One of the more spectacular book launch parties this year was Penguin Group’s launch of Ridgeway by Peter Vronsky according to Booklaunch.ca . The reception for the release of this new history book on the forgotten American invasion of Canada in 1866 was held in a regimental officers’ mess and highlighted by a demonstration of historical close order drill.

Guests were wined and dined in 19th century military splendour and drink in the rarely seen Queen’s Own Rifles Officers’ Mess, secreted in the bunker-like Moss Park Armoury on the north-east corners of downtown Toronto’s Jarvis and Queen Streets, at the book launch of Ridgeway: The American Fenian Invasion and the 1866 Battle That Made Canada by Peter Vronsky.

Hosted by Ben McNally Books and the regimental association of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada (QOR), the exclusive event was held in near military secrecy during Remembrance Day week with only a select list of literary, media and military guests invited to celebrate the launch of a new volume in the ongoing Penguin Books History of Canada series.

Ridgeway by Peter Vronsky describes Canada’s forgotten first modern battle fought on the eve of Confederation outside the village of Ridgerway near Fort Erie Canada on the border with Buffalo New York in 1866 during the Irish American Fenian invasion of Canada. Peter Vronsky argues that the modern nature of Canada was significantly shaped by the battle and the Fenian crisis but that its history became ‘inconvenient’ to national founding myths and was covered up to such an extent that most Canadians today have never heard of this battle, the last fought against a foreign invasion in what is today Ontario.

Significantly this was Canada’s first battle fought in the post-Napoleonic modern age of steam engines, telegraph, rifled barrels, mass newspaper media, public opinion, parliamentary democracy, and the first to be fought exclusively by Canadian troops led entirely by Canadian officers. The nine Canadian soldiers killed on the morning of June 2, 1866 were from the 151-year-old Toronto regiment Queen’s Own Rifles, including three University of Toronto student volunteer riflemen. They were modern Canada’s first military casualties according to Peter Vronsky, an investigative historian with a Ph.d. from University of Toronto in intelligence and criminal justice history who lectures in the History of International Relations at Toronto’s Ryerson University.

In his remarks at the launch, Vronsky pled the case for the nine fallen soldiers to be recognized in Canada’s official Books of Remembrance and for their government-neglected graves in various locations in Ontario to be granted official Canada War Grave status and the care that goes with it.

Peter Vronsky is a filmmaker and investigative historian and the author of a bestseller history of serial homicide: Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters from Penguin – Berkley Books. Ridgeway his new book, has been described as a ‘steampunkers’ military history of Canada at its Confederation.

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A great song sung by the woilfetones and many others. I also had to download what I like the song so much. Enjoy. XD

The deadline is to reserve a room at John Ascuaga?s Nugget in Reno/Sparks, NV, for the 2012 Firearms Engravers & Gunmakers Exhibition is Dec. 19.

The annual event, a joint effort of the American Custom Gunmakers Guild (http://www.ACGG.org) and the Firearms Engravers Guild of America (http://www.FEGA.com), is set for Jan. 20-22.

To make reservations for a stay at the Nugget, call (800) 648-1177. The Reservation Code is GFIRE12. The room rate is $ 110 per night plus tax and fee. Attendees may also reserve a hotel room online by visiting the Guilds? websites.

Exhibition dates are concurrent with the Wild Sheep Foundation?s ?Sheep Show,? the largest mountain hunting convention under one roof. Exhibition attendees will receive discounted admission to the ?Sheep Show.?

Admission cost for the Firearms Engravers & Gunmakers Exhibition is $ 20 per person per day and is paid at the entrance. Hours are noon to 9 p.m., Friday; and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.

The exhibition?s theme for 2012 is ?Reward Yourself: Isn’t It time for a Custom Gun??

Here are some comments about the 2011 event:

?The only place to be if you just want to see custom guns and get a chance to actually meet and talk to the makers. It?s great because it?s focused and intimate.?

?Just returned from my first show, and to say that I was impressed would be a vast understatement. Thank all of you for carrying on such superb craftsmanship.?

In addition to displays by ACGG and FEGA members, the three-day event also features select exhibitors from members of The American Bladesmith Society and the Knifemakers Guild. For a comprehensive list of exhibitors, go to http://www.ACGG.org/events/2012-exhibitors.

As has been the tradition, free seminars will be presented on the Monday following the exhibition; in this case, Jan. 23.

ACGG offers a seminar from 9 a.m. to noon. It is titled ?Accuracy Principles and Application to the Modern Sporting Rifle? by Speedy Gonzalez.

FEGA offers the following seminars: ?Flush Gold Inlay? by Bob Evans; ?Movement in Design? by Lee Griffiths; and, ?Basic Metal Carving? by Andrew Biggs.

On Saturday evening, a Banquet, Awards and Auctions event is scheduled.

?Enjoy a fun social evening and get acquainted with Guild members,? said Jan Billeb, who has coordinated the exhibition since 1985. ?Tickets include a drink during the cocktail hour and a wonderful Nugget dinner. Reserve your banquet ticket no later than Jan. 10.?

To reserve banquet tickets, which are $ 47 per person, contact Patti Murry, Exhibition, 307 Division St, Northfield, MN 55057, via phone at (507) 645-8811 or you can print out a form on the Guilds? websites: http://www.ACGG.org and http://www.FEGA.com.

About ACGG and FEGA: The American Custom Gunmakers Guild (ACGG) advances the art of custom gunmaking by increasing public awareness and appreciation for quality custom firearms and promoting custom gunmaking as an accepted art form. The goals of the Firearms Engravers Guild of America (FEGA) are to provide opportunities for engravers to exchange ideas and knowledge, assist in improving individual skills and raise public interest and appreciation in quality firearms engraving.

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