Radical Mandarin: The Memoirs of Escott Reid

Reid’s memoir is a splendid piece of work, refreshing for its frankness and surprisingly honest in presenting the criticism of others, most often collected by hard research into archival sources. His career was a distinguished one. From the time he joined the Canadian Institute of International Affairs as its national secretary in the 1920s, he was an energetic focus of dissenting ideas, dissenting enough to upset J.W. Dafoe and the other founders of that establishment organization. ”Excess of zeal,” Reid admits, always made him impatient and provocative ”on issues I have felt deeply about.” – J.L. Granatstein