Böcker av Jean-Claude Castex

Love and hate were once the main purveyors of the gallows. The tragic fates of three women executed by hanging in the days of New France and the United-Canada bear witness to this. Reconstructing the events from historical articles and, above all, from the Ottawa Criminal Archives, the author recounts these little-known stories that animated the lives of former Canadians:¿The crime and hanging of a young Montreal slave, Marie-Joseph Angélique, who, out of hatred, set fire to half the city of Montreal in 1734.¿the murders perpetrated by the legendary Marie-Josephte Corriveau, and her execution in 1763, on the very spot where Quebec's National Assembly now stands.¿the crimes committed by Marie-Anne Crispin, the murder of her husband and that of her lover's wife, as well as her problematic death on the gallows with her accomplice in 1858, which provoked an extremely violent riot in the streets of Montreal.This plunge into the heart of the crimes, trials and executions gives us an unusual opportunity to relive a part of Quebec's judicial History.

This book is a critical edition of the French, American, and English motivations during the American War of Independence, because ''where there is no freedom of blaming, there can be no genuine praise''. (Beaumarchais). The American Revolution is in full swing. Deep in their hearts, the Canadians of the defunct New France will take advantage of the opportunity to free themselves from the English occupiers. But does France care about recovering this immense territory? For the first time without allies against France, England collapses in defeat under the applause of other European powers: Prussia, Austria, Spain, Russia, the Netherlands... Why didn't the French take advantage of this to take back New France from the humiliated England? From diplomatic documents, the author delivers in this book the key to this fascinating enigma.

Are you opposed to death penalty? If you are in favor, it is likely that reading this book will convince you to oppose it because of the statistically inevitable miscarriages of justice. This work in two volumes brings to life fourteen women, with their strengths and weaknesses, their inexpiable crimes and their inhuman punishments, their guilt or their innocence. They are the only Canadian women who died by Court Order in what is now our great country. The motives for these female crimes are particularly noteworthy: extramarital love was the main motive, theft and religious discrimination in two cases, and revenge in one. Among the 699 men who were sentenced to death, the order of motives was totally reversed, and drunkenness was more frequent than love passion. All of these criminal investigations are based on the Federal Archives of Justice in Ottawa.

The Battle of Grand Coteau remains one of the greatest sources of pride for Métis peoples in Western Canada. On that day, July 13, 1851, a handful of 80 proud and daring Métis fighters came up against 2,000 intrepid Sioux warriors. The latter, absolute Masters of the Prairie, had decided to prohibit the Métis from hunting bison, which was essential to the very survival of this French-speaking people. The fierce battle lasted two long days and killed 80 fighters before the Sioux agreed to share their game-rich hunting grounds. Thus was born in blood a great Nation.

Durant la Guerre d'Ind¿pendance am¿ricaine s'affrontent la France et l'Angleterre. Au fond de leur coeur, les Canadiens-Fran?ais esp?rent que la France va reprendre le Canada. Pour la premi?re fois sans alli¿s dans une guerre contre la France, l'Angleterre s'¿croule dans une d¿faite humiliante sous les applaudissements des autres puissances europ¿ennes : Prusse, Autriche, Espagne, Russie, Pays-Bas... Pourquoi les Fran?ais ne profitent-ils pas de leur ¿clatante victoire pour r¿cup¿rer le Canada ? Ë partir de documents diplomatiques, l'auteur livre dans cet ouvrage la cl¿ de cette ¿nigme passionnante. Jean-Claude Castex scrute et d¿cortique la R¿volution am¿ricaine pour nous en faire savourer 'la substantifique moelle' comme l'aurait ¿crit le docte Rabelais.

L'auteur s'est efforcé dans cet ouvrage en deux tomes de faire revivre toutes les femmes canadiennes mortes sur la potence afin de leur donner la chance unique de proclamer leur innocence, si tel était le cas, après des siècles de silence. Car certaines sont assurément en droit de nous convaincre qu'elles ont, hélas, été victimes d'erreurs judiciaires et que la vie leur a été indûment confisquée.