Ruin and Redemption: The Struggle for a Canadian Bankruptcy Law, 1867-1919

‘Ruin and Redemption is a valuable addition to the excellent catalogue of the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History. It helps historians to better understand the legal structures involved in the regulation of debt and obligation.’

Daniel Simeone, Canadian Historical Review vol 96:02:2015

‘Law students, professors, and those interested in Canadian history generally can all take away something of value from this book. Telfer’s analysis is easy to follow…. No legal background is required to derive insight from reading this book.’

Sean Tessarolo, Saskatchewan Law Review vol 78:2015

‘Tom Telfer deserves our congratulations for shining a light on what until now was an obscure and little-known episode in our legal history.’

Roderick J. Wood, Canadian Business Law Journal vol 57:03:2016

‘Once established in the aftermath of the First World War, federal bankruptcy legislation in Canada has almost certainly become a permanent part of the economic landscape. Telfer’s monumental study is the definitive explanation for how that important sea change came to pass.’

Charles J. Tabb, Law and History Review May 2016

‘This is an excellent piece of scholarship.’

Andrew Smith, Journal of Legal History vol 37:2016

“It is rare to find a work on commercial law that animates the law and its history by drawing insight from political debate, social context and commentary, economic analysis and literature, as well as legislation, case law, and parliamentary records. Ruin and Redemption is a valuable addition to the legal and historical literature on insolvency law.”

Tamara Buckwold, Faculty of Law, University of Alberta

“Ruin and Redemption is a significant contribution to the history of Canadian bankruptcy law. It demonstrates skilfully how ideas and interests, and the institutional structures which shaped them, contributed to Canada rejecting bankruptcy law in 1880 and not passing a national statute until 1919. Scholars from a variety of disciplines interested in comparative analysis of bankruptcy law development will benefit from reading this book.” 

Iain Ramsay, Kent Law School, University of Kent