In 1860 the American government made a formal request for the extradition of a fugitive slave, John Anderson of Brantford, Canada West. At first glance the request was routine. But the legal, political, and diplomatic controversy that arose from this hearing threatened to topple a Canadian government, and aroused animostities between Britons and Americans.

Patrick Brode explores the legal and political implications of the Anderson case and reveals something of the man at the centre of it all. John Anderson was an ordinary man caught in extraordinary circumstances. For a few moths he was a public figure, a personification of the struggle against slavery. Not long after the hearing he dropped from public view, adding a final, unsolved mystery to this intriguing case.

Patrick Brode has written extensively on Canadian history and law. His works include a biography of one of Canada’s early jurists, Chief Justice John Robinson, as well as Courted and Abandoned, a study of the tort of seduction on the frontier. His more recent writing includes Death in the Queen City about the racially charged murder trial of Clara Ford in Toronto in 1895, The Slasher Killings, on the anti-gay hysteria that accompanied a serial killing in Windsor in 1945, as well as a survey of Canada’s investigation and prosecution of war crimes after the Second World War. Five of these works have been short-listed for Canadian book awards. Patrick was formerly a lecturer at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law. He lives in Windsor, Ontario, and has practiced law there since 1977.

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