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History Social History

The Blue Shirts

Adrien Arcand and Fascist Anti-Semitism in Canada

by (author) Hugues Théorêt

translated by Ferdinanda Van Gennip & Howard Scott

Publisher
Les Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa Press
Initial publish date
May 2017
Category
Social History
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780776624679
    Publish Date
    May 2017
    List Price
    $39.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780776624693
    Publish Date
    May 2017
    List Price
    $79.90

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Description

While Adolf Hitler was seizing power in Germany, Adrien Arcand was laying the foundations in Quebec for his Parti national social chrétien. The Blue Shirts, as its members were called, wore a military uniform and prominently displayed the swastika. Arcand saw Jewish conspiracy wherever he turned and his views resonated with his followers who, like him, sought a scapegoat for all the ills eroding society.
Even after his imprisonment during the Second World War, the fanatical Adrien Arcand continued his correspondence with those on the frontlines of anti-semitism. Until his death in 1967, he pursued his campaign of propaganda against communists and Jews.
Hugues Théorêt describes a dark period in Quebec’s ideological history using an objective approach and careful, rigorous research in this book, which won the 2015 Canada Prize (Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences).
Published in English.

About the authors

Hugues Théorêt holds a PhD in History (University of Ottawa). A journalist, media relations officer and intergovernmental affairs consultant, he has collaborated on a number of documentary series for television on the history of Canada. He is also editor of a historical journal in the Outaouais region and lectures on fascism and anti-semitism in Canada.

Hugues Théorêt's profile page

Ferdinanda Van Gennip's profile page

Howard Scott is a Montreal literary translator who works with fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. His translations include works by Madeleine Gagnon, science-fiction writer Élisabeth Vonarburg, and Canada’s Poet Laureate, Michel Pleau. Scott received the Governor General’s Literary Award for his translation of Louky Bersianik’s The Euguelion. The Great Peace of Montreal of 1701, by Gilles Havard, which he co-translated with Phyllis Aronoff, won the Quebec Writers’ Federation Translation Award. A Slight Case of Fatigue, by Stéphane Bourguignon, another co-translation with Phyllis Aronoff, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award. Howard Scott is a past president of the Literary Translators’ Association of Canada.

Howard Scott's profile page

Awards

  • Winner, Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature (History)
  • Winner, IPPY Awards (Independent Publisher Book Awards)
  • Winner, Foreword Indies Book of the Year Awards in World History category

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