In Britain and the Origins of Canadian Confederation, 1837-1867, Ged Martin offers a sceptical review of claims that Confederation answered all the problems facing the provinces, and examines in detail British perceptions of Canada and ideas about its future. The major British contribution to the coming of Confederation is to be found not in the aftermath of the Quebec conference, where the imperial role was mainly one of bluff and exhortation, but prior to 1864, in a vague consensus among opinion-formers that the provinces would one day unite. Faced with an inescapable need to secure legislation at Westminster for a new political structure, British North American politicians found they could work within the context of a metropolitan preference for intercolonial union.

Ged Martin is a graduate of Cambridge University. Awarded the United Kingdom's first chair in Canadian Studies by the University of Edinburgh, he is the author of Britain and the Origins of Canadian Confederation, 1837-67 and Favourite Son? John A. Macdonald and the Voters of Kingston 1841-1891. He is adjunct professor of history at National University of Ireland Galway, and at the University of the Fraser Valley.

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Ged Martin has provided a welcome perspective and context for the process which brought about Canadian federation ... The research and reading upon which the book is based is remarkable, and it incorporates very mature thought and preparation.

International History Review

A valuable contribution to our understanding of the road to Confederation.

National History