Books with author John Dover Wilson

This novel by John Wilson, the sequel to The Flags of War, continues the adventures of two cousins, Walt and Nate McGregor, and of Sunday, the former slave on Nate's father's plantation. They have survived the carnage at Shiloh. But the war rages on. Nate returns to the family plantation to find it in ruins. In despair he turns back to the only life he knows -- the army. Meanwhile, Walt and Sunday re-enlist to fight for their beliefs, no matter how great the danger. The three young men meet again at the notorious Libby prison in Virginia: Nate as a guard, Sunday as a slave and Walt as a prisoner. Their grim reunion at Libby -- where prison walls divide them -- highlights the complexity of a war that tore a nation apart. Can the three battle-scarred soldiers hope for anything more than survival?

Fourteen-year-old Al is spending the summer on the shores of Ontario's James Bay with his eccentric archaeologist father. On their last day there, Al paddles his canoe awawy from the rocky, tree-lined shore and is strangely overtaken by a thickfog that disorients him. As the mist rolls over him, Al is startled to see a ship in the distance that he recognizes as the Discover, whose captain was the ill-fated Henry Hudson. Is it a ghostly apparition?

In A.D. 9, the Roman nobleman Publius Varus led three entire legions — 20,000 men — east of the Rhine to subdue a rebellion. The Teutonic forests, and the barbarian warriors they concealed, utterly destroyed the Roman army, leaving only a few desperate, ragged survivors to return to their ordered world of roads, towns, and open fields. Fast-forward to A.D. 79. An old man, Lucius Quintus Claudianus, has been abandoned in a villa outside Herculaneum. As the eruption of Vesuvius builds to its devastating climax, Lucius writes the story of his life — including the strange part he played 70 years earlier when the Roman legions, who considered themselves invincible, were caught and massacred. In Germania John Wilson tells the extraordinary story of the Battle of Teutoburg forest, the forces that preceded it, the vivid cast of characters (including Varus and the ruthless barbarian leader Arminius), and the terrible aftermath that saw the ascension of the barbarians, the decline of the Romans, and seven grim years of war. Wilson brings the wrenching immediacy of war to modern readers in this striking, colorful novel.

In the fall of 1669, the Nonsuch returns to London with a load of fur from Hudson Bay. It brings something else, too — the lost journal from Henry Hudson's ill-fated search for a passage to Cathay in 1611. The journal finds its way to the aged Robert Bylot and releases a flood of memories from his youth, some of them far from pleasant. As a young man, Bylot dreamed of becoming a famous explorer, and when his father died, he went to London where he faced the horrors of the plague — an epidemic that tragically claimed his sister. He then became the protégé of the notorious mathematician and magician John Dee. After learning navigation, he signed on with Henry Hudson on his doomed voyage. Dee also gave Bylot a secret assignment for the trip: to bring back the most powerful of alchemical secrets. Will the journal and the dark recollections they bring up finally allow Bylot the peace of mind that has eluded him all these years? John Wilson's deft interweaving of history, science, mysticism, and a hero's journey make this one of his most exciting narratives.

World War Two was the greatest conflict in human history. It gave birth to the Atomic Age, the Cold War and the economic boom of the 1950s and 60s, and planted the seeds of today’s Middle East crises. But it is not distant history. Most Canadians have relatives who were part of this world-wide tragedy. Bitter Ashes puts these events in context for them. This book in the illustrated historical series Stories of Canada is a companion to Desperate Glory: The Story of WWI. A clear and concise text leads the reader though the major military and political events and issues of the war. Sidebars add detail and a personal element. Every page is illustrated with either photographs or maps.

Sam and Annabel are visiting Drumheller, Alberta, where the farmland Sam’s mother lives on is host to a dinosaur dig. Annabel, an avid learner, is thrilled to have access to paleontologists and spends as much time as she can near the dig, much to Sam’s dismay. But when they learn the dig has uncovered scientifically important bones, even Sam’s interest is piqued. In fact, the whole town is talking about the dig. When Sam and Annabel learn that Humphrey Battleford, a famous collector of stolen goods, is in the area, they are on high alert to keep the ancient bones safe.

In the fall of 1669, the Nonsuch returned to London with a load of fur from Hudson Bay. It brought something else, too—the lost journal from Henry Hudson's tragic search for a passage to Cathay in 1611. The journal finds its way to the aged Robert Bylot and triggers disturbing memories of his life—memories of a plague-ridden city, the mysterious alchemist John Dee, and mutiny in the frozen wastes of Hudson Bay. Will the journal and memories finally allow Bylot peace of mind?

2013 Information Book Awards ― Long-listed Peace after the First World War inspires hope for a better life that’s crushed by the advent of the Second World War. Beginning with the Treaty of Versailles and the hope for the birth of a better world, Failed Hope follows the postwar rise of fascism, social unrest, Prohibition, the Great Depression, Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, and the wars in Abyssinia, Spain, and China. The general strike in Winnipeg provides a Canadian perspective to the global labour turmoil of the period. The book ends with the failure of appeasement and the outbreak of the Second World War. The information is presented in easily digestible segments, accompanied by photographs. Informative sidebars provide background information or connect world events to activities in Canada. Failed Hope links with John Wilson’s two previous books, Desperate Glory and Bitter Ashes, covering the history of the 20th century from 1914 to 1945 and the effects of its world wars.

This book presents the story and issues of the First World War in a clear, concise and objective manner, accompanied on every page by photographs, original sketches or maps. Focussing on social as well as political issues with a Canadian perspective, Wilson presents the issues of the war with depth and compassion. This book will be a very useful tool for educators in explaining the hows and whys of this most important period.