More of a Man presents the only known diaries of a skilled craft-worker in Victorian Canada: Andrew McIlwraith, a Scottish journeyman who migrated to North America during a tumultuous period marked by economic depression and early industrial change. McIlwraith's journals illuminate his quest to succeed financially and emotionally amidst challenging circumstances. The diaries trace his transformations, from an immigrant newcomer to a respected townsman, a wage worker to an entrepreneur, and a bachelor to a married man.

Carefully edited and fully annotated by historians Andrew C. Holman and Robert B. Kristofferson, More of a Man features an introduction providing historical context for McIlwraith's life and an epilogue detailing what happened to him after the diaries end. Historians of labour, gender, and migration in the North Atlantic world will find More of a Man a valuable primary document of considerable insight and depth. All readers will find it a lively story of life in the nineteenth century.

Andrew C. Holman is a professor in the Department of History and the Canadian Studies Program at Bridgewater State University.

Andrew Holman's profile page

Robert B. Kristofferson is an associate professor of History and Contemporary Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Robert K. Kristofferson's profile page

‘More of Man is a goldmine of information on the life of a journeyman crafts worker… Framing the diaries with a thoughtful introduction and effective epilogue is merely the icing on the cake for historians and readers alike in their quest to understand the mid-19th century world that produced an Andrew McIlworth.’

Labour/Le Travail, vol 73 2014