This is a delightful and informative book on the first round of the movement for an independent Quebec. The razer-thin margin of victory on October 30, 1995 of the opposition to an independent Quebec has most assuredly meant there will be another vote on the subject in the near future. Accordingly, the subject matter of this book will take on even more importance and cogency as time passes.

The referendum held on October 30, 1995 was actually the second referendum held in the province on the question of independence. The first was held on May 20, 1980. The defeat of the movement for independence in that first rederendum marked the end of an era--the first upsurge of the Quebec independence movement. Graham Fraser's book tells the story of that era.

Fraser begins with environment of disenchantment that had been felt by the French-speaking public of the province which resulted in the split in the Liberal party of the province of Quebec. Then on July 24, 1967, President de Gaulle of France came to Canada on an official visit to Montreal's Expo 67 and during a speech from the Montreal City Hall shouted "Long-live Free Quebec" in French. That statement caused a scandal in world diplomatic circles, but in Quebec it electrified the French-speaking public and set them on a course toward independent nationhood.

In 1968, the political party called Parti Quebecois (or P.Q.) was formed and began running candidates for the provincial legislature on the platform of an independent nationhood for Quebec. Rene Levesque was elected President of the P.Q. and became head of the legislative delegation of the party as the P.Q. began to pick up a number of seats in the succeeding elections. In 1976, the P.Q. became the majority party in the Quebec legislature and Rene Levesque became premier of the province of Quebec.

The major portion of the book then deals with the rule of the P.Q. in Quebec through the defeat of the referendum in 1980 and the internal stresses and dissentions within the P.Q. that followed as the P.Q. sought to keep Quebec nationhood as a live issue on the political scene. The book ends with the P.Q. still in power in Quebec in 1985. In order to understand the second upsurge of the movement for an independent Quebec which began in 1990 and led to the most recent 1995 referendum and most certainly will lead to a third referendum on Quebec independence, it is necessary to understand the roots of the movement. This book provides that understanding in a clear and inciseful way.

As one of the first books I read on Quebec separatism, I found Desbarats's book the most helpful. Most, if not all, political writing is biased. Desbarats's sympathy for Levesque reveals itself quite clearly. However, I found the author's approach very helpful. Desbarat maintains probably the most sober account of Levesque's political life that I have read so far, in his easy to read journalistic writing style. Desbarat sets an easy to follow timeline of events and explains these political events clearly. As a history student, it is nice to read a book of such events without the dense style of writing that many historians use to mask their bias. I found the journalistic approach more helpful, especially when it came to forming my own opinions about historical events.

If you wish to understand the more sober side of Quebec separatism, then I would strongly recommend this book. If you wish to know more about the more militant side of Quebec separatism, I suggest "The Antagonist".

Note: All books mentioned are obviously from an anglophone point of view. If you read French, I suggest "Memoires" by Levesque himself.