Rare Ambition: The Crosbies of Newfoundland

by Michael Harris

Rare ambition book

432 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 4, 1993

About the author

One of Canada’s top investigative writers, Michael Terry Harris was winner of the 1995 Arthur Ellis Award for best true crime book for The Prodigal Husband: The Tragedy of Helmuth and Hannah Buxbaum. Formerly the publisher of the Sunday Express in St. John’s and later the Executive Director of News and Current Affairs for the Newfoundland Broadcasting Corporation, Harris has also been Queen’s Park correspondent for the National Post, and a national affairs columnist for the Sun News Service. Today, he host’s his own radio program, “Michael Harris Live,” on CFRA in Ottawa.

Harris’s previous books consist of the award-winners Justice Denied: The Law versus Donald Marshall (1986), Unholy Orders: Tragedy at Mount Cashel (1990), Rare Ambition: The Crosbies of Newfoundland (1992), The Prodigal Husband (1994). The Judas Kiss: The Undercover Life of Patrick Kelly (1995), was made into a television movie starring Paul Gross, and Lament for an Ocean: The Collapse of the Atlantic Cod Fishery (1998) was a national bestseller. To date, his work has sparked four royal commissions of inquiry.

Reviews

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've seen this book critiqued for not giving a better picture of Newfoundland life, but I have to disagree with that assertion. This was a fascinating look at one particular family from the Rock; an ambitious and savvy group that understood what it would take for them to thrive. It demonstrates the evolution of the small town business world to the post-confederation world, and how that mindset lingered. What most readers would interpret as nepotism and incredibly corrupt political and business dealings really make sense when you refer back to the earliest generations included in this biography. It doesn't excuse certain actions of Smallwood or the Crosbies, but you can see why they wouldn't necessarily have the same scruples...they were just carrying on the way their forefathers did. Overall it was a pretty interesting look at the wheeling and dealings of St. John's and environs, with a very strong cast of characters.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read giving many insights into the real workings of politics and politicians.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tres interesting