Trudeau and Our Times Volume 1

by Stephen Clarkson

Book Overview

Volume 1: The Magnificent ObsessionWinner of the Governor General's Award This volume examines the formative influences on Pierre Trudeau's childhood, his knight-errant youth and early manhood, his charismatic ascent to the Liberal Party leadership, and his dramatic first decade as prime minister. It concludes with his bittersweet triumphs in fighting off the separatists in the 1980 referendum campaign and his battle with provincial premiers to patriate...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0771054149
• ISBN13: 9780771054143
• Release Date: October 1990
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
• Length: 2 Pages
• Weight: 2.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

An untold story

As someone who was too young to experience "Trudeaumania", this book gives me a lot of insight into who Trudeau was and also who were the men and women behind the scenes of those Liberal governments that changed Canada.As someone who grew up during the Mulroney and Chretien governments, it made me yearn to be a little older so I could experience what happened during that tumultuous times. Trudeau was an enigma wrapped in a riddle and this book does an amazing job in conveying that story and passion that drove him.

I have rarely read a political bio. of such depth and scope

While I, as an American, do not have the intimate knowledge that a Canadian of my age would have of the times, this biography of Trudeau gives me an insight both into the character and career of Pierre Elliot Trudeau and into this era of Canadian political history. Trudeau's fights within and without the Liberal party and against those who changed the Quiet Revolution into the politics of succesion are engrossing and fascinating. Also striking is the way that the Canadian (and European) study of political economy, as opposed to American political science, gives one a greater insight into the times and the economic forces at work in the political sphere. The only reason that I didn't give this five stars is because I don't feel qualified to judge Canadian political scholarship.