Shorter Notices
| Published date | 01 December 1960 |
| Date | 01 December 1960 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206001500428 |
| Subject Matter | Shorter Notices |
Shorter
Notices
CANADIANS
AND
FoREIGN
PouIcy.
The record
of
an
independent
investi-
gation.
By
Fred
Alexander.
1960.
(Toronto: University
of
Toronto
Press.
160pp.
$3.95.)
Professor
Alexander
is
head
of
the
department
of
history
at
the
University
of
Western
Australia
and
this
book
is
the
very
personal
and
informal
account
of
his observations
made
during
a
sojurn
in
Canada
in
the
latter
part
of
1958.
It
is
almost
in
the
form
of
a
diary;
but,
while
the author
eschews
academic
detachment
and
the
statistical
method, he
has
nevertheless
been
careful
to
indicate
the
wide
range
of
his
reading,
personal interviews,
and
even
casual
conversations.
The
result
is
an interesting
mixture
of
perceptive
comments
and
rather
well-known
facts.
The
title
is
somewhat misleading,
for
most
of
the
volume
is
concerned
with
Canadian
opinion
about
our
relations
with
the
United
States.
Surprisingly
little
space
is
given
to
our
views
on
NATO,
the
United
Nations,
neutralism
per
se,
or
even
the
Common-
wealth (an
area
of
Canadian
opinion,
which
Professor
Alexander
frankly
admits,
is
baffling).
The
author
is
really
trying
to
tell
us
what
makes
us
tick
as
a
nation.
If
he
is
not entirely
unbiased,
at
least
he
writes with
a
non-Canadian
bias;
and
for
taking
the
time to
report
to
us we
should
be
grateful
to
him.
[KENNETH
McNAUGHT]
LE
VRAI
VISAGE
DE
DUPLEssIS.
By
Pierre
Laporte.
1960.
(Montreal:
Les
6ditions
de
l'homme.
140pp.
$1.00.)
English
edition:
THE
TRUE
FACE
OF
DUPLESSIS.
1960.
(Montreal:
Harvest
House
Ltd.
140pp.
$1.50
paper
back;
$3.50
cloth
bound.)
Pierre
Laporte
is
Le
Devoir's
correspondent
at
the
Quebec
legis-
lature
and
he
is a
first-rate
reporter.
He
knew
the
late
Premier
Duplessis
well
enough
to
take
immediate
advantage
of
the
hungry
market for
any
sort
of
biography
of
him,
and Le
vrai
visage
began
its
second
edition
within
a
week
of
the first
edition
reaching
the
news-
stands.
The
signs
of
hasty
composition
are
clear
enough.
Laporte
repeats
himself.
He
does
not
bother
to
look
back
in
the
files
of
his
own
paper
to
give
his
statements
precision;
rather
he
is
content
with
"Vers
1951
ou
1953
. . ."
(84);
"je
ne
sais
plus lequel
. . ."
(109);
"c'0tait probable-
ment
1950
..."
(119).
There
are
also
some
odd
gaps
in
the
story
he
tells.
Some
he
is
aware
of himself.
He
lists
as omissions:
relations
with
the
clergy;
the struggle
for
provincial autonomy;
the
ferocity
with
which
Duplessis
fought
elections.
To
these
should be
added
at
least
one
more
topic:
Duplessis'
relations
with
English
Quebec-with
St.
James'
Street
and
the
heads
of
the great
corporations.
There
are
only
To continue reading
Request your trial