Strange Bedfellows

Who was Ivan Rand, who was born in 1884 and died in 1969? Does anyone, apart from the legal history cognoscenti, have the foggiest idea? The lawyer and judge seems like just another bygone establishment figure who quickly faded into obscurity once dead. And yet, William Kaplan—well-known lawyer, arbitrator and author—has written a hefty biography of this historical has-been. This is doubly strange, since Kaplan appears to disrespect and dislike Rand.

Despite the unpromising underpinnings of Canadian Maverick: The Life and Times of Ivan C. Rand, this curious book is interesting and provocative. Much of the reason is Kaplan’s struggle, explicit on almost every page, to decide what Rand was. A flawed hero? Or just flawed? A figure of substance, with an important legacy? Or eminently forgettable? Wildly contradictory assessments of the man and his career litter...