Praise for "Madness, Betrayal and the Lash"
"A fascinating adventure story with vivid descriptions of 18th century geopolitics and native and British societies . . .Stephen Bown is emerging as Canada's Simon Winchester."
– The Globe and Mail
"…it's obvious that [Bown's] ambition is to elevate Vancouver to the pantheon occupied by his contemporaries James Cook and Horatio Nelson. And he makes a good case, especially given that Vancouver completed a four-year circumnavigation of the globe without losing a man to scurvy, the curse of the mariners during that era. …Nonetheless, the explorer is well served by this Alberta-based historian's clear-eyed, respectful charting of his life and times."
– Georgia Straight
"This is no pure high seas adventure. Just as engaging is Bown's account of the scourging Vancouver received back in England at the hands of higher-class shipmates who had endured his onboard discipline."
– Toronto Star
"[Bown] reminds us that our knowledge isn't always entirely accurate. Often, the people who get credit in history aren't the ones who deserve it. Such mistakes need to be corrected. …Thanks to him, we learn that George Vancouver was ‘at heart, a good man. He accomplished great things and, as our historical and cultural ancestor, he deserves a greater place in our collective memory.'"
– Vancouver Sun
"[Madness, Betrayal and the Lash] transcends the dry historical works most of us slogged through in our school years. With Bown as the animator, the key figures in these remarkable moments in human history spring to life, dragging the reader along on their exploits like those in a good novel."
– Rocky Mountain Outlook
Praise for "Forgotten Highways"
"Brink and Bown's eloquent descriptions of the Rockies today would undoubtedly make the early explorers proud. And their book brings the incredible accomplishments of the pioneers into focus for modern readers without turning into a dry history lesson."
– Calgary Herald
"A well-crafted mix of history and story about a part of our immediate world that was once well-travelled but is now seldom visited and essentially frozen in time."
– Rocky Mountain Outlook
"A delightful account of a grand plan to hike important routes in the backcountry of Alberta and British Columbia, all in one summer, as a way to experience the historical reality faced by the men and women who had preceded them."
– Edmonton Journal
"This book is a compelling account of adventures in the past and present. . . .Despite the trials of wet weather and overgrown trails, they maintained their sense of humour and an appreciation for their good fortune in being able to explore these wilderness highways which played such a significant role in shaping Canada. Their book beckons us to follow."
– Canadian Literature
Praise for "A Most Damnable Invention"
"Bown follows his well-received Scurvy with another sedulously researched and well-written popular history. He's particularly good at penning provocative theories that link seemingly modest events to monumental changes in the course of history. For example, prior to the Franco-Prussian War, the French government, unlike Prussia, refused to allow its munitions experts to develop weaponry utilizing Alfred Nobel's powerful new explosive, dynamite. The result, according to Bown, was a humiliating defeat that forced the French to submit to onerous treaty terms that helped set the stage for WWI. Bown's knowledge of his subject is impressive, and he has interesting things to say about the science and scientists central to the development of explosives; the role these explosives played in Japan, China and India; and positive changes facilitated by the use of high explosives in mining and construction. Bown also has a good eye for the unintended consequences, ironies and contradictions that are the product of social and technological force of great magnitude. That Alfred Nobel used the proceeds of his vast munitions fortune to fund the Nobel Prizes is perhaps the ultimate example."
– Publisher's Weekly
"Canadian writer Bown explores some of history's dustiest galleries to marshal personalities and events that, having changed the world, have been largely forgotten. . . . The author ventures through the ebb and flow of nitrate commerce as the vast, (literally) stinking "guano island" deposits off the Chilean coast become, essentially, the Saudi Arabia of a 19th century world in need of both nitrogen-based fertilizers and yet more gunpowder. . . . Bown effectively revisits the geopolitical intrigues that accrued around a now forgotten commodity."
– Kirkus Reviews
"It would seem hard to imagine a thrilling must-be-read-at-one-sitting page-turner in which the main elements of the story involve compost, bird droppings and chemical reactions. Yet this is exactly what Stephen R. Bown has achieved in "A Most Damnable Invention," a fast paced, gripping narrative in which these elements play major roles in the invention and development of explosives." Read more>>
– The Washington Times
"Stephen Bown is starting to make a habit of uncovering little known nuggets of historical fact and weaving them into amazing stories that marry biography and science to show how one seemingly simple event can change the entire course of world history. . . . The tale is a fascinating one."
– Rocky Mountain Outlook
"With the expertise of a skilled storyteller, Bown once again provides an exciting work of popular history, this time all about nitrate, nitroglycerin, and dynamite. . . . Recommended for academic and public libraries of all size."
– Library Journal
"This excellent addition to the history of science, military history, and the history of human progress as one of accidents and good intentions deserves a much bigger audience than its focus might lead one to expect. Vivid science writing on a compelling topic."
– BOOKLIST
Learn more about "A Most Damnable Invention".
Praise for "Scurvy"
"Only through the growing weight of shipboard experience, plus the efforts of a few influential naval officers, did bad theory give way to sound practice, and scurvy begin to vanish from the sailor’s life. Today it is consigned largely to the pages of history—none more informative and readable than those of Stephen Bown."
– Natural History Magazine
"a swift and powerful geopolitical portrait, with scurvy as protagonist. Conquest of navies and of nations relied on taming the illness, the author writes, arguing deftly that America's War for Independence and Napoleon's campaign of conquest pivoted on the plight of scurvy-ridden ships."
– Dallas Morning News
"Bown is a meticulous researcher and a gripping storyteller. He not only delves into the fascinating turns in science and military history, but he puts the disease's origins and treatments in a social and political perspective."
– Canadian Geographic
"Bown really hits his stride with this one, weaving a tale of medical discovery into a swashbuckling adventure on the high seas that deserves to give the reigning king of the romance of science genre, Simon Winchester, a good run for his money." Read more>>
– Toronto Star
"The author tells this remarkable story with the skill of a master mariner alternatively marshalling a mix of great characters and historical fact to ably navigate the mystery of Scurvy along." Read more>>
– Globe And Mail
"A spirited, stimulating account of how the cure for the feared disease was found, lost, and found again. ... Splendid popular history." Read more>>
– Kirkus Reviews
Learn more about "Scurvy".
Praise for "Sightseers and Scholars"
"Canadian historical writer Stephen Bown's wry style and deft choice of anecdotes underscore the depth of their passion for science."
– The Globe and Mail
"Written in economical and forthright text, each story has all the elements of a good piece of fiction: interesting characters, smart plot twists and each conveys the full arc of human lives in an historical context. . . . This is heady stuff: smart and entertaining and poignant."
– CD Syndicated, Vancouver
Learn more about "Sightseers and Scholars".
