Book Review: Thy People, My People
| Published date | 01 March 1951 |
| Date | 01 March 1951 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070205100600111 |
| Author | Malcolm W. Wallace |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
REVIEWS 57
steam.
In
the present
volume
this
is
summarized
in
two
concluding
chapters
for
which
he
makes
some
apology.
They
are indeed
rather
perfunctory
and
reflect
an
inadequate examination
of
Canadian-as
distinct
from
British-records.
The author
seems
to
show
a
certain
bias
against
the
Laurier
naval
policy
and
in
favour
of
Borden's.
He
does
not
mention
the
unanimous
resolution
passed
by
the Canadian
House
of
Commons
in
1909
supporting
the
policy
of
organizing
a
Canadian
navy
in
close
relation
with
that
of
Britain,
nor
the
heavy
responsibility
that
Borden
took
when
he
decided
to
disrupt
this
unity
the
following
year.
We
still
badly
need
an
authoritative
and
impartial
examination
of
the
naval
question
in
the
years
1909-14.
Perhaps
in
due course
Professor
Graham
will
give
it
to
us.
To
do
so,
however,
he will
have
to
dig
into
the
Canadian
documents
more
deeply
than
he
has yet
done.
The
volume
contains
a
good
many
misprints
and
errors
of
detail.
Writing
of
the
British
squadron
on
Lake
Ontario
in
1812,
the
author
says,
"They
had
one
ship,
the
Prince
Regent,
two
brigs,
the
Earl
of
Moira
and
the
Gloucester,
as
well
as
two
schooners,
Seneca
and
Simcoe."
Actually, the ship's
name was
Royal
George
(the
Moira
was
also
ship-
rigged in
1812)
;
the
Prince
Regent
and
the
Duke
of
Gloucester
were
schooners;
the
Seneca,
though
mentioned
in
American documents,
defies
identification
in
British
records;
and
the
Simcoe
was
a
merchant
vessel
until
1813.
And
this
reviewer
refuses
to
believe
that
"Sloops
and brigs
were
simply
small
frigates"
(page
320).
It
is
a
pity
that
such
slips
as
these
occur
to
mar
a
sound
and
useful
book.
Ottawa,
July
1950.
C.
P.
Stacey
THY
PEOPLE,
MY
PEOPLE.
By
Elizabeth
Sims
Hoemberg.
1950.
(Toronto:
Dent.
314
pp.
$3.00,
members
$2.40).
This
is
a
very unusually
interesting
war-book.
The
author,
Eliza-
beth Sims
Hoemberg,
is
a
Canadian
who
was
formerly
on
the
staff
of
the
University
of
Toronto,
and
who
spent
all
of
the
war
years
in
Germany
as
the
wife
of
a
young
German
historian, Albert Hoemberg.
Their
diaries
and
letters,
printed
as
they
were
written
from
day
to
day,
make
up the
book.
Albert
Hoemberg
and
all
his family
detested
the
Nazi
r~gime,
which
had
already
imprisoned
one
of
his
brothers
for
several
months
in
a
concentration
camp.
By
April
1940
he
was
called
up
for
military
service,
and
because
of
weak
lungs
he
was
assigned
to
the
Ground
Staff
of
the
Luftwaffe.
Throughout
the
greater
part
of
the
war
he
was
sta-
tioned
in
France,
and an
occasional
brief
leave
enabled
him to
see
his
wife
and
children
in
Roxel,
the
small
village
near Miinster
in
which
they
lived.
For
safe
keeping
they
buried
their
diaries
in
the
garden,
but
they
were
able
to
exchange
letters
freely,
chiefly
because
censorship
was
a
very minor
concern
of
the
authorities.
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