Beyond Belief: Incredible Stories of Old St John's

Description

151 pages
Contains Photos
$12.95
ISBN 1-894294-31-9
DDC 971.8'1

Year

2001

Contributor

Reviewed by Melvin Baker

Melvin Baker is an archivist and historian at Memorial University of
Newfoundland, and the co-editor of Dictionary of Newfoundland and
Labrador Biography.

Review

Beyond Belief is a compilation of approximately half of the author’s
writings that have appeared in his 15 other immensely popular books on
the history of St. John’s, published over the past 20 years, and some
new stories. Fitzgerald’s general approach to each story (there are 90
of them) is a brief, 500-word account based on information culled from
local newspapers and city residents. Thus, the reader is treated to
articles on buried treasure, murder cases, the supernatural, the
city’s military history (including Nazi spies that were in the city
during World War II), Newfoundland’s IRA connections, odd marine
stories, and “outstanding and unusual people.” As the book’s
backcover notes, the various “macabre, curious and incredible”
topics are intended to promote the colorful history of old St. John’s
as a “City of Legends.” And Beyond Belief does just that.

Citation

Fitzgerald, Jack., “Beyond Belief: Incredible Stories of Old St John's,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed March 29, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/7831.