The True Face of Sir Isaac Brock

Book excerpt: "Major General Sir Isaac Brock is remembered as the Hero of Upper Canada for his defence of what is now Ontario during the War of 1812 and for his noble death at the battle of Queenston Heights. In the time since his death, Brock's likeness has been lost in a confusing array of portraits-most of which are misidentified or conceptual. The 1824 monument constructed to honour Brock's sacrifice at Queenston Heights was destroyed in 1840 by Benjamin Lett, a disgruntled disciple of William Lyon Mackenzie and critic of the Upper Canadian elite. After this destruction, portraits of Brock were painted with a series of false faces that served competing claims and agendas. St-Denis situates Brock's portraits within an emerging English Canadian imperial nationalism that sought a heroic past which reflected their own aspirations and ambitions. A work of detailed scholarship and a fascinating detective story, "The True Face of Sir Isaac Brock" reveals the sometimes petty world of self-proclaimed guardians of the past, the complex process of identification and misidentification that occurs even at esteemed institutions, and St-Denis' own meticulous work as he separates fact from fiction to finally discover Brock's true face."--