Oscar Skelton (1878-1941) was a prominent early-twentieth century scholar who became a civil servant and political advisor to prime ministers Mackenzie King and R.B. Bennett. He wrote a number of important books and one, Socialism: A Critical Analysis, was highly praised by Vladimir Lenin. His wife, Isabel Skelton (1877-1956), wrote extensively about literature and history; she was the first historian to treat women from the country's past individually in their own right rather than as a generalized category. Both husband and wife promoted the idea that Canada was an independent nation that no longer needed Britain's tutelage.

Terry Crowley has written a unique double biography that examines the lives of Isabel and Oscar, their works, and their careers. He shows how both individuals in their own way influenced the development of Canada as a nation state. Crowley questions why, when both Isabel and Oscar wrote influential works, Oscar's career blossomed, while Isabel remains virtually unrecognized. He concludes that despite Isabel's literary accomplishments, her life remained enmeshed in domestic and family roles, while Oscar's rise to prominence was facilitated by male scholarly and publishing networks as well as the support that women provided to men's careers. This book traces the lives of two people who rejected British colonialism and hailed a new nation on the world's stage, examining the intersections of gender, nationality, and literary expression at a significant juncture in Canada's history.

Terry Crowley is professor of history at the University of Guelph, and is editor of the journal Ontario History. Among his books are Clio's Craft: A Primer of Historical Methods; One Voice: A History of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (with C.A.V. Baker); Agnes Macphail and the Politics of Equality, which won the W.C. Good Writing Award of the Rural Learning Association; and Canadian History to 1867: The Birth of a Nation. Dr. Crowley has contributed sections on the French regime to The Concise History of Christianity in Canada and rural labour in Labouring Lives: Work and Workers in Nineteenth-Century Ontario, which won the Ontario Historical Society's J.J. Thalman Award.

Terry Crowley's profile page

• Winner, Sir John A. Macdonald Prize, Canadian Historical Association
• Winner, Chalmers Award in Ontario History
• Commended, Clio Award (Ont Region), Canadian Historical Association