Continuity and Change in Canadian Politics: Essays in Honour of David E. Smith, Hans J. Michelmann and Cristine de Clercy, eds., Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006, pp. 273.

Festschrifts pose tricky problems for editors, publishers and reviewers. Editors have to confront the sensitive issue of whom to ask to contribute, how to nudge tardy contributors along and whether the honoree will be pleased with the result. Such collections are seldom thematically coherent enough to guarantee large sales, which is an issue for publishers facing bottom-line calculations. Reviewers have to critically appraise essays on which they are often not experts and they have to remember the occasion for putting those essays between covers. Despite these problems the genre persists, partly on the basis of tradition but also out of the genuine desire to honour colleagues who have been outstanding scholars and “citizens” in their professional fields.