News

News

Paul-André Linteau to sign Montreal’s Livre d’or, Tuesday 25 June

Despite the resignation of the mayor of Montreal, Paul-André Linteau, author of The History of Montréal, The Story of a Great North American City, will sign the Livre d’or and the Montreal City Hall on Tuesday, June 25 at 2 p.m. He will be received by the substitute mayor, Ms Jane Cowell-Poitras.

The Livre d'or signed by General Charles de Gaulle's when he visited in 1964

The Livre d’or signed by General Charles de Gaulle’s when he visited in 1944

The History of Montréal, which just appeared in May, is the first short English-language history of the city to appear since 1969. Ably translated from the French by Peter McCambridge, the book deals with the city’s history from prehistoric times to the present. Professor Linteau has devoted a good part of his life to studying the economic, social, political, and cultural history of Montreal. Who better than he to provide Montrealers and guests from Canada, the United States, and other English-speaking countries with a rigourous but accessible overview of Montreal’s history.

What’s more, with the disturbing revelations about corruption in the city, it is good to put it all in perspective and consider Montreal’s long and fascinating history.

The History of Montréal includes many vintage black and white photos and  maps. Baraka Books enjoyed the support of Les archives de la Ville de Montréal and particularly the collaboration of Mario Robert, who heads the department.

For more information or to buy the History of Montréal click here.

Mario Robert, Director of the Archives de Montréal

Mario Robert, Director of the Archives de Montréal

R2P may be on last legs, says Max Forte, author of SLOUCHING TOWARDS SIRTE

At well-attended launches in Hamilton and Toronto, Max Forte, author of Slouching Towards Sirte, NATO’s War on Libya and Africa, suggested that the  UN norm known as “Responsibility to Protect” may be on its last legs because of the massive loss of lives and destruction that NATO inflicted upon Libya and the Libyan people in the 2011 war.

Invited to speak about The Adventures of Liberal Humanitarianism in Africa: Bombing Libya to Freedom in Hamilton and Toronto on Tuesday on June 18 & 19, Forte carefully dismantled each one of the arguments used to justify the war on Libya, regime change, and the murder of Mouammar Gaddafi.

The biggest lie, according to Max Forte, is the racist one about plane-loads of African mercenaries being brought in to defend the Libyan government. That argument was used to impose the no-fly zone, which in fact is a declaration of war. Since October 21, 2011 it has become evident that not a single black African mercenary was present in Libya during the war. Worse yet, the photos and videos used showed black Libyan workers wearing construction hardhats and carrying two-by-fours. According to Forte, the lie about the mercenaries is the equivalent of the US lie in the Iraq war about Weapons of Mass Destruction, adding that Obama’s rush to war on Libya was much faster than George W. Bush’s in Iraq.

Max Forte then dissected the different motivations for war in Western countries and, more specifically, the despicable role played by so-called humanitarians who called for using the “responsibility to protect” or R2P norm. When humanitarians shout that we have to do something, that we have to intervene, since they have no army to muster, they really mean that they want the US and NATO to intervene. And the result is always that the big and powerful attack the smaller and weaker.They do not attack equals, on those weaker than them.

“The result is a relationship of inequality,” he pointed out, “a relationship of subordination.” Moreover, that is what now characterizes the new militarized relationship between the United States and African countries, especially with the expansion of AFRICOM. Whereas in the past the United States’ so-called aid, such as the distribution of rice, was done by young people in the Peace Corps or by people working for the civilian USAID, now it is done by soldiers in uniform. Essentially, said Max Forte, when it is uniformed soldiers who do the work, “they are saying today we are giving out rice, but don’t cross us.” There is an inherent threat in the omnipresence of military personnel.

Slouching-Towards-Sirte-Forte-basse-res2-183x275Because  “humanitarian intervention” in Libya has been a disaster, nobody wants to talk about it now. But it also has wounded the norm of R2P. Even the most ardent supporters of R2P who dubbed the war on Libya “the high-water mark” shy away from talking about it.

In Slouching Towards Sirte Forte notes how the Liberal humanitarians called on Obama, Sarkozy, and NATO saying “we can’t stand idly by.” After methodically taking apart every single argument justifying war on Libya and showing what the real motives were, Forte concluded his book as follows, “The next time that empire comes calling in the name of human rights please be found standing idly by.”

The Hamilton talk was organized by the Coalition to stop the war on Syria. While the Toronto talk was organized by A Different Booklist and Baraka Books. It was held at the wonderful venue,  Beit Zatoun, 642 Markham (Bloor and Bathurst).

