{"id":13914,"date":"2011-11-29T11:05:09","date_gmt":"2011-11-29T16:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=13914"},"modified":"2011-11-29T09:45:14","modified_gmt":"2011-11-29T14:45:14","slug":"new-book-looks-at-why-isaac-brock-is-the-one-we-remember","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2011\/11\/new-book-looks-at-why-isaac-brock-is-the-one-we-remember\/","title":{"rendered":"New book looks at why Isaac Brock is the one we remember"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"David

David Sharron, left, and Wesley Turner check out Astonishing General, Turner's new book about the popularity of Sir Isaac Brock.<\/p><\/div>\n

Many generals have come and gone in Canada\u2019s military history, but one in particular maintains celebrity status \u2014 Sir Isaac Brock.<\/p>\n

Now a book by a retired Brock professor is asking why.<\/p>\n

Wesley Turner, a professor of History<\/a> at Brock from 1967 to 1998, is author of Astonishing General: The Life and Legacy of Sir Isaac Brock<\/em>. Turner\u2019s book asks why, when he was killed early in his second War of 1812 battle, Brock is the name that everyone remembers.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou really have to look at his whole life to see why people in Upper Canada regarded him so highly,\u201d said Turner, a Niagara-on-the-Lake resident. \u201cEven Americans across the river had great respect for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turner\u2019s book poses several potential explanations, but a big factor was the charismatic Maj.-General\u2019s ability to understand the psychology of people, he said. He was gifted at anticipating what other people were going to do. That influenced politicians and fellow soldiers, and won him some loyal friends.<\/p>\n

In an example of the latter, in 1811, Brock had amassed a debt of 3,000 pounds, which was tremendous in that day, Turner said. A prominent business owner, Edward Ellis, offered to pay off Brock\u2019s debt.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was about his treatment of soldiers, his relations with the military and his role as a political leader in Upper Canada,\u201d Turner said.<\/p>\n

Brock\u2019s influence was such that when he died in 1812, the British government voted to erect a monument for him at St. Paul\u2019s Cathedral in 1813. By comparison, Viscount Horatio Nelson\u2019s monument in London\u2019s Trafalgar Square wasn\u2019t erected until 1843, nearly 40 years after his death.<\/p>\n

A longtime Brock scholar, Turner studied old and new material for his book, published this year by Dundurn Press.<\/p>\n

\u201cI looked at the material in a different way,\u201d he said. \u201cI asked different questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of his research was done in Brock\u2019s Special Collections and Archives<\/a>. Turner has returned the favour by donating a copy of his book.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the bicentennial coming, we have the opportunity to take new looks at incredible lives,\u201d said David Sharron, head of Special Collections and Archives.<\/p>\n

New classes at Brock are being developed regarding the War of 1812, Sharron said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a new book with new details, looking at things in a new light, is fantastic for researchers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many generals have come and gone in Canada\u2019s military history, but one in particular maintains celebrity status \u2014 Sir Isaac Brock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,1],"tags":[75,30,24,138],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13914"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13914"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13968,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13914\/revisions\/13968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}