Smith, Denis 1932-

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SMITH, Denis 1932–

PERSONAL: Born October 3, 1932, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; son of S. Bruce (a lawyer and judge) and Doris G. (a writer) Smith; married Dawn L. (a professor of Spanish), July 8, 1961; children: Alastair, Stephen, Andrea. Education: McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, B.A., 1953; Oxford University, England, B.A., 1955, M.A. and B.Litt., both 1959; Litt.D., Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 1989. Politics: Independent. Religion: Anglican.

ADDRESSES: Home—64 Augusta St., Port Hope, Ontario L1A 1G9, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Political scientist, educator, and writer. University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, lecturer in political science, 1956–58; York University, Downsview, Ontario, assistant professor of political science, 1960–63; Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, from associate professor to professor of political science, 1963–82, vice president of university, 1964–67; University of Western Ontario, London, professor of political science, 1982–96, dean of social science, 1982–88.

MEMBER: Canadian Periodical Publishers Association (president, 1975–77).

AWARDS, HONORS: Medal in Canadian Biography, University of British Columbia, 1973 and 1995; J.W. Dafoe Book Prize, 1988 and 1995.

WRITINGS:

Bleeding Hearts … Bleeding Country, Hurtig (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), 1971.

Gentle Patriot: A Political Biography of Walter Gordon, Hurtig (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), 1973.

Diplomacy of Fear: Canada and the Cold War, 1941–1948, University of Toronto Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1988.

Rogue Tory: The Life and Legend of John G. Diefenbaker, Macfarlane, Walter & Ross (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1995.

The Prisoners of Cabrera: Napoleon's Forgotten Soldiers, 1809–1814, Four Walls Eight Windows (New York, NY), 2001.

Editor, Canadian Forum, 1962–64, 1975–79, and the Journal of Canadian Studies, 1966–75.

SIDELIGHTS: Denis Smith is a retired political scientist and academician who has written several books that have received wide recognition. In his third book, Diplomacy of Fear: Canada and the Cold War, Smith outlines what he sees as Canada's over-reliance on the United States during the middle twentieth-century and an effort by Canada's former prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King to make a firmer stand in foreign policy issues concerning the Cold War. "Although certainly intended as an argument for a specific political point of view," commented C.P. Stacey in the American Historical Review, "this study represents a formidable piece of research in archival sources and secondary works and is a useful addition to the historiography of the postwar period."

Rogue Tory: The Life and Legend of John G. Diefenbaker recounts the life and career of the one-time Canadian prime minister. According to Smith, Diefenbaker had decided his course in life when he was around six years old, and then spent the rest of his life achieving his goal and then battling his downfall. A contributor to Compass: A Jesuit Journal noted that "Smith is tenacious at getting to the facts." Writing in the Alberta Report, another reviewer concluded that "Denis Smith has made useful additions to the portrait of John Diefenbaker as person and legend, as well as politician."

Smith turned his pen to writing about a little known group of soldiers in The Prisoners of Cabrera: Napoleon's Forgotten Soldiers, 1809–1814. The story revolves around the French soldiers who were imprisoned on the Spanish island of Cabrera. Using various memoirs and other documents, Smith delves into individual soldiers' lives as he tells the story of the five years they spent on the island and the thousands who died. Richard Nowicki, writing in the Library Journal, called the book a "thoughtful study." NapoleonSeries.org Web site contributor Tom Holmberg commented, "Smith set out to fully record the story of the unfortunate prisoners for the first time in English."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Alberta Report, January 22, 1996, review of Rogue Tory: The Life and Legend of John G. Diefenbaker, pp. 35-36.

American Historical Review, February, 1990, C.P. Stacey, review of Diplomacy of Fear: Canada and the Cold War, p. 303.

Compass: A Jesuit Journal, May-June, 1996, review of Rogue Tory, pp. 25-27.

Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), December 29, 2001, review of The Prisoners of Cabrera: Napoleon's Forgotten Soldiers, 1809–1814, p. D7.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2001, review of The Prisoners of Cabrera, p. 1345.

Library Journal, November 1, 2001, Richard Nowicki, review of The Prisoners of Cabrera, p. 110.

Publishers Weekly, October 15, 2001, review of The Prisoners of Cabrera, p. 56.

Quill & Quire, December, 2001, review of The Prisoners of Cabrera, p. 20.

Reference & Research Book News, February, 2002, review of The Prisoners of Cabrera, p. 29.

Western Report, January 22, 1996, review of Rogue Tory, pp. 35-36.