Boozy and boisterous. The Georges – the communities of South Fort George and Fort George that ultimately became Prince George – have had a seedy reputation since before the First World War, branded Canada's "most dangerous city" more than once. Is Prince George really such a bad lad?

The Notorious Georges takes another look, exploring how the local pursuit of respectability collided with caricatures of a riotously ill-mannered settlement frontier in its early years. Anxious that the Georges were being overlooked by the provincial government and venture capitalists, municipal leaders blamed Indigenous and mixed-heritage people, non-preferred immigrants, and transient laborers for local crime. Jonathan Swainger combs through police and legal records, government publications, and media commentary to demonstrate that the reputation was not only exaggerated but also unfair. Repeatedly cast as the bad apple, there was actually little to distinguish the Georges from the rest of a province that was admittedly a truculent place before the 1930s. And "respectable" white residents were responsible for the lion's share of the disorder.

This lively account ultimately tells us about more than a particular community's identity. It also sheds light on small-town disaffection and unease with a diminished place in modern Canada.