In the study of Canadian military history the Avro Arrow has become a buzzword found on the lips of all technological, political and even airforce enthusiast. At the risk of seeming unoriginal in topic selection, this critique reviews the fascinating biography, Fall of an Arrow, by Murray Peden. Peden's historical biography accurately covers a variety of aspects of the A. V. Row Arrow, from specifics in military capability, to competing technological and political/economic significance. This critical evaluation of the mentioned secondary source sets out to evaluate the work as a historical source, focussing on evidence of bias, the apparent coherence of arguments and finally the effectiveness of Peden's underlying points.The metaphorical tittle alludes to the cancellation of the Arrow project in 1959, which terminated a Canadian built high-speed interceptor far superior to any aircraft of its time and potentially of the century. Peden refers to the disspansion as, "The number one stupidest decision ever made by a politician in peace time." The tittle itself bears testimony to an emotional bias, hinting to the author's fondness for the Arrow. As with all historical viewpoints there is bound to be some bias in the expression. From the moment one begins the reading, one realizes that Peden is anti conservative, as he opens his first chapter discussing the dashing of the Canadian military aviation industry from a proud position. Peden contrast this with a statement of a liberal who claims this is the demolition of, "the greatest single achievement in Canadian History." This clear bias sets the tone of the remainder of the book, bearing fair warning of a highly emotionally driven bias disfavoring the CF-105 cancellation. It is one things to simply state the facts as they occurred in history, it is a completely different and subjective thing when the motive is to point out and argue buffoonery on the part of individuals or past ...
