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    Blood and Daring

    How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation

    Author John Boyko
    Look inside
    Paperback
    $21.00 US
    Knopf Canadian Publishing | Vintage Canada
    On sale May 06, 2014 | 368 Pages | 9780307361462
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    Blood and Daring will change our views not just of Canada's relationship with the United States, but of the Civil War, Confederation and Canada itself.

    In Blood and Daring, lauded historian John Boyko makes a compelling argument that Confederation occurred when and as it did largely because of the pressures of the Civil War. Many readers will be shocked by Canada's deep connection to the war—Canadians fought in every major battle, supplied arms to the South, and many key Confederate meetings took place on Canadian soil.

    Filled with engaging stories and astonishing facts from previously unaccessed primary sources, Boyko's fascinating new interpretation of the war will appeal to all readers of history.
    © Simon Spivey
    JOHN BOYKO is the author of seven previous books, including Cold Fire: Kennedy's Northern Front, which was shortlisted for the Dafoe Literary Award for non-fiction, and Blood and Daring: How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation, which was shortlisted for a Governor General's award for its English-to-French translation, Voisins et ennemis. La guerre de Sécession et l'invention du Canada. Boyko is also an op. ed. contributor to the Globe and Mail, Calgary Herald, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Maclean's and more. He also writes entries for the Canadian Encyclopedia.

    He has addressed audiences across Canada and appeared on radio and television discussing his books and various historical and current political issues. The Globe and Mail has called Boyko "a distinguished scholar of Canadian political history" and the Winnipeg Free Press has praised his "encyclopaedic knowledge of Canadian history." 

    Boyko has earned degrees from Trent, Queen's and McMaster universities, served on and chaired many boards, and been elected to municipal office. He lives in the Village of Lakefield, Ontario. View titles by John Boyko
    NATIONAL BESTSELLER

    “A wonderful and seamless popular history full of colourful characters, intrigue and political backstabbing of the first order. Though there is no secret as to how the book ends . . . [Boyko] deftly adds enough suspense to keep readers turning the pages. . . . Boyko’s accomplished narrative is precisely the kind of popular history that deserves a wide audience.” —National Post

    “A thrilling, near-theatrical look at the years leading up to Confederation. . . . The authoritative narration is clear, precise, and entirely enjoyable for non-scholars. The book presents a startlingly unfamiliar and ominously dangerous period in Canadian-American relations; the world’s longest undefended border was in danger of bursting into flames, unless a unified country could emerge from the tangle of British colonies. It’s the birth of Canada in all its glory and muck.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

    “Boyko has spun a compelling narrative. Better still, it’s supported by just the right measure of academic rigour.” —Winnipeg Free Press

    “A fast-paced read, and Boyko skillfully weaves together the complex and conflict-filled Canadian, British and American wartime policy.” —The Globe and Mail

    “In the middle of the nineteenth century, Canada was at a risk never matched before or since. After threatening invasion during the Civil War, the United States looked northwards after it was won to fulfill its Manifest Destiny. Historian John Boyko tells this story in Blood and Daring. . . . With verve and passion and impeccable research, Boyko makes this vital story come alive.” —Richard Gwyn, award-winning author of John A. and Nation Maker
     
    “The American Civil War involved more of the North American continent than the Union and the Confederacy. Forty thousand Canadians fought in Union armies, Confederate agents operated in Canadian provinces, and the Canadian-American border was the scene of skirmishes that threatened to escalate into a larger conflict. In this lively and eye-opening book, John Boyko shows how the war and its aftermath not only gave the United States a new birth of freedom; it also gave birth to the new nation of Canada.” —James M. McPherson, Princeton University’s Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom

    About

    Blood and Daring will change our views not just of Canada's relationship with the United States, but of the Civil War, Confederation and Canada itself.

    In Blood and Daring, lauded historian John Boyko makes a compelling argument that Confederation occurred when and as it did largely because of the pressures of the Civil War. Many readers will be shocked by Canada's deep connection to the war—Canadians fought in every major battle, supplied arms to the South, and many key Confederate meetings took place on Canadian soil.

    Filled with engaging stories and astonishing facts from previously unaccessed primary sources, Boyko's fascinating new interpretation of the war will appeal to all readers of history.

    Author

    © Simon Spivey
    JOHN BOYKO is the author of seven previous books, including Cold Fire: Kennedy's Northern Front, which was shortlisted for the Dafoe Literary Award for non-fiction, and Blood and Daring: How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation, which was shortlisted for a Governor General's award for its English-to-French translation, Voisins et ennemis. La guerre de Sécession et l'invention du Canada. Boyko is also an op. ed. contributor to the Globe and Mail, Calgary Herald, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Maclean's and more. He also writes entries for the Canadian Encyclopedia.

    He has addressed audiences across Canada and appeared on radio and television discussing his books and various historical and current political issues. The Globe and Mail has called Boyko "a distinguished scholar of Canadian political history" and the Winnipeg Free Press has praised his "encyclopaedic knowledge of Canadian history." 

    Boyko has earned degrees from Trent, Queen's and McMaster universities, served on and chaired many boards, and been elected to municipal office. He lives in the Village of Lakefield, Ontario. View titles by John Boyko

    Praise

    NATIONAL BESTSELLER

    “A wonderful and seamless popular history full of colourful characters, intrigue and political backstabbing of the first order. Though there is no secret as to how the book ends . . . [Boyko] deftly adds enough suspense to keep readers turning the pages. . . . Boyko’s accomplished narrative is precisely the kind of popular history that deserves a wide audience.” —National Post

    “A thrilling, near-theatrical look at the years leading up to Confederation. . . . The authoritative narration is clear, precise, and entirely enjoyable for non-scholars. The book presents a startlingly unfamiliar and ominously dangerous period in Canadian-American relations; the world’s longest undefended border was in danger of bursting into flames, unless a unified country could emerge from the tangle of British colonies. It’s the birth of Canada in all its glory and muck.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

    “Boyko has spun a compelling narrative. Better still, it’s supported by just the right measure of academic rigour.” —Winnipeg Free Press

    “A fast-paced read, and Boyko skillfully weaves together the complex and conflict-filled Canadian, British and American wartime policy.” —The Globe and Mail

    “In the middle of the nineteenth century, Canada was at a risk never matched before or since. After threatening invasion during the Civil War, the United States looked northwards after it was won to fulfill its Manifest Destiny. Historian John Boyko tells this story in Blood and Daring. . . . With verve and passion and impeccable research, Boyko makes this vital story come alive.” —Richard Gwyn, award-winning author of John A. and Nation Maker
     
    “The American Civil War involved more of the North American continent than the Union and the Confederacy. Forty thousand Canadians fought in Union armies, Confederate agents operated in Canadian provinces, and the Canadian-American border was the scene of skirmishes that threatened to escalate into a larger conflict. In this lively and eye-opening book, John Boyko shows how the war and its aftermath not only gave the United States a new birth of freedom; it also gave birth to the new nation of Canada.” —James M. McPherson, Princeton University’s Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom

    Additional formats

    • Blood and Daring
      Blood and Daring
      How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation
      John Boyko
      9780307361455
      Ebook
      Knopf Canada
      May 28, 2013
    • Blood and Daring
      Blood and Daring
      How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation
      John Boyko
      9780307361455
      Ebook
      Knopf Canada
      May 28, 2013

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