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William John Eccles was born in Yorkshire, England in 1917 and came to Canada in 1928. He served overseas in the RCAF during World War II before studying at McGill University and the Sorbonne. A well-known historian and former faculty member of the Universities of Manitoba and Alberta, he is presently with the History Department, University of Toronto. He has written several articles and books on Canadian history, with a emphasis on the social history of New France. "With the true historian's determination to test even the most widely accepted truths, with an instinct for ferreting out fresh evidence, with a bold lack of respect for time-tested "facts," he has successfully challenged established doctrine at a number of points in Canadian history." (Taken from Ray Allen Billington's foreword in "The Canadian Frontier 1534-1760", revised edition, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1969).