For those who would lament the dullness of Canadian history, University of Toronto professor David A. Wilson presents the life of Thomas D’Arcy McGee, who has been alternately described as a martyr (for being the only politician in Canada to be assassinated in office until Pierre Laporte in 1970) and a traitor (for opposing Fenianism despite his Irish birth). Little has been written about McGee’s early life; in the first part of this new biography, Wilson rectifies this by describing McGee’s time as a revolutionary in Ireland and as an expat journalist in the U.S.

In each of his chosen professions, McGee managed to be both eminently practical and rashly impetuous. This contradiction has led many to conclude that he would support any cause if it suited his personal ambitions. But Wilson takes a different tack and concludes that McGee was actually consistently conservative; his violent outbursts against the British parliament, Irish priests, and American Protestants were nothing more than lapses in judgment. Suffering the consequences of these outbursts, Wilson adds, also helps explain why McGee came to master the art of compromise in his Canadian career.

Wilson uses a large number of primary and secondary sources as he reconstructs McGee’s life to 1857 (when McGee moved to Canada), and manages to adeptly prove his points while painting rich portraits of key players in Irish and American history. Excerpts from McGee’s speeches and correspondence are well chosen and illustrate the oratorical power that would serve him so well as a politician.

The only thing missing from this fascinating account is McGee’s personal life. While the reader is tantalized by rumours of alcoholism and a long-suffering wife in the introduction, both are mentioned only in passing in the text itself. Readers may be left wondering whether the sources are silent or the author has simply decided to ignore the issues.

That aside, this book is a welcome addition to the historiography of Canadian public figures. I’m eagerly looking forward to the second volume, about McGee’s next incarnation as a Father of Confederation.