Policing in Wartime: One Mountie's Story

Steven R. Hewitt is an assistant professor of history at the University
of Saskatchewan.

The three books under review detail the impact of the RCMP on the public
and private lives of the authors. In Policing the Fringe, William Kelly
chronicles the early years of his policing career. He joined the RCMP
during the Great Depression, went through basic training in Regina, and
found himself stuck in one of that flat province’s seemingly endless
number of small towns. The book ends with the outbreak of World War II.

Policing in Wartime finds the Kellys in Toronto. William’s policing
duties are described through a series of (often amusing) anecdotes. The
concluding section deals with the aftermath of the defection of Igor
Gouzenko, a Russian cipher clerk who revealed the existence of a Soviet
spy ring. Unfortunately, the book offers little information on William
Kelly’s work as a member of the RCMP’s intelligence agency.

The best of the three books is Nora Kelly’s memoir, My Mountie and
Me. This account of her life as a Mountie’s wife appears to pull no
punches. She writes openly about the RCMP’s disregard for the personal
happiness of its members (and their families).

General readers will find these books both informative and
entertaining.