J.B. McLachlan: A Biography

The Story of a Legendary Labour Leader and the Cape Breton Coal Miners

by David Frank

Agitator, educator, organizer, J.B. McLachlan led the coal miners of Nova Scotia in their struggles for union recognition, united them around ideas of industrial democracy and social reconstruction, and defended their cause in the labour wars of the 1920s.

Agitator, educator, organizer, J.B. McLachlan led the coal miners of Nova Scotia in their struggles for union recognition, united them around ideas of industrial democracy and social reconstruction, and defended their cause in the labour wars of the 1920s.

This authoritative biography tells the story of legendary labour leader James Bryson McLachlan, champion of the Cape Breton Coal Miners in the early decades of the twentieth century. Charged with sedition in 1923, McLachlan's case was one of the most notorious political trials ever held in Nova Scotia. By the 1920s and 1930s, McLachlan was known across the country as a spokesman for the radical left in Canada. He helped change the balance of power in industrial society and advanced the struggle for social and economic justice.

J.B. McLachlan: A Biography is a rich portrait of a brilliant early twentieth-century Canadian rebel who helped change the balance of power in industrial society and advance the struggle for social and economic justice.

About the Author

David Frank

David Frank
David Frank is a leading figure in Canadian history. He taught for over 30 years at the University of New Brunswick, and he has written six books on Atlantic Canadian labour history. His articles on labour and social history have appeared in numerous books and journals. Frank also edited Acadiensis, a leading journal in the study of the Atlantic region, for 12 years, where he also edited many books on the subject at Acadiensis Press. Previous teaching stints saw Frank take posts at the University College of Cape Breton and Atlantic Region Labour Education Centre. He has also contributed journalistic work to Canadian outlets in radio, television, magazines, and newspapers. Fascinated with J. B. McLachlan from his undergraduate days at Dalhousie University, Frank researched J.B.’s story through the coal towns of Cape Breton through to libraries and archives across Britain, Canada, and the United States. The first edition of this biography is considered a classic in the field of Canadian social and labour history. He lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick. (more)

Reviews

The appearance of this biography of one of Canada's most distinguished labour leaders is a timely event indeed. The product of the sustained scholarly efforts of University of New Brunswick historian David Frank, this is a powerfully moving story of an individual who devoted his life to the struggle for social and economic justice. This is a social rather than a personal biography, and the reader must be satisfied with limited and occasional glimpses of what McLachlan was like as a person. This emphasis should be seen as a strength rather than a weakness, if we value biography as a way to understand the social, political and economic forces that have shaped our history.

Scott Burbidge, Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society Journal

Awards

John W. Dafoe Book Prize
1999
Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize
2000
Dartmouth Book Award (Non-Fiction)
2000
Robert S. Kenny Prize for Labour/Left Studies
2000
Clio Award, Canadian Historical Association
2000

Subjects (BISAC)

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