Social Studies: I

brothers." He was "at his best under fire" and therefore popular with the lower ranks; but he was one who "lacked a sure touch in dealing with subordinates." His decision to attack at Anse au Foulon is shown as a lucky gamble that came off because a long series ofchances all turned out in his favour. Montcalm fares no better. Perhaps a sounder strategist that Wolfe, yet he had the wild idea of retreating with his whole force down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and he also erred in allowing his Quebec garrison to depend on a vulnerable line of communications from up river. His refusal to be tempted out from the defences despite the provocation of Wolfe's treatment ofthe habitants was justified by events; but the decision to risk everything on an immediate attack against Wolfe's army when it was discovered on the Plains is described as a fatal error. His fame, like that of Wolfe, is shown to rest more on the significance of the battle than on his skill. Colonel Stacey would admit neither man to be one of the "Great Captains" ofhistory. We are left to wonder whether we should make national heroes of men for their achievements despite themselvesor do without national heroes. Some readers would have preferred not to have learned the truth about Wolfe and Montcalm. (RICHARD A. PRESTON) 'SOCIAL STUDIES: I / Alexander Brady Since the last war a tendency among many Canadian historians has been to deploy their talents on biography. Between I945 and I959 a small shelfof books appeared whose authors explored intensively the character and achievements ofleading figures in the country's past. Such notably are the two volumes on Sir John A. Macdonald by Donald Creighton, the second volume of Egerto" Ryerson: His Life alld Letters, by C. B. Sissons, Goldwin Smith, Victorian Liberal, by Elisabeth Wallace, Sir Edmund Head, by D. G. G. Kerr, and William LyolIMackenzie King, by R. MacGregor Dawson. In the present year this continued emphasis on biography is evident in Frontenac, The Gourtier Governor, by W. J. Eccles (McClelland & Stewart, pp. x, 406, S6·50), Brown ofthe Globe, I: The Voice of Upper Ganado, 1818- 1859, by J. M. S. Careless (Macmillan, pp. x, 354, illus., -I wish to acknowledge the generous assistance of Miss E. Wallace and Miss M. Avison. 504 tq LInTERS IN CANADA: 1959 $6.00), and A Prophet in Politics: A Biography of]. s. Woodsworth, by Kelmeth McNaught (University of Toronto Press, pp. viii, 339, $5.95). Space here does not permit adequate ruminations on the reasons for this trend and its significance. It is mainly a response of writers to the opportunity created by the rapid accumulation of accessible documents. The ofliciallife ofMackenzie King was something apart, since remarkably generous funds were made available to facilitate the necessary research, writing, and publication. In the other cases the obsolescence of older studies and the accessibility of unexplored manuscripts have tempted writers to try a new appraisal. History is something more than biography, but is enriched by scholarly and imaginative biographies which demonstrate how human personality contributes to the sequence and shaping of events. Admittedly history is also distorted when biographers become unashamed apologists, puff up the qualities and achievements of their subjects, suppress the unpalatable facts about them, attribute to them an influence immeasurably greater than is warranted, and accommodate the history of an era to their convenience. The three biographies cited principally enrich rather than distort history. Mr. Eccles brings a keen and scholarly spirit to the assessment of Frontenac's place in the story ofNew France and produces a book erudite and lucid. He presents no ill-grounded eulogy, for he views Frontenac's first and contentious period of administration as lamentable in its ineptitude . He awards him, however, some restrained credit for the conduct of affairs in his second term as Governor, especially for his repulse of the English in their attempt to capture Quebec, his defeat ofthe Iroquois, and his execution dfFrench policy (in all its doubtful wisdom) of expanding to the heart df the continent. He makes it clear that Frontenac received more commendation in the history books than he deserved, for the...