Bretton Woods Revisited ed. by A.K.L. Acheson, J.F. Chant, M.F.J. Prachowny (review)

204 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW patternforhistorical scholarship in Canada, wecanexpect highlyprofessional studies, but we can alsoexpectthat mostof the readers will be professional historians. H. BLAIR NEATBY CarletonUniversity BrettonWoods Revisited. Editedby A.•C.I•. ACH•.SO•, J.F.CHANT, and M.v.J. P•,•½xeow•¾. Toronto, University ofToronto Press, I972.Pp.xxiv,•38.$7.5 o. The Bretton Woods Conference, heldin JulyI944,wasthebirthplace of the International MonetaryFund (mF or Fund) and the International Bankfor Reconstruction and Development (IBm)or WorldBank). On the twenty-fifth anniversary of Bretton Woods, Queen's University sponsored a conference of retrospective andprospective evaluation of the 'Bretton Woods twins.' The retrospective sections include papers bythose wellqualified to report. Bretton Woods grewfromtwoindependent seedlings-Keynes' I942 Clearing Union proposal intheUnitedKingdom andtheWhite-Bernstein proposals intheUnitedStates . The papers byKeynes' confidante andbiographer, Harrod,andby Bernstein aretherefore muchin order.The history andpolitics areputin careful perspective by Richard Gardner, and Raymond Mikesell evaluates the WorldBank's firstquartercentury. The reminiscences of foureminent Canadian veteransof BrettonWoods- Deutsch,Mackintosh,Plumptre,and Rasminsky serve tosupport Plumptre's image ofBretton Woods asan'^Be affair' in whichAmerican, British,and Canadianeffortswereof paramount importance . The retrospective papers havea common thread.No oneexpected thefund and the bankto develop exactly astheydid, but all weresurprised at their successful evolutioninto durableand activemultinationalagencies. The prospective papers byMundell andPrebisch, andtheassessments byP.-P.SchweitzerandHarryJohnson all suffer fromthepassage of almost foureventful years between theQueen's conference anddistribution of thevolume of proceedings. Would Mundell still be as confidentthat the us dollar was ending the first decade of a reignof at leastfiftyyears at the centreof a word dollarstandard ?Complaints aboutlackof worldleadership, especially on thepartof the fund,havestood the testof timeratherbetter,ashavethe statements about theinadequate levels of foreign aid.The conference itselfgaveriseto nobold proposals thatwould helpmuch withcontemporary problems. Perhaps thisis not of crucialimportance, giventhe general opinion at the conference that nothing assupranational in scope asthefundandbankcouldhavecome to fruition if BrettonWoodshad not takenplacein mid-I944. The editorshave contributeda fourteen-page introduction,bringingthe story ofthe•MFuptotheendof•97• andidentifying themain characters and themes of theQueen's conference. Ashistory, thisvolume hasnothing likethe scope oftheI•F'sofficial history ofitself. Nevertheless, these counterpoised re- REVIEWS 205 fiections by a varietyof BrettonWoodsparticipants pro,vide an interesting adjunct to the officialrecord. JOHN HELLIWELL Universityo[ BritishColumbia In De[enceo[ Canada.nx: Peacemaking and Deterrence.j^•v.s v.^¾Rs. Toronto ,Universityof TorontoPress,I972. Pp. xiv, 448, illus.$I7.5o. JamesEayrsis oneof the few Canadian academics who are constantlyin the public eye; Hissyndicated newspaper columns present a weekly dietofintelligentcomment and sardonic wit to a publicthat is less usedto suchcommoditiesthanit shouldbe.Lesssuccessfully, histelevision appearances tried to do the same.His otherlife makesProfessor Eayrsa special case,but it mustbe noted that he is one of the very few 'public'academics anywhere who continueto produce serious scholarly work. The publicEayrsispleasant enough and no oneshouldcarpat him for enjoyingit ashe obviously does. But wemayseriously beginto doubtthewisdom of Eayrs'extra-scholarly diversions when it beginsto affecthis serious work. To write a columneachweekrequires a facilepen,a singlepoint,and a few apt quotations. Eayrscando thisaswellasanymancan.But a bookissurely a differentmatter. Pointsmustbeexpanded, theremustbean argument,there mustbe a pointof view. Theseessentials are missing from volumem of In De[enceo[ Canada.What wehavehereisa series of essays on carefully definedtopics. Someof theessays are brilliant, someare not; but all are essentially unrelatedoneto the other, exceptastheyfall within a certainchronological period.There isno thesis, no continuity,no consistent point of view, none of the criteria for a book.It is almostasif Eayrsdecided to put together someof the longerpieces for which the TorontoStar hadno_space, to add the footnotes,' and to call the result volume This is disappointing because Eayrs' two earlier volumeswere brilliantly done.The researchwas first classand still holdsup, althoughvolume• has beenout for almostten years.Someof the tendencies that spoilPeacemaking and Deterrence wereapparent,but the scholarly Eayrsstill had control. Volume Ill doeshaveits goodpoints,of course. This is the first Canadian examination of the lastyearsof the SecondWorld War and the firstyearsof the Cold War that isbasedon primaryresearch. Assuchit mustbewelcomed for what it adds.Equallyimportant,by securing access to militaryand diplomatic records, Eayrshasgonea substantial distance in layingout the path for thosewho comeafter him. The anti-Eayrsian revisionists will do well to rememberjust who it is to whomtheyare forcedto respond. Furthermore, Eayrs'proseis sparkling. He is unquestionably the bestacademicwordsmithin Canada,and he...