IF ISHBEL Marjoribanks had been a boy, she would have become prime minister. Selfconfident, powerful in appearance and character, she found her meat and drink in politics. The husband she chose, John Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen, was a would?be humanitarian happy to let her guide him. Certainly she deserved her Canadian reputation for partisan meddling, but the projects she organized to benefit women, children, and the sick were more lasting outlets for her very considerable energy. She was a founder and the long?time president of the International Council of Women, and, here in Canada, we have her to thank for the Victorian Order of Nurses and the National Council of Women.

Doris French's biography does full justice to this vibrant woman. Both scholarly and entertaining, Ishbel and the Empire (Dundurn, 346 pages, $16.95 paper) is good history and good reading. Apart from the clownish reproduction on the cover, the pictures are plentiful and well reproduced.