Max Forte is a Professor of Anthropology at Concordia University in Montreal, Québec.

His book is available in all formats on this website, at all good bookstores, and online vendors.

VOA Interviews Author of DYING TO LIVE

Pierre-Claver Ndacyayisenga travelled to Washington, DC at the invitation of the Voice of America to talk about his book, Dying To Live, A Rwandan Family’s Five-Year Flight Across the Congo. The interview will soon be broadcast on TV, Radio and the Web in English, French and Kinyarwanda. As soon as the interviews are available on line, Baraka Books will post them.

<img class="wp-image-2700 size-medium" title="Pierre-Claver at VOA" src="https://www.barakabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Pierre-Claver-at-VOA-275×157 generic singulair.jpg” alt=”In the VOA news room. Left to right: Eugénie Mukankusi, author Pierre-Claver Ndacyayisenga, and reporter Mariama Diallo. ” width=”275″ height=”157″ />

In the VOA news room. Left to right: Eugénie Mukankusi, author Pierre-Claver Ndacyayisenga, and reporter Mariama Diallo.

Dying To Live is the heart-rending true story of one family among three hundred thousand Rwandan refugees who fled through the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the from 1994 until 2000. During the five-year journey they were pursued, raped, attacked and bombed by shadowy Rwandan-backed soldiers with sophisticated weapons and aerial surveillance informaton. As Publishers Weekly wrote: Ndacyayisenga’s memoir “offers an important look at a piece of African history that most of the world was unaware of, or chose to ignore, while it was happening.”

Both the Dying to Live and the original French book Voyage à travers la mort published by VLB Éditeur were showcased in the interview.  Reporters were so moved by Pierre-Claver’s story that some even had tears in their eyes.

9781926824789-low-res6-176x275Buy ebook here.

IPG now distributes Baraka Books throughout North America

Effective February 1, the Independent Publishers Group (IPG) has taken over distribution of our books in Canada through the Canadian Manda Group who handles sales representation for IPG/Baraka Books. Since Baraka Books was founded in 2009, the Literary Press Group of Canada (LPG) and LitDistCo distributed our books and represented us. Baraka Books would like to thank both the LPG and LitDistCo for their tremendous support. Although IPG has taken over distribution, we remain a committed  member of the the LPG.

For more information to ensure a smooth transition,  booksellers in Canada are invited to contact Carey Low (clow@mandagroup.com) at the Canadian Manda group or write to us at info@barakabooks.com.

To order:

* CALL TOLL-FREE (800) 888-IPG1 (4741)
* FAX    (312) 337-5985
* E-MAIL     orders@ipgbook.com (for orders only);  frontdesk@ipgbook.com (for inquiries only).

Robin Philpot, Publisher

Five new books in fall 2012: From Libya to Washika and from Radisson in 1651 to Richard Bergeron in 1959 and Barack Obama in 2012

GOING TOO FAR, ESSAYS ABOUT AMERICA’S NERVOUS BREAKDOWN by Ishmael Reed: Available, Ebook and tradepaper ($19.95)

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“Reed’s tendency to go too far has not diminished.”—Paul Devlin, The San Francisco Chronicle

“A courageous American man of letters, one who, if he lived in most places in the world, would be a martyr by now.”—Hakim Hasan, The San Francisco Chronicle

Ishmael Reed will be in Montreal October 12-14 to launch Going Too Far. Details on the launch will be available soon.

“Ishmael Reed is a buzz-saw. He ambushes arguments from ever-unpredictable angles forcing the rest of us, whatever our politics, to acknowledge not just his passion but the fierceness of his intellect.”  Trey Ellis, author of Platitudes, Home Repairs, and “The New Black Aesthetic.”

“Just when you think that Reed is exaggerating, or being one-dimensional in his analysis of racial issues, he’ll open another page of American history and show you something new.”

David Homel, Montreal, Rover Arts

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THE ORPHANAGE by Richard Bergeron (translated by Peter McCambridge):  Available , Ebook and tradepaper ($12,95)

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“I was a big boy. Soon, I would be four years old. The four of us—the four oldest—were in the back seat of our father’s car. The baby was just six months old. He wasn’t with us. (…) everything felt heavy and sad. We could feel it from the back seat. We didn’t dare move, didn’t dare open our mouths. But where were we going anyway? They must have told us, the older children, but we didn’t understand…

“As in all concentration-camp systems,” recalls Richard Bergeron in this short but moving story, daily life was dull and repetitive. Sometimes for some people it’s fun, or at least tolerable. For others, it is unbearable. But this tale does not settle old scores or vent bitterness, it simply recounts how Richard Bergeron began the rest of his life.
Richard Bergeron is an architect and city planner and a Montreal City Councillor. He leads Projet Montréal.

