Alex (AD) Boutilier

Alex D. Boutilier was born in Sydney Mines, Cape Breton during WWII, and grew up in the shadows of the mines during his early life and as a teen. His interest in theatre began in school when he was involved in several stage productions while attending high school in Sydney Mines; later he acted in performances put on by the Dartmouth Players in the early 1990s.

He has a keen interest in the culture, customs, and traditions of diverse societies and has travelled extensively throughout England and France visiting medieval churches, museums, archeological sites and ancient ruins. He has also toured all British and French colonial fortifications in eastern Canada and Ontario. Alex believes that history is not fixed in time; that it is constantly changing as new information is discovered.

His favorite authors include social historians, such as J.C. Furnas; cultural writers like Arthur Koestler; the literary critic, Harold Bloom; and his favorite playwright is, of course, the great bard, William Shakespeare.

Alex also loves studying, researching and writing social history, which he finds highly informative, and suggests that it can also be “unexpectedly hilarious” at times.

Alex studied at Saint Mary’s University and graduated with BA degrees in English and Psychology, as well as an MA In Atlantic Canadian Studies. From 1998 to 2005, he was an instructor for the Saint Mary’s University writing Centre. This book is his first trade publication, which is based, in part, on his Master thesis at SMU.

His lifelong occupation was in sales and marketing for several industrial corporations. He currently lives in Fall River, NS with his wife, Rose.

His first book on colonial history of Nova Scotia (Maritimes) was The Citadel on Stage, published in 2015; followed by 14th Colony to Confederation, which was first released in 2017. He is currently working on third book in the trilogy on colonial life about the ordinary people who eventually but remarkably became the what Howe called the ‘middling class’. Prior to this evolution there were only three groups, the rich, the poor and the military classes.This came about just before the mid-nineteenth century and continued into the 20th as the middle class became more prominent, even dominate in many phases of life, including within the workforce, politics and government/civil service.

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