Joseph Howe
The Briton Becomes Canadian, 1848-1873
Description
Professor Beck shows how, in Churchillian fashion, the final resolution was preceded by a series of setbacks and disappointments in Howe's public life. These were the result of a bold colonization scheme encompassing an inter-colonial railway between Halifax and Quebec; a quixotic mission of recruitment in the United States for the British armies in the Crimea; the embattled leasdership of an unstable provincial administration in the early 1860s; and the hard-fought campaign to prevent passage of the British North America Act. Disillusioned by the indifference of British politician to his long-standing advocacy of a refurbished British Empire in whose government colonial leaders could share, Howe turned his energies to making the new Canadian federation work. A whole-hearted supporter of Confederation in his later years, Howe displayed an irrepressible vitality that Professor Beck sees as the trademark of the man.
Reviews
"This volume completes Professor Beck's epic work, providing us with a definitive study of the man who is generally conceded to be the greatest Nova Scotian ... a major contribution to Canadian historical writing ... captures the colour and vitality of this belated father of Confederation whose tempestuous career had few parallels." Donald C. MacDonald, Toronto Star.