"Scenes from a Popular History" bridges academic and popular writing about St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. It is aimes at the general reader but goes beyond anecdotal history. The book looks at five moments in the life of Saint John and weaves an historical account around each of them. The first deals with the conflict between two powerful personalities during the French period. The other four examine in turn Saint John's first election in 1785, a pitched battle between Irsih Catholics and Protestant Orangemen in 1849, a longshoremen's strike in 1875 and changes occurring in the city during the era of the First World War.