William John Eccles (July 17, 1917 – October 2, 1998) was a Canadian historian and academic, specialising in the history of New France. Early life and education Born in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, England, his family immigrated to Canada in the 1920s. He studied at McGill University. Following graduation, he did post-graduate studies at McGill under historian Edward Robert Adair. He later dedicated his book Canada under Louis XIV to Adair. During World War II, he served overseas with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He then did further graduate study at the Sorbonne in Paris. Academic career Faculty positions Upon his return from France, Eccles joined the faculty at the University of Manitoba. He taught there for four years, from 1953 to 1957, then moved to the University of Alberta, where he taught from 1957 to 1963. In 1963, he was appointed to a professorship at the University of Toronto, where he taught for twenty years. Eccles held visiting Professorships at the University of Chile, McGill University, College of William and Mary (Virginia), and the University of Western Ontario. Analysis of the history of New France Eccles is credited with leading a revival of interest in the history of New France amongst anglophone Canadian historians, and also influencing francophone historians who were re-examining their own understandings of their history. He took a revisionist approach to the image of French Canada which had developed in the 19th century. In his first book, Frontenac, The Courtier Governor he challenged the myth of Frontenac as an heroic governor. He went on to heavily criticise the work of the American historian, Francis Parkman, accusing him an Anglo-American bias, and a prejudiced view of First Nations peoples and the French. He also argued that Parkman had misinterpreted the French sources, based on Parkman's own personal biases: "In short, his appeal is to innate chauvinism." In another book, Eccles wrote: "Francis Parkman's epic work La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West (Boston, 1869) is doubtless a great literary work, but, as history, it is, to say the least, of dubious merit." Eccles was later characterised as a "fearsome iconoclast" in his historical writings. Instead of the anglo-centric view which he considered Parkman espoused, Eccles argued that the formative value of New France was the 17th century French nobility, which emphasised the hiererarchy of the seigneurial class and the value of the military establishment. He also