen’s University, to stalk and terrorize the women in his family for almost twenty years and then murder them. Through extensive oral histories, Cook and Carson painstakingly trace the causes of a femicide in which four women and two unborn babies were murdered over the course of one bloody evening. While they situate this murderous rampage in the literature on domestic abuse and mass murders, they also explore how the two traumatized child survivors found their way back to health and happiness. Told through vivid first-person accounts, this family memoir explores how a murderer was created.

Book The Mafia

    Book Details:
  • Author : Nate Hendley
  • Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
  • Release : 2013-08-27
  • ISBN :
  • Pages : 248 pages

Download or read book The Mafia written by Nate Hendley and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2013-08-27 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on original sources and research, not legends and myth, this book presents a lively, in-depth analysis of how the American Mafia epitomizes organized crime. Whether it's supplying illicit drugs, alcohol during Prohibition, gambling, prostitution, or even loans to those with bad credit, the Mafia has established itself as a part of the fabric of American society, politics, and economics for over a century. The Mafia continues to exist not only because of their immense power that allows their criminal organization to defy law enforcement, but because demand remains strong for what they offer. This book utilizes verifiable information about the Mafia based on newspaper and magazine accounts, police and FBI documents, court records, and the author's own original research to offer a deeper analysis of "the Mob" that provides historical, social, economic and cultural context. Fascinating biographical sketches that profile well-known Mafiosi such as Charles "Lucky" Luciano and John Gotti are also presented.

Book The Man with the Black Valise

Download or read book The Man with the Black Valise written by John Goddard and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2019-09-21 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of one of the vilest murders in Canadian history. One glorious autumn day in 1894, a drifter attacked thirteen-year-old Jessie Keith so violently that people thought Jack the Ripper must be loose in rural Ontario. To solve the crime, the government called in Detective John Wilson Murray, the true-life model for Detective William Murdoch of the popular TV series Murdoch Mysteries. His prime clue was a black valise. The Man with the Black Valise traces the killer’s trajectory through three counties, a route that today connects travellers to poignant reminders of nineteenth-century life. Chief among them stands the statue of the Roman Goddess of Flora, gesturing as though to cast roses onto Jessie’s grave.

Book Snacks

    Book Details:
  • Author : Janis Thiessen
  • Publisher : Univ. of Manitoba Press
  • Release : 2017-09-08
  • ISBN : 0887555276
  • Pages : 358 pages

Download or read book Snacks written by Janis Thiessen and published by Univ. of Manitoba Press. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Snacks is a history of Canadian snack foods, of the independent producers and workers who make them, and of the consumers who can’t put them down. Janis Thiessen profiles several iconic Canadian snack food companies, including Old Dutch Potato Chips, Hawkins Cheezies, and chocolate maker Ganong. These companies have developed in distinctive ways, reflecting the unique stories of their founders and their intense connection to specific locations. These stories of salty or sweet confections also reveal a history that is at odds with popular notions of “junk food.” Through extensive oral history and archival research, Thiessen uncovers the roots of our deep loyalties to different snack foods, what it means to be an independent snack food producer, and the often-quirky ways snacks have been created and marketed. Clearly written, extensively illustrated, and lavish with detail about some of Canadians’ favorite snacks, this is a lively and entertaining look at food and labour history.

Book Deadly Triangle

    Book Details:
  • Author : Susan Goldenberg
  • Publisher : Dundurn
  • Release : 2022-10-11
  • ISBN : 1459750322
  • Pages : 169 pages

Download or read book Deadly Triangle written by Susan Goldenberg and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2022-10-11 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Glamorous young wife Alma Rattenbury takes her chauffeur as a lover and their scandalous relationship leads to a murder most foul. The 1935 murder of architect Francis Mawson Rattenbury, famous for his design of the iconic Parliament Buildings and Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, and the arrest and lurid trial of his 30-years-younger second wife, Alma, and the family chauffeur, George Percy Stoner, her lover, riveted people. Francis and Alma had moved to Bournemouth, England, after the City of Victoria had ostracized them for their scandalous, flagrant affair while Francis was married to his first wife. Their life in Bournemouth was tangled. Francis became an impotent lush. Deprived of sexual gratification, Alma seduced George, previously a virgin who was half her age. They conducted their affair in her upstairs bedroom with her and Francis’s six-year-old son in a nearby bed, “sleeping,” she said, and the near-deaf Francis in his armchair downstairs in a drunken stupor. The lovers were tried together for Francis’s murder at the Old Bailey Criminal Court in London, resulting in intense public interest and massive, frenzied media coverage. The trial became one of the 20th century’s most sensational cases, sparking widespread debate over sexual mores and social strata distinctions.

