Memory Is a Fickle Jade

Olaf Uwe Janzen is an associate professor of history at Sir Wilfred
Grenfell College, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

This is a series of essays about Newfoundland history during the first
half of the 20th century, loosely connected by the author’s personal
memories of events up to the end of World War II. (Presumably a second
volume will carry the story forward through Newfoundland’s entry into
Confederation up to the present.) The book covers a variety of topics,
from the Fishermen’s Protective Union to the impact of the Great
Depression, from the politics of the 1920s and 1930s to the harshness of
life in the woods industry. Guy is at his best when he is able to bring
personal insight to Newfoundland’s historical experience. Thus, his
chapter on the role of the Orange Order in the social history of outport
Newfoundland is very compelling, based as it is on his reminiscences of
growing up in Musgrave Harbour. Similarly, his experience working in a
general store in Grand Falls lends authenticity to his account of the
Depression years.

Guy is not, however, a trained historian. His efforts to explain
Newfoundland’s early history must therefore be approached with
caution. Settlement was not forbidden in the 17th century, nor was the
first Treaty of Paris signed in 1814. Guy’s command of historical
context outside Newfoundland is also unreliable; Hitler was not still
coming to power in 1934, and Italy did not invade Ethiopia in December
1934. Also in question is the author’s familiarity with the
considerable recent output in Newfoundland history; his willingness to
accept at face value the glowing assessments of early promoters of
Newfoundland’s agricultural potential ignores the recent research of
Gordon Handcock, Sean Cadigan, and others. Finally, where his own
experience is limited, he resorts too often to filling his pages with
tedious and dreary reprints of political speeches taken from
contemporary newspapers.

In short, this book is to be recommended for its success at capturing
the flavor of a bygone

era, not for its credentials as history.