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SLOUCHING TOWARDS SIRTE, NATO’S WAR ON LIBYA AND AFRICA by Maximilian Forte, November 10; Ebook and tradepaper, 320 pp ($27.95) Special Pre-order discount: $20 til Nov. 20; buy now

AVAILABLE OCTOBER 21

AVAILABLE OCTOBER 21

NATO’s war in Libya was proclaimed as a humanitarian intervention—bombing in the name of “saving lives.” Attempts at diplomacy were stifled. Peace talks were subverted. Libya was barred from representing itself at the UN, where shadowy NGOs and “human rights” groups held full sway in propagating exaggerations, outright falsehoods, and racial fear mongering that served to sanction atrocities and ethnic cleansing in the name of democracy. The rush to war was far speedier than Bush’s invasion of Iraq.

Max Forte has scrutinized the documentary history from before, during, and after the war. He argues that it was not about human rights, nor entirely about oil, but about a larger process of militarizing U.S. relations with Africa. The development of the Pentagon’s AFRICOM is seen to be in competition with Pan-Africanist initiatives such as those spearheaded by Muammar Gaddafi.

Far from the success NATO boasts about or the “high watermark” proclaimed by proponents of the “Responsibility to Protect,” this war has left the once prosperous, independent and defiant Libya in ruin, dependency and prolonged civil strife.

Maximilian C. Forte is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec.

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WASHIKA, A Novel, by Robert A. Poirier, November 8; Ebook and tradepaper ($24.95)

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It’s summer sometime in the ’60s. Twenty-one testosterone-drenched high school graduates are bussed into Washika Bay, a Company logging camp where they will work for the summer. Idealistic, confident, sometimes troubled, they meet their matches in tough older bush workers, a devastating forest fire, sand flies and leeches, and occasionally beautiful young women, especially on weekends in their hometown. Henri Morin is particularly sensitive and, though a hard worker, he appears to harbour dark thoughts. Washika Bay has a profound effect on him. In no other place could the transition from adolescence to adulthood be the same.

Robert Poirier has created characters that readers will never forget, and through them and their experiences, he has revived an era and inspired new life into a wild and beautiful place.

Robert A. Poirier runs a wild animal rehabilitation centre, treating and caring for all species of fauna. Previously, he cofounded an ambulance cooperative and taught high school science. Fluent in English and French, he now studying Algonquin and has embraced Anishinabeg spiritual practices. He lives on his land near Maniwaki, Quebec.

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THE ADVENTURES OF RADISSON 1, HELL NEVER BURNS, by Martin Fournier (translated by Peter McCambridge): November 15; Ebook and tradepaper ($19.95)

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Spring 1651: a young man from Paris lands in Trois-Rivières on the St. Lawrence River. Within weeks, the course of his life changes dramatically when Iroquois braves capture him. Pierre-Esprit Radisson, then only fifteen years old, begins a new life. Canoeing across rivers and lakes and portaging over mountains, Radisson’s captors take him to distant lands where first they torture him, then adopt him as a brother.

In this first tome of the adventures of North America’s most famous coureur des bois, readers voyage into the heart of a continent’s history in an era of bravery and heroism. Newcomers from France and indigen­ous peoples meet, sometimes as friends and allies, sometimes as bitter enemies. Martin Fournier brings to bear his impassioned story-telling skills and historian’s rigour to produce a novel that is a thrilling read from start to finish.

“Ganaha, the kindly Iroquois who was in a way his personal protector saw to it that he came to no harm. Though he believed his odds of survival to be slim indeed, hope again began to stir in his heart. On the morning of the fourth day, Ganaha painted half of Radisson’s face red and the other half black. Then, his captors clambered back into their canoes and paddled south, along a broad river. (…) his fate remained in the balance: black for death, red for life.”

Martin Fournier won the Governor General’s Award for the original French version of The Adventures of Radisson, 1. Both historian (PhD) and writer, he is Project Coordinator and Editor of the Encyclopedia of French Cultural Herit­age in North America. His nonfiction has focused on Radisson and day-to-day life in New France.