Book The Onion Book of Known Knowledge

Download or read book The Onion Book of Known Knowledge written by The Onion and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2012-10-23 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you a witless cretin with no reason to live? Would you like to know more about every piece of knowledge ever? Do you have cash? Then congratulations, because just in time for the death of the print industry as we know it comes the final book ever published, and the only one you will ever need: The Onion's compendium of all things known. Replete with an astonishing assemblage of facts, illustrations, maps, charts, threats, blood, and additional fees to edify even the most simple-minded book-buyer, The Onion Book of Known Knowledge is packed with valuable information -- such as the life stages of an Aunt; places to kill one's self in Utica, New York; and the dimensions of a female bucket, or "pail." With hundreds of entries for all 27 letters of the alphabet, The Onion Book of Known Knowledge must be purchased immediately to avoid the sting of eternal ignorance.

Book Steven Truscott

    Book Details:
  • Author : Nate Hendley
  • Publisher : Dundurn
  • Release : 2021-07-06
  • ISBN : 1459749146
  • Pages : 132 pages

Download or read book Steven Truscott written by Nate Hendley and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2021-07-06 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Steven Truscott was fourteen years old in 1959 when an Ontario court sentenced him to hang for a brutal murder he didn’t commit. In June 1959, the dead body of a missing twelve-year-old girl named Lynne Harper was found in a woodlot in Clinton, Ontario, a small community near a military base. Police zeroed in on Steven Truscott, a fourteen-year-old classmate who gave Lynne a bike ride the night she was murdered. Steven maintained his innocence throughout a tough police interrogation and a speedy trial. Despite a lack of physical evidence connecting him to the crime, a court convicted Steven of murder and a judge sentenced him to hang. The sentence was commuted, and doubts grew about the case. New research pointed to a wrongful conviction — a conclusion that gave Steven hope as he fought to clear his name. A shocking story about a terrible crime in a small-town and the awful miscarriage of justice that followed.

Book Rolling Stones in Comics

Download or read book Rolling Stones in Comics written by Ceka and published by NBM. This book was released on 2019-03-15 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the Rolling Stones hit the scene in the 60's, it was to play rhythm & blues, nothing more. They were far from imagining that they would change music, let alone become the mouthpiece of a changing world. Sticking their tongue out at the establishment with their brilliant music and hard-hitting lyrics, they achieved planet-wide success. With Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in the lead, these rebels have become, over 50 years, not just a band, but a whole attitude! Through 21 stories in comics accompanied by biographical texts and a rich iconography, this book helps fans relive, in a totally new way, the incredible epic of one of the biggest rock bands ever.

Book The Big Con

    Book Details:
  • Author : Nate Hendley
  • Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
  • Release : 2016-09-06
  • ISBN :
  • Pages : 362 pages

Download or read book The Big Con written by Nate Hendley and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines a broad range of infamous scams, cons, swindles, and hoaxes throughout American history—and considers why human gullibility continues in an age of easy access to information. Covering American cons and hoaxes past and present, including the Great Moon Hoax of 1835, the controversy over "subliminal messaging" (do bands, filmmakers, and advertisers really put secret messages in their works?), the panic about "satanic" daycare operators in the 1980s, and recent Internet scams, this book provides a fascinating, fact-based look at infamous frauds across the centuries. Offering an engaging mix of history, sociology, and psychology, author Nate Hendley gives readers an appreciation of how prominent scams, cons, "confidence men," and hoaxes have impacted American society, past and present. Each entry details the scheme or hoax and the pertinent con artist/schemer involved, examining the sociological, cultural, political, and/or economic effect of the scams. Each topic is accompanied by a short bibliography of further reading selections. As the old saying goes, "There is a sucker born every minute"—and there has always been a keen-eyed swindler to take advantage of the situation. The Big Con: Great Hoaxes, Frauds, Grifts, and Swindles in American History explores this sordid underbelly of American civilization and invites readers to revel in the felonious experience.

Book American Gangsters  Then and Now

Download or read book American Gangsters Then and Now written by Nate Hendley and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A detailed compendium of American gangsters and gangs from the end of the Civil War to the present day.

Book Toronto Book of Everything

Download or read book Toronto Book of Everything written by Nate Hendley and published by Book of Everything. This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Hogtown to capital city and Leafs Nation, from cold wet winters to desperately humid summers, from Blackberry-addicted Bay Street financiers to profiles of Ed Mirvish, Glenn Gould, David Cronenberg and Rush, no book is more comprehensive than the Toronto Book of Everything. No book is more fun! Well-known Torontonians weigh in on what they love about their city. Linda Leatherdale reveals her top five places to power lunch; Chef Jamie Kennedy shares five ways Toronto inspires his menus; Paul Godfrey tells us who the top Toronto powerbrokers are; John Sewell points out five Toronto buildings not to miss; and Kevin O'Leary shares his uniquely Toronto innovations. From Bay Street slang and the Great Toronto Fire to immigrant city and Pride Toronto, it's all here! Whether you are a native Torontonian or visiting for the first time, there is simply no more complete book about Toronto. If you love Toronto (even just a little bit), you'll love the Toronto Book of Everything.