Red Serge and Stetsons: A Hundred Years of Mounties' Memories

Description

242 pages
Contains Photos, Illustrations, Index
$14.95
ISBN 0-920663-21-4
DDC 363.2'0971

Year

1993

Contributor

Edited by Donovan T. Saul
Reviewed by J.L. Granatstein

J.L. Granatstein is a history professor at York University and co-author
of the Dictionary of Canadian Military History and Shadows of War, Faces
of Peace: Canada’s Peacekeepers.

Review

The “Mountie myth” is one of the hardy perennials of Canadian
nationhood. The red-coated police officers bringing peace to the
plains—like the tales of the RCMP busting up Soviet spy rings—are
part and parcel of our lore. The myth has been assiduously tended by
RCMP writers and by the Mounties’ friends, though there is also a
smaller, much more critical literature. This book, put together by a
retired RCMP Chief Superintendent, is in the myth-keeping vein, a
collection of stories and memories by Mounties and their spouses. There
is some muted complaint, but on the whole the tone is set by the cover,
which features a retired Mountie in his old staff-sergeant’s uniform
telling tales to three engrossed young listeners. Books like this are of
interest only to the true faithful.

Citation

“Red Serge and Stetsons: A Hundred Years of Mounties' Memories,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed March 29, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/13255.