Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Romance of Canada


Book Description

One of Canada's best-loved and most-read historians, Laurier LaPierre, provides an intimate portrait of Sir Wilfrid, from his school days at the College classique and McGill University law school, his marriage to his beloved Zoe and his friendship with the beguiling Emile.




Wilfrid Laurier


Book Description

Wilfrid Laurier’s life journey took him from a small Quebec village to the Parliament of Canada. He possessed a rare combination of the common touch and political savvy, which he effectively used to remain prime minister of Canada for fifteen years (1896-1911).




The Order of Canada


Book Description

In 1966, a project to create a national honour for Canadians was begun. The first recipients of the Order of Canada were announced a year later, and in the nearly forty years since, the Order has become a symbol familiar to, and respected by, people from across the country. The spirit that motivates the Order of Canada – celebration, inclusion, and democracy – was born of the memories of Canada's earlier experience with honours. From initial distrust and misunderstanding to the awakening of a national identity, the development of the Order reflects the relationship Canadians have with their country, their government, their culture, and their heroes. The Order itself is a product of national identity, politics, and history, reflected by the significance of its recipients' accomplishments. Indeed, the Order's history is as fascinating as the more than 4000 Canadians who have received it. This first book-length history of the Order of Canada – and first major work on Canadian honours – by Christopher McCreery is a celebration of the Order and a close examination of its unique design and various early incarnations. McCreery provides both a history of the Order's beginnings and a more general overview of trends in Canadian honours. Extensively illustrated with never-before-published photographs, The Order of Canada: Its Origins, History, and Developments pays tribute to the individuals who felt the need for a system of recognition for Canadians. Electronic Format Disclaimer: Images removed at the request of the rights holder.




Canada 1911


Book Description

One hundred years ago, Canadians went to the polls to decide the fate of their country in an election that raised issues vital to Canada’s national independence and its place in the world. Canadians faced a clear choice between free trade with the United States and fidelity to the British Empire, and the decisions they made in September 1911 helped shape Canada’s political and economic history for the rest of the century. Canada 1911 revisits and re-examines this momentous turn in Canadian history, when Canadians truly found themselves at a parting of the ways. It was Canada’s first great modern election and one of the first expressions of the birth of modern Canada. The poet Rudyard Kipling famously wrote at the time that this election was nothing less than a fight for Canada’s soul. This book will explain why.




Order of Canada, Second Edition


Book Description

The second edition of The Order of Canada continues the celebration of the order. Christopher McCreery sheds new light on the development of Canadian honours in the early 1930s, the imposed prohibition on honours from 1946 to 1967, and new details on those who have been removed or resigned from the Order.




The Unfinished Canadian


Book Description

The award-winning, bestselling author of While Canada Slept gives his view of a country wasted on Canadians. What is national character? What makes the Americans, the British, the French, the Russians, and the Chinese who they are? In this homogenized world, where globalization is a byword for a deadening sameness, why do peoples who live in the same region, use the same money, read the same books, and watch the same movies remain different from one another? As much as Canada may be seen as a copy, clone, or colony of America, we are unquestionably distinctive. It is a result of our geography, history, and politics. It comes from our demography and prosperity. Most of all, it comes from our character. In The Unfinished Canadian, Andrew Cohen delves into our past and present in search of our defining national characteristics. He questions hoary shibboleths, soothing mythologies, and old saws with irreverence, humour, and flintiness, unencumbered by our proverbial politeness (itself a great misperception) and our suffocating political correctness. We are so much, in so many shades, and it’s time we took an honest look at ourselves. In this provocative, passionate, and elegant book, Cohen argues that our mythology, our jealousy, our complacency, our apathy, our amnesia, and our moderation are all part of the unbearable lightness of being Canadian.




The History of Canada Series: The Destiny of Canada


Book Description

It was Sir John A. Macdonald's last campaign. His Conservatives had dominated Canadian politics since Confederation. Their National Policy, which protected Canadian manufacturers from foreign competition, was well established and affection for the "Old Man" was deep and widespread. The Liberal leader, Wilfrid Laurier, was new in the job and uncertain that a Roman Catholic from Quebec had any chance of winning votes outside his home province. But Macdonald's decision to hang Louis Riel had split the country, the economy was in the doldrums, and a movement in support of free trade with the United States gave the Liberals hope. In this richly textured narrative, Christopher Pennington spins a colourful tale of a country poised to make a momentous choice and of nineteenth century politics both at its most principled and at its most corrupt.




Revelations


Book Description

In recognition of the year 2000 and its significance for the Christian world, religion provides the common thread that binds together the book’s variety of subject matter, concerns and methodologies. This compilation of eleven papers focuses on politics, museums, religion and war; reports and surveys; as well as research based on the collections.




Winston Churchill and Mackenzie King


Book Description

The story of the complex relationship between two world leaders during one of the greatest crises in human history. Born just two weeks apart in 1874, Winston Churchill and William Lyon Mackenzie King had much in common. Both forged long parliamentary careers, and each led his country to victory in World War II. A BBC poll deemed Winston Churchill the greatest Briton of all time, and Mackenzie King has been judged by a group of historians as the greatest Canadian prime minister. Their parallel careers fostered a working relationship that lasted almost fifty years. It was not always an easy relationship, however. Churchill, famous for his drink and cigars, was impetuous and charismatic, an extrovert; King, a teetotaller during WWII, was noted for considering all options before cautiously proceeding. Fate threw this ill-matched pair together. For the first time, the vital relationship between these two very different men is explored in depth. It is the story not just of two extraordinary leaders, but also of the changing bonds between Britain and Canada.




Painful Choices


Book Description

Under what conditions should we expect states to do things radically differently all of a sudden? In this book, David Welch seeks to answer this question, constructing a theory of foreign policy change inspired by organization theory, cognitive and motivational psychology, and prospect theory. He then "test drives" the theory in a series of comparative case studies in the security and trade domains: Argentina's decision to go to war over the Falklands/Malvinas vs. Japan's endless patience with diplomacy in its conflict with Russia over the Northern Territories; America's decision to commit large-scale military force to Vietnam vs. its ultimate decision to withdraw; and Canada's two abortive flirtations with free trade with the United States in 1911 and 1948 vs. its embrace of free trade in the late 1980s. Painful Choices has three main objectives: to determine whether the general theory project in the field of international relations can be redeemed, given disappointment with previous attempts; to reflect on what this reveals about the possibilities and limits of general theory; and to inform policy. Welch argues that earlier efforts at general theory erred by aiming to explain state behavior, which is an intractable problem. Instead, since inertia is the default expectation in international politics, all we need do is to explain changes in behavior. Painful Choices shows that this is a tractable problem with clear implications for intelligence analysts and negotiators.