From the Introduction: "Common knowledge has it that Ronald is primarily a historical figure whose contribution to Canadian art lies in the formation of the free-thinking Painters Eleven in the 1950s. This is correct enough, but concomitant with it is the tacit assumption that his choice to downplay painting temporarily for a career in broadcasting implies that his later years were substantially a matter of showmanship and/or charlatanism.... [Ronald is] one of the more genuinely fascinating characters in Canadian culture, one to whom we are indebted for much more than a spirit of internationalism running counter to what was thought of in the 1950s as the choke-hold of the Group of Seven."

Robert Belton has taught the history of art and art theory at McMaster University, the University of Western Ontario, and Queen's University. He is Associate Professor of Art History at Okanagan University College in Kelowna, B.C. Dr. Belton has published two other books with the University of Calgary Press: The Beribboned Bomb: The Image of Woman in Male Surrealist Art and Sights of Resistance: Approaches to Canadian Visual Culture.

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"Robert Belton's sympathetic, absorbing biography deals intelligently with both the troubled, abrasive personality and the impressive painting of William Ronald. The Theatre of the Self substantially enlarges our knowledge of Canadian art history and the artists who lived it." -- Robert Fulford, author, journalist, broadcaster and editor