SOUTHERN EXPOSURE: CANADIAN PROMOTERS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN, 1896-1930. Armstrong, Christopher and H.V. Nelles. Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1988. 375pp, cloth, $35.00, ISBN 0-8020-2660-5. CIP Adult/Post-secondary Reviewed by Thomas R. Chambers Volume 17 Number 3 1989 May During the free-trade debate prior to last year's federal election, critics of the agreement claimed that Canadian businesses would be swallowed up by the Americans. Supporters of the agreement said that this was nonsense, that Canadians would have no trouble dealing with the Americana, and that we could do business anywhere. Free traders will find Southern Exposure a breath of fresh air. It tells how a handful of Canadian entrepreneurs undertook some very risky business ventures in Latin America and the Caribbean at the turn of the century. We have become used to hearing of the international successes of modern-day entrepreneurs such as Robert Campeau and the Reichmann brothers. Their achievements are remarkable but no more so than those of men like James Dunn and Max Aitken, who did similar things in countries like Mexico and Brazil. This is a very scholarly book. Nelles and Armstrong, history professors at York University, did a great deal of research to gather the facts. The result is a book that will be of great interest to the student of business, but of only marginal interest to the average reader. It fills a large gap in the history of Canadian banking and the rise of the business elites in Halifax, Montreal and Toronto. What will seem most interesting to the non-business reader is the audacity of businessmen in Canada at that time. Canada didn't present enough of a challenge, so they turned elsewhere. When Canadian banks were not able to come up with money, these entrepreneurs raised the funds they needed in Britain and Europe. Their story is a valuable addition to Canada's business history. Thomas R. Chambers, Canadore College of Applied Arts and Technology, North Bay, Ont.