The October Crisis, 1970: An Insider's View

Andrew C. Young is an assistant historian at the Canadian War Museum in
Ottawa.

William Tetley was a Cabinet minister in Robert Bourassa’s government
during the October Crisis. Now a professor of international law at
McGill, Tetley admits to no historical expertise. He describes his book
as a commentary on events by a person who witnessed and participated in
them 36 years ago.

For much of the book, Tetley is focused on correcting the historical
record that has been shaped by revisionist (separatist/sovereigntist)
historians who have dominated discussions of the October Crisis for the
past three decades. In his view, these writers have shifted attention
away from the criminal and terrorist actions of the FLQ and focused it
instead on the imposition of the War Measures Act by the Quebec and
federal governments. Such an emphasis has resulted in a historiography
of the October Crisis that is, according to Tetley, unbalanced and
highly partisan in favour of the FLQ/sovereigntist view of politics in
Quebec.

The October Crisis, 1970, is recommended for libraries, historians, and
interested general readers.