Here is the selections for June's Book Tuesday.
Yes I know Tues June 1st was technically the first Tuesday of June but, whatever 😄
Enjoy
Victorian Society of Alberta
The Last Spike
by Pierre Berton
In the four years between 1881 and 1885, Canada was forged into one nation by the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Last Spike
reconstructs the incredible story of how some 2,000 miles of steel
crossed the continent in just five years — exactly half the time
stipulated in the contract. Pierre Berton recreates the adventures that
were part of this vast undertaking: the railway on the brink of
bankruptcy, with one hour between it and ruin; the extraordinary land
boom of Winnipeg in 1881–1882; and the epic tale of how William Van
Horne rushed 3,000 soldiers over a half-finished railway to quell the
Riel Rebellion.
Dominating the whole saga are the men who made it
all possible — a host of astonishing characters: Van Horne, the
powerhouse behind the vision of a transcontinental railroad; Rogers, the
eccentric surveyor; Onderdonk, the cool New Yorker; Stephen, the most
emotional of businessmen; Father Lacombe, the black-robed voyageur; Sam
Steele, of the North West Mounted Police; Gabriel Dumont, the Prince of
the Prairies; more than 7,000 Chinese workers, toiling and dying in the
canyons of the Fraser Valley; and many more — land sharks, construction
geniuses, politicians, and entrepreneurs — all of whom played a role in
the founding of the new Canada west of Ontario.
The House of Worth: The Birth of Haute Couture
by Chantal Trubert-Tollu
Arriving in Paris in 1845, at the age of twenty and with only a few francs in his pocket, Charles Frederick Worth would go on to build the most prominent, innovative, and successful fashion house of the century. He was inspired by a love of fine art, luxurious fabrics, and his vision of the female ideal, and was the first to set out to dictate new styles and silhouettes to his elite clientele— not the other way around. He hosted them in his rue de la Paix salons, which included groundbreaking sportswear and maternity departments as well as silk, velvet, and brocade rooms, and a special salon with closed shutters and gas lighting designed to allow clients to try on ball gowns in lighting conditions precisely matched to those of the event at which they would be worn.
Organized chronologically and illustrated with striking ensembles, paintings, and documents sourced from both private family archives and the best fashion collections from museums around the world, The House of Worth is an inspiring tribute to the house that started it all.
