Old Newfoundland. A History to 1843 by Patrick O’Flaherty (review)

372 The Canadian Historical Review only that the members be 'engaged in the same argument.' Disputes over the location of a church, the division of a parish, the building of a road, or the maintenance ofa ditch, although they may appear petty, are ideal for the purpose of reflecting on the nature of community in the area. Throughout the French period and into the British, community action tended to require an appeal to outside authority (church or state). It was not until the 1820s and 1830s, under the leadership ofthe petty bourgeoisie, that community action became more harmonious. In his conclusion, Coates links this emergence ofa 'coherent community sentiment' to the rise ofnationalism. In my view, this link has not been clearly demonstrated and the claim that 'this study elucidates one of the key transformations in early Quebec: the growth of nationalist sentiment' seems overstated. I was surprised to find 'nationalism' as a subject entry in the cataloguing information and not 'community.' That said, this is an interesting and thought-provoking book that will appeal to historians offamily and community, as well as to those more interested in seigneurial development, rural society, and economic development. FRAN<;:OISE NOEL Nipissing University Old Newfoundland. A History to 1843. PATRICK o'FLAHERTY. St John's: Long Beach Press 1999. Pp. 284, $29.95 Once a professor of English, Patrick O'Flaherty - who describes himself as 'a recovering academic' - has now undertaken a political history of Newfoundland, of which this is the first volume. Having moved from studies of Newfoundland literature into Newfoundland history proper some time ago, O'Flaherty is no stranger to the field. His special subject has been the early nineteenth century, which he views as a period of pivotal importance. It saw the emergence ofa colonial society with representative institutions and also, in his view, the ominous failure ofthose institutions to take root. Thus the period from 1833, when the first legislature opened, to 1843, when it was temporarily replaced by an amalgamated legislature, 'illuminates not just the view to the rear but the road ahead.' And that road led to the loss ofresponsible government in 1934, a humiliation O'Flaherty will doubtless dissect in the next volume. Given this central COIJ.Cern, it is not surprising that O'Flaherty devotes over 40 per cent of the text to nineteenth-century developments. The earlier chapters provide a lively survey of Newfoundland's (and to a much lesser extent, Labrador's) history from its human beginnings. Several themes emerge, a dominant one being the argument that New- Book Reviews 373 foundland had much more going for it as a place to live than its detractors (including historians) were and are willing to admit. If settlement was slow and late, that had much had to do with 'policy and attitude' and, more specifically, the opposition to permanent settlement exhibited by the British Government and the West Country merchants who ran the migratory fishery. Newfoundland was denied the chance to develop in ways similar to other North American colonies and was subjected to economic exploitation and inexcusable official neglect, certainly up to the mid-eighteenth century. Even then, Newfoundland was regarded as little more than 'a sub-colonial British fishing berth, an outlying cod abattoir.' O'Flaherty much resents this treatment, and has harshwords for historians like Keith Matthews, who he thinks treated the West Country interest much too kindly. Settlement occurred in spite of all the obstacles. O'Flaherty concentrates much more on Irish than English immigration, but thinks that a distinct Newfoundland character and society were emerging by the late eighteenth century, especially in Conception Bay and St John's. Divided and politically immature though this society may have been, there was a chance ofits making a success ofrepresentative government had it not been for the militant Irish Roman Catholic bishop Michael Anthony Fleming and his priests. In the most outspoken and locally controversial part of the book, O'Flaherty roundly accuses Fleming of hijacking the process by attempting to tum a 'half-awake colonial society' into 'a surrogate Irish state.' The result was ethnic wrangling, lasting sectarian hatred, and political paralysis. Those who opposed Fleming and the Irish-dominated reform party are castigated for giving up the fight too soon, preferring to petition the Colonial Office rather than get their hands dirty. The British government eventually intervened in the early 1840s, imposing an amalgamated legislature. O'Flaherty sees clear parallels with Newfoundland's experience ninety years later and concludes that, although 1843 does not mark the end of democracy in the colony, it is evidence of a 'very shaky groundwork for the building ofa nation.' Old Newfoundland is an opinionated, provocative, and idiosyncratic book, with a markedly nationalist slant. O'Flaherty has read voraciouslythe endnotes and bibliography take up sixty pages - and he has dusted off, updated, and modified once standard interpretations. In his view, some of the old villains and perspectives are worthy of reinstatement. Specialists are sure to disagree with him on some points, and the link to the 1930s is problematic. There might also have been more attention to historical context. Comparisons with other British North American colonies would have helped demonstrate in what ways Newfoundland 374 The Canadian Historical Review was indeed exceptional. And more attention to the imperial framework, especially after 1800, might well have contributed to a more nuanced account of constitutional change, including the introduction of the amalgamated legislature. With these caveats, Old Newfoundland can be recommended as a fluent, well-written history that deserves a wide readership. JAMES K. HILLER Memorial University ofNewfoundland Against the Grain: Foresters and Politics in Nova Scotia. L. ANDERS SANDBERG and PETER CLANCY. Vancouver: UBC Press 2000. Pp. 352, illus. $85.00 In this important contribution to Canadian forest and environmental history, L. Anders Sandberg and Peter Clancy claim to have found the inspiration for a middle ground in the current debate that pits preservationists against industrial forestry advocates. This perspective lies in the careers of Nova Scotia foresters who toiled against the 'grain' of conventional practice and policy, which sacrificed both the interests of small woodlot owners and the potential for more ecologically inspired approaches to an emerging industrial model offorestry. Their stories are set against the backdrop ofthe transition from a lumbering to a pulp and paper economy, and the accompanying shift from a pattern ofbusinessgovernment cooperation that equated forestry with fire protection and natural regeneration to a postwar regime ofmechanization, clearcutting, sustained yield, and artificial restocking. The above process will be familiar to students of Canadian forestry, but the authors break new interpretive ground by documenting the careers of those who promoted alternative models of forest economics, science, and policy. The existing literature, they assert, portrays foresters in monolithic terms; members of the profession celebrate its achievements as champions of rational management, while critics heap blame on the experts for perceived forest degradation. Their research, based on an effective blend of interviews and documentary evidence, supports a much more nuanced conception of forestry in Nova Scotia, one that emphasizes a rich heritage of dissent against the structure of staple exploitation. The authors date the birth of this tradition from the hiring of the government's first professional forester in 1926. Otto Shierbeck came to the new Department ofLands and Forests committed to the conservation ...