Julian Sher

This was a bit of a surprising book. The author traces all the plots against the Union by Confederate agents and spies who lived in Canada. And there were many supporters of the Confederates in Canada. Both Montreal and Toronto were important to the many Confederate agents who could count on help from the many newspapers and in the case of Quebec, the Roman Catholic Church clergy and elected officials. John Wilkes Booth ( the assassin of Lincoln) was a frequent visitor to Montreal. I usually think of Canada as the place where escaped slaves came to have freedom. The author also relates the stories of the two Black doctors who volunteered to work in the hospitals for wounded Black soldiers, the woman from New Brunswick who disguised herself as a man to nurse in the Union army and the Canadian soldier who with his troops did find John Wilkes Booth and kill him.(there was a controversy about who actually did this) This was a fascinating history to read as I did not know about this history. Highly recommended.… (mais)

What do you think of Hells Angels? Are they a free-wheeling group of "good old boys" who occasionally have a run in with the law, or are they a global crime empire dealing in drugs and guns? Originating in West Coast America, the HAMC have expanded into every major continent, but by doing so, have attracted the attention of every major law enforcement agency.

Marsden and Sher are two Canadian journalists who initially wrote a feature on Canadian motorcycle gangs. From this, they expanded the scope of their research to include biker gangs across the world from Canada to Amsterdam, Scandinavia to Australia. Many horrific tales of murder, beatings and feuds are recounted, but also we read the stories of the undercover police who have risked their lives and sanity to reveal the extent of the bikers' activities.

The authors have done a lot of research following the trail of HAMC and their affiliates across the globe. For anyone new to the world of outlaw biker gangs, this serves as a great introduction, but the bland writing style negates a lot of the excitement and danger contained in these stories.… (mais)