People, Politics, and Purpose

Biography and Canadian Political History

Edited by Greg Donaghy & P. Whitney Lackenbauer
Categories: Political Science, Canadian Political Science, Literature & Language Studies, Auto/biography & Memoir, History, Canadian History
Series: The C.D. Howe Series in Canadian Political History
Publisher: UBC Press
Hardcover : 9780774866804, 274 pages, February 2023
Ebook (PDF) : 9780774866828, 274 pages, February 2023
Ebook (EPUB) : 9780774868020, 274 pages, February 2023
Paperback : 9780774866811, 274 pages, October 2023
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Table of contents

Introduction / P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Greg Donaghy

1 Canada’s Diplomatic Autobiographers and the Burden of History, 1928–84 / Robert Bothwell and Norman Hillmer

2 That Bouncy Man: Americans and Lester B. Pearson / Galen Roger Perras and Asa McKercher

3 The Lumberjack Wars 1943–44: Canadian-American Relations at the Border and the Lives of Ordinary People / Angelika Sauer

4 Competing Biographies: How James Gladstone Became Canada’s First Indigenous Senator / P. Whitney Lackenbauer

5 Prime Minister Lester Pearson: A Leadership Biography / Stephen Azzi

6 Scandal and the Decentring of Canadian Biography: The Case of Gerda Munsinger / P.E. Bryden

7 Herb Gray and the founding of the Foreign Investment Review Agency / Jennifer Levin Bonder

8 The Fine Balance Intended: Allan J. MacEachen and Canadian Diplomacy in the Middle East, 1974–84 / Greg Donaghy

9 A Journey Without Maps: John Hadwen in India 1979–83 / Ryan Touhey

Conclusion: The Academic as Activist / John Milloy

Contributors; Index

Description

People, Politics, and Purpose brings the historian’s myriad tools to bear on Canadians, from prime ministers to lumberjacks to Indigenous leaders. Drawing on the rich details of biography – the what – the contributors also address the larger questions – the so what – that drive history. These stories are not simply about the lives of individuals but critical reflections on subjects who are directly involved in, and affected by, politics. By illuminating the roles of historical actors, this lively collection offers insights into Canada’s place in the world and stimulates fresh thinking about political history.