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Fall/Winter 2006 - University of Toronto Press Publishing

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G E N E R A L I N T E R E S T<br />

Canada's Prime Ministers<br />

Macdonald to Trudeau<br />

Portraits from the Dictionary <strong>of</strong> Canadian Biography<br />

Edited by Robert L. Fraser, Ramsay Cook, and Réal Bélanger<br />

DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY<br />

Prime ministers, the central figures in parliamentary<br />

government and the leaders <strong>of</strong> political parties,<br />

fill dominant roles in Canada’s political history.<br />

Their importance is recognized in the Dictionary<br />

<strong>of</strong> Canadian Biography/Dictionnaire biographique du<br />

Canada by the space devoted to them. Each political<br />

leader is presented by a notable Canadian scholar<br />

who, following the rigorous standards <strong>of</strong> research,<br />

writing, and critical judgement set by the DCB/DBC,<br />

has brought life and understanding to the careers <strong>of</strong><br />

the individuals who have served in Canada’s pre-eminent<br />

political <strong>of</strong>fice. Canada's Prime Ministers brings<br />

these well-written biographies together for the first<br />

time in order to provide readers with an opportunity<br />

to reflect on the striking variety <strong>of</strong> personalities who<br />

have succeeded in climbing the summit <strong>of</strong> Canada’s<br />

public life and the different challenges they faced in<br />

their determination to stay there.<br />

What insights into the workings <strong>of</strong> our public life<br />

do the biographies <strong>of</strong> these fifteen leaders provide Did<br />

these very different men have anything in common<br />

that determined their success The DCB/DBC biographies<br />

make it clear that although there is no standard<br />

mould that shapes Canadian prime ministers, prime<br />

ministerial success depends on both “character and<br />

circumstance.” The biographies suggest that one <strong>of</strong> the<br />

only commonalities between the prime ministers was<br />

an unstable mixture <strong>of</strong> personal ambition and a sense<br />

<strong>of</strong> obligation toward their country and their political<br />

party. Pragmatism in making policy and in devising<br />

strategies <strong>of</strong> survival, rather than principle or ideology,<br />

<strong>of</strong>ten seems the guiding determinant in the success<br />

<strong>of</strong> Canada’s federal political leaders. For a Canadian<br />

prime minister there is usually no higher ground than<br />

the claim to be the defender <strong>of</strong> national unity against<br />

threats <strong>of</strong> disruption and disintegration.<br />

In addition to these themes, the DCB/DBC’s<br />

fifteen biographies <strong>of</strong> Canada’s prime ministers is<br />

also an important historical reference tool, providing<br />

details about personal lives, sketches <strong>of</strong> close associates,<br />

a narrative <strong>of</strong> major events, and an assessment<br />

<strong>of</strong> accomplishments and failures set against the<br />

backdrop <strong>of</strong> economic and demographic growth, the<br />

social crisis <strong>of</strong> depressions, and the impact <strong>of</strong> world<br />

events. Together, they recreate the political and social<br />

panorama stretching from the campaign for confederation<br />

in 1867 to the struggle to entrench the Charter<br />

<strong>of</strong> Rights and Freedoms in the new Constitution <strong>of</strong><br />

1982. Told through the lives <strong>of</strong> Canada’s leading politicians,<br />

this is a remarkable, engrossing, documented<br />

account <strong>of</strong> modern Canadian history.<br />

Ramsay Cook is General Editor, Dictionary <strong>of</strong> Canadian<br />

biography/Dictionnaire biographique du Canada and<br />

pr<strong>of</strong>essor emeritus <strong>of</strong> history, York <strong>University</strong>.<br />

Réal Bélanger is Directeur general adjoint,<br />

Dictionnaire biographique du Canada/Dictionary <strong>of</strong><br />

Canadian biography, and pr<strong>of</strong>esseur titulaire d’histoire,<br />

Université Laval.<br />

Robert L. Fraser is the executive <strong>of</strong>ficer <strong>of</strong> the<br />

Dictionary <strong>of</strong> Canadian Biography/Dictionnaire<br />

biographique du Canada<br />

Praise for the DCB/DBC volumes:<br />

‘No serious student <strong>of</strong> Canada’s past can function without<br />

access to this thorough, balanced and reliable source.’<br />

Roger Hall, Globe and Mail<br />

‘The range and richness <strong>of</strong> DCB biographies is a wonder and<br />

an experience.’<br />

Peter B. Waite, Canadian Historical Review<br />

CANADIAN HISTORY / BIOGRAPHY<br />

Approx. 384 pp / 6 x 9 / November <strong>2006</strong><br />

15 illustrations<br />

Cloth ISBN 0-8020-9173-3 / 978-0-8020-9173-4<br />

£48.00 $75.00 E<br />

Paper ISBN 0-8020-9174-1 / 978-0-8020-9174-1<br />

£22.50 $35.00 T<br />

Sir John A. Macdonald/Library and Archives Canada/PAC C5329.<br />

3

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