Canada's governors general, 1847-1878 : biography and constitutional evolution / Barbara J. Messamore.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Messamore's book marries constitutional history and biography, providing illumination on some of the key figures of nineteenth-century Canadian politics.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

The author of this delightful book has mastered old writings and added new research and new perspectives, and it is sumptuous writing. Messamore (Univ. College of the Fraser Valley) comprehends archives on both sides of the Atlantic and puts her book together with a finesse and dexterity that any scholar might well envy. In the constitutional development of Canada in the 19th century, there were two main hinges: 1848-9, when the governor general first painfully learned to accept the advice of the ministry of the day on affairs internal to Canada; and 1878, when, at Canadian insistence, this was codified in British instructions. The effect was to circumscribe heavily the governor's freedom of action. In this 30-year continuum, the Confederation of British North America in 1867 made little difference. Canadians were not always right. In 1876, Lord Dufferin, the governor general, used his freedom to shame the city council of Quebec into not tearing down the town's stone walls. Quebec thus remains the only walled city north of the Rio Grande, because of a governor general's remarkable prescience. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. P. B. Waite emeritus, Dalhousie University