Canada’s Imperial Past: The Life of F.J. Ney, 1884–1973 by James Sturgis, Margaret Bird (review)

576 The Canadian Historical Review man, who incorporated a similar appendix in his Life ofBishop Stewart and, through his own writings, did much to bring to life the history of the church in Quebec. Ifreligion is a lived experience, then this book provides a wonderful opportunity to reconstruct the life of a country clergyman and link that life to family, church, and community. For all the richness ofinsight and detail, however, some major contextual themes are curiously downplayed or completely absent. Biographical and local detail abound, but there is very little about the changing character ofthe clerical profession (which might offer insights into Reid's persistent morbidity); nor is there an effective analysis of either the social and religious structure of Reid's own community or the important changes that, as J.I. Little has shown, were taking place within the English-speaking world of the Eastern Townships. Reflecting on his long career as a missionary in the Eastern Townships , Reid posed a fascinating question: Who is qualified to write the history ofthe colonial church? Wary ofthe formulaic stories of zeal and devotion that those in authority told so often to garner financial support for the missionary cause, Reid wondered if'an intelligent, well-informed layman' might be able to challenge such 'inaccuracies and misconceptions ' and write a history that would do justice 'to the cause of truth.' Unfortunately, James Reid did not try his hand at such a revisionist project, but the diaries he left clearly advance the cause ofsuch a reorientation . Ifthe religious life ofCanada, in the late George Rawlyk's phrase, should be constructed from the bottom up, then this edition of Reid's diaries surely constitutes the stuff from which such a history can be written. WILLIAM WESTFALL York University Canada's Imperial Past: The Life ofF.J. Ney, 1884-1973. JAMES STURGIS and MARGARET BIRD. Edinburgh: Centre of Canadian Studies, University of Edinburgh 2000. Pp. iv, 325, illus. £!5.00 Undoubtedly, most readers of Canadian history - let alone of Canada's imperial past- have never heard of Fred J. Ney. Nonetheless, as James Sturgis and Margaret Bird demonstrate in this biography, he is a person scholars interested in the history of the Canadian-British connection, education, tourism, and youth should learn about. Initiating, organizing, and directing a series of educational tours, teacher exchanges, visiting lectureships, and youth movements between 1910 and 1970, Ney contributed to the process of cultural exchange between Canada, Britain, Book Reviews 577 and the empire-commonwealth. As such, the authors convincingly argue, the study ofhis life sheds some much-needed light on the nature ofthe British connection in Canada during these years ofimperial decline and increased Canadian patriotic feeling. Complementing their research of archival sources with scores of interviews held with Ney's family, former colleagues, and program participants , Sturgis and Bird describe a man raised in the conservatism of rural England who embraced the imperial ideology of Rudyard Kipling and Robert Baden-Powell. Trained as a teacher, the ambitious imperialist found education to be an ideal means of not only experiencing the farflung empire for himselfbut contributing to its strength and unity. After brief teaching stints in Cyprus and Cairo, Ney moved to Winnipeg, where, in 1910, he began a program of educational travel and exchange within the empire that would involve thousands of teachers, students, and lecturers over the course of the next sixty years. Hands Across the Seas, and its postwar rebirth as the Overseas Education League, sought to impress on Canadian teachers their 'common imperial patrimony' by conducting these 'opinion-makers' on lengthy tours of imperial London and the idyllic English countryside. His development of teacher exchanges and, then, through the National Council ofEducation, the sponsorship of imperial lecture tours further served to promote the British connection. As the authors explain, however, Ney regarded education as more than just a vehicle of imperial propaganda. He viewed it as a fundamental method of 'shaping the culture of national life.' Ney expanded his educational tours to include high school and university students, organized an Empire Youth Rally on the occasion of the coronation of George v, and promoted the observance of Empire Youth Sundays. He placed these initiatives at...