Gustavson, Wesley C.

English

Histoire sociale / Social History (E-Journal, York University)

544 Histoire sociale / Social HistoryHistoire sociale – Social History, vol. XXXVIII, no 76 (novembre-November 2005)the context of an argument for an individual’s irresponsibility before the law. Awhole new path of research seems to open up when we find out how much tensionthere was between the judicial authorities in charge of these cases and the “star”teams of medical and psychiatrist experts called to the courts for technical advice. Inthe end, the marriage between law and medicine was just as intense and troubled asmany of the cases of crime and passion recalled for us in this fine book.Lila CaimariUniversidad de San AndrésBuenos AiresRUTHERDALE, Robert — Hometown Horizons: Local Responses to Canada’s GreatWar. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2004. Pp. xxiv, 331.One of the hallmarks of Canada’s “Colony to Nation” narrative is the belief that theFirst World War marked a turning point in the country’s national development. TheCanadian Corps’ battlefield success, we are told, prompted the soldiers atop VimyRidge to jettison their British identity in favour of a Canadian one. At the sametime, the Canadian government shed its own colonial attitude and demanded greaterindependence. The result was a Canadian signature on the Treaty of Versailles andfull autonomy under the Statute of Westminster. Yet, however accurate or desirablean explanation, it remains at its core a national interpretation of the Canadian warexperience.The problem with this nationalist framework, argues Robert Rutherdale, is that formost Canadians the Great War was primarily a local event. Drawing upon evidencefrom Lethbridge (Alberta), Guelph (Ontario), and Trois-Rivières (Quebec), Ruth-erdale portrays the home front as a convergence of imperial, national, and local inter-ests, but dominated and shaped by the latter. Troops enlisted and often trained locallyand began their journey to the front lines from local train stations. Local newspaperstransmitted news of the war that recast distant events through familiar referencepoints. Recruitment drives, charitable organizations, and fundraising efforts all reliedupon local networks to achieve their goals and further the national war effort. Com-memoration and remembrance was also local as communities erected memorials andinscribed them with the names of local boys who did not return from the war andstruggled to accommodate those who did.Unlike Ian Miller’s study of wartime Toronto, Rutherdale does not view the war asa unifying force. Hometown Horizons instead offers a dizzying array of competinginterests, hierarchies, and in many cases, the reinforcement of social and culturalboundaries. In the case of Trois-Rivières, the rituals and imagery associated withrecruitment failed to attract significant numbers of French Canadians and only servedto highlight cultural and ethnic differences. In Lethbridge and Guelph, middle-classinterests controlled and directed charitable relief to maintain the existing social struc-ture. Across the country, enemy aliens struggled to prove their loyalty to Canada inthe face of public suspicion and exaggerated reports of sabotage and invasion. Con-Histoire sociale – Social History, vol. XXXVIII, no 76 (novembre-November 2005)Comptes rendus / Book Reviews 545scription proved especially divisive, although often for localized reasons. A promi-nent editor in Trois-Rivières expressed dismay at the government’s casual violation ofminority rights, while Lethbridge farmers and workers opposed the loss of theirlabour force and proposed an alternative conscription of wealth to ensure that theaffluent contributed as well. Tensions in Guelph centred on the expansion of statecontrol, the fairness of the legislation, and the exemptions granted to students at anearby Jesuit seminary. On gender issues, Rutherdale concedes that roles and prac-tices shifted, but suggests that for women, at least, wartime activities “may have actedto strengthen rather than relax perceptions of sexual difference” (p. 214). Evenremembrance was initially unfocused, with civilians unsure of how to greet and prop-erly honour returning soldiers, and this perhaps explains why Lethbridge’s warmemorial was not completed until 1931. Only gradually did an idealized rendering ofthe war as a noble sacrifice by soldiers and civilians begin to emerge.Regarding sources, Hometown Horizons relies heavily — but not exclusively —upon contemporary newspaper accounts. Newspapers are among the most completeand valuable bodies of evidence for the period and are in many ways ideal for chart-ing the dynamic and shifting local perceptions of the war. However, editorial opin-ion does not always reflect public opinion even among its target constituency, muchless marginalized groups. Although Rutherdale acknowledges the hazards of usingnewspaper sources, his attempts to probe their deeper configurations and hiddenmeanings are not always convincing.Moreover, Hometown Horizons is not a truly comparative work. For example,Lethbridge and Guelph receive more attention than Trois-Rivières, particularly inthe second half of the book. This is partially the result of circumstance; for instance,Trois-Rivières was not a site of an enemy alien internment camp, while Lethbridgewas. Still, it would be interesting to know whether Trois-Rivières or Guelph experi-enced the same debate over what form its war memorial should take, along with ahost of other issues.Rutherdale makes a number of intriguing points, and Hometown Horizons offers acompelling glimpse into how the inhabitants of these three cities utilized local sites,settings, and experiences to understand or imagine the Great War. Indeed this localemphasis is the book’s most important contribution to the historiography of the Cana-dian home front during the First World War. It does not completely invalidate thenationalist position, but it does indicate the need for some much-needed revision.Wesley C. GustavsonUniversity of Western OntarioSHEPHARD, David A. E. — Island Doctor: John Mackieson and Medicine in Nine-teenth-Century Prince Edward Island. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’sUniversity Press, 2003. Pp. xxviii, 188 pp.Island Doctor explores the life of John MacKieson, a Scottish-born doctor whopractised medicine from 1821 to his death in 1885. Although this general practitio-

Rutherdale, Robert — Hometown Horizons: Local Responses to Canada's Great War

https://hssh.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/hssh/article/download/4281/3479

Rutherdale, Robert — Hometown Horizons: Local Responses to Canada's Great War

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Histoire sociale / Social History (E-Journal, York University)