Sir Allan Napier MacNab by Donald R. Beer (review)

REVIEWS 111 listing ofbattles, sieges, andsoforth.The planworkswell.It seems safetosay thatthisisthefirstcomprehensive andlikelythelastworkonthesubject. The numberof entriesundera fewrandomlychosen headings reveals the depthof the compiler's research. Battleof Tippecanoe shows 49 entries; DetroitCampaign, 62; Tecumseh, 94; ussConstitution, 5•; and Shannon, 59. Descriptions of manuscript depositories in theUnitedStates andCanadarun totwenty-four pages. Despitehisstated views regardingexisting coverage of thecauses of thewar,Fredriksen listsforty-threeitemsbearingonthatsubject and suggests other headings,suchas War Hawks under which further referencesappear. He rounds out the volume with a summaryof the regimental service of United States, British,Canadian,marine,and foreign regiments. A complete chronology of events of thewar from thecaptureof Mackinac, •7July •8•2, to thetakingof I-IMS Nautilus byussPeacock, 3øJune •8•5,completes thevolume,whichhasanindex. Proofreadingerrors, whichcouldcausea researchertrouble at a card catalogue orcomputer terminalkeyboard, martheworktosome extent.One canignore fusilers forfusiliers butsome errorsinpropernames meanthatonly thoseknowledgeable in the fieldwill beableto find someof the important workslisted.For example,Klinchfor Klinckand Riddlefor Riddellshould cause littletrouble.ButMatchlosse for Malchelosse couldhideasignificant title frommanyscholars. Spotchecks for specific titles,somefairlyobscure, failedto produceany omissions. However, thecompiler mighthaveincluded WilliamF.E.Morley,A Bibliographical Study ofMajorJohnRichardson (Toronto•973). JAMWS j. ZALMAS University ofWestern Ontario SirAllanNapier MacNab.DONALD R.BEER. Hamilton:Dictionaryof Hamilton Biography1984 . Pp.xii, 49• 'Biography isnolongeraspopulara formof historical writingasit oncewas,' DonaldBeercautions theprospective readerof his22oooo-word biography of SirAllanNapierMacNab.Professor Beerreallyknowsbetter.In Canada, historical biography flourishes. MichaelBliss's TheLifeandBusiness Time ofSir Joseph Flavelle recentlyreceivedthe prestigious Garneauprize asthe best historical workon Canadianhistorypublished between•978 and •982.Over thepastfiveyearsbiographies of twentieth-century mandarins, nineteenthcentury politicians andreligious leaders, eighteenth-century businessmen, and seventeenth-century explorers havedottedthereviewpages of the Canadian Historical Review. The pinnacleof sucheffort is, of course,the on-going, multi-volume Dictionary of Canadian Biography, which,according to Donald Swainson, 'reflects the stateof the art of Canadianhistorical scholarship.' Despite Beer's disclaimer, then,thereviewerisjustifiedin lookingto hisbook 112 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW bothfor thelightit sheds on an oft referred to but littlestudiednineteenthcentury businessman, politician, andmilitaryleaderandforitscontribution to 'the state of the art.' Asthefirstextendedscholarly treatmentof MacNab's career,Beer'sbook contains, formost readers, muchthatisnew.Lightisshed onMacNab's roleas a militaryhero,a fifteen-year-old combatant in theWar of •8•• and militia commander duringthe •837-8 rebellions; asalandspeculator, reputedtobe amongthe largestlandowners in the Canadas; asan urbandeveloper, since Hamiltonowedmuchto hisenergeticpromotion;asa railroadpromoter, particularly hisassociation with the GreatWesternand otherlesserUpper Canadian railroads;and, for Beer of mostimportance, asa politician,for MacNabwasseveraltimes Speaker,sometimeleader of the Conservative opposition, and,briefly,co-premierof the United Canadas. JustasMacNab packed alotintohissixty-four years oflife,so,too,does Beerpackalotintothis meticulously researched andcarefullyconsidered appraisal. Yetattheendofthe4o4thpage,thereaderisleftsomewhat mystified. One learns alotaboutthepartsof AllanMacNab,butBeercarefullyrefrainsfrom presenting a completed portrait.The absence of a thematic subtitlefor the bookistellingin thisregard.What isit thatmadethegoodlairdrun?Beer correctly points tohiscontrariety andtothe'ambiguous andintriguing'nature of hischaracter.But the reader wants(deserves?) more. Partof Beer's reluctance stems directlyfromhisapproach tobiography. In theCanadian context hismethod falls between thatofthedean ofbiographers, DonaldCreighton,and that of Brian Youngin his challenging studyof George-Etienne Cartier.While, laudably,Beerdoesnot, asCreightondid, ignorethenon-political aspects of hissubject's life, hedoes,asCreightondid, viewpolitics asan 'independent' rather thanan integrative space. Thus Beer admits thatMacNablacked'strong policycommitments' inthepolitical sphere, butstillattempts toattributehispursuitofpolitical powertoanendseparable from that of hismanyother (especially railroad)activities. Too often this distinction seems forced and artificial. In a second anddisturbingwayBeer'sapproachisevencloserto thatof Creighton. Thosepeopleandmeasures whichstood in opposition to MacNab are generallydescribedin pejorativeterms:restrictions on the wholesale speculation in vEI•and militia grantsare equatedwith 'bureaucratic delay, incompetence andobstructionism'; GovernorGeneralBagotwas'unbalanced inhishostility toMacNab'; JohnRoss hada'naturally suspicious andabrasive nature.'By contrast, thosewhoworkedwith and aidedhim, includingthe notorious Britishrailwayspeculator, GeorgeHudson,weregenerallyabove boardandpraiseworthy. Relatedtothisisatendency togiveMacNabfullcredit for performing a particular tasksuccessfully andtodownplay MacNab's role whenfailureresulted (see,for example, thediscussion of MacNab's failureto alterthelawconcerning therailwaygaugein theearly•85os ). REVIEWS 113 LikeCreighton,andmostotherbiographers, Beeradoptsa chronological formatasthestructurebestsuitedfor the tellingof hisstory.While thishas obvious advantages, it tendsto precludethe systematic analysis of particular aspects of theman'sactivities. It tendstoencourage theinterplayof character and circumstances and to downplaythe investigation of behaviourand structure.As the philosopherof historyMaurice Mandelbaumlong ago pointedout,a partsto the wholeapproachispossible. Brian Young's recent analytical treatment ofCartier's life,wherehedeals witheachimportant sector separately whileatthesame timeexplicitly relatingthepartstoacentraltheme, stands asanexcellent example ofthefeasibility ofthisparticular mode.Explicit attentionto theoryand conceptinformsYoung's interpretationof Cartier's life. By contrast, Beeroptsfor thecharacter andcircumstance modelashis central explanatory vehicle. Ironically, byseparating outanddealing systematically witheach important sector ofMacNab's life,Beerwould...