Norman Hillmer

In this collection of essays marking the centenary of Pearson's birth, eighteen leading academics, journalists, public servants, and politicians recreate and reassess Pearson's premiership from 1963 to 1968. Robert Bothwell (Toronto) introduces Pearson the man and Denis Stairs (Dalhousie) presents his political ideas. Governor General award-winning author and journalist Christina McCall and J. L. Granatstein (Canadian Institute of International Affairs) compare Pearson and his nemesis, John Diefenbaker. Stephen Azzi (House of Commons) and Greg Donaghy (Department of Foreign Affairs) write respectively about the prime minister's relations with Walter Gordon and Paul Martin Sr. Tom Kent (Queen's) and Penny Bryden (Mount Allison) discuss the Pearson welfare state, while Claude Ryan, editor of Le Devoir in the 1960s, and Michael Behiels (Ottawa) debate national unity. Patrick Brennan (Calgary) looks at the media. Monique Begin (Ottawa), Andrew Cohen (Globe and Mail), Blair Neatby (Carleton), and former public servants Ross Campbell, Al Johnson, Geoffrey Pearson, and Gordon Robertson gauge the scope of Pearson's legacy. The collection also includes an introduction by the editor and a foreword by Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

When O. D. Skelton became Prime Minister Mackenzie King’s foreign policy advisor in 1923, he was already a celebrated critic of the status quo in international and domestic affairs, a loyal Liberal Party man, and a fervent nationalist who believed Canada needed to steer a path independent of Britain. Two years later, he became the permanent head of Canada’s Department of External Affairs. Between then and his tragic death in 1941, Skelton created Canada’s professional diplomatic service, staffing it with sharp young men such as Lester B. Pearson. Skelton’s importance in Ottawa was unparalleled, and his role in shaping Canada’s world was formative and crucial. Using research from archives across Canada and around the world, Norman Hillmer presents Skelton not only as a towering intellectual force but as deeply human – deceptively quiet, complex, and driven by an outsize ambition for himself and for his country. O. D. Skelton is the definitive biography of the most influential public servant in Canada’s history, written by one of the most prolific Canadian historians of international affairs and the editor of Skelton’s voluminous papers.

O. D. Skelton: The Work of the World, 1923-1941 is a lively and compelling trip through the letters, diary entries, and official memoranda of O. D. Skelton, one of the most important and influential civil servants in twentieth-century Canada. Skelton was a towering foreign policy advisor to Canada's prime ministers and a lonely advocate for the country's independence from Great Britain. His accounts detail his work as he co-operated and clashed with William Lyon Mackenzie King and R. B. Bennett over Canada's participation in the international arena. Norman Hillmer's selection and assessment of Skelton's writings offer a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the federal government as Skelton systematically built up the Department of External Affairs and the Canadian diplomatic service as instruments of the national interest, confronted the Manchurian, Ethiopian, and Czech crises of the 1930s, aligned himself with senior francophone politicians such as Ernest Lapointe and Raoul Dandurand, and watched in despair as Europe and Asia descended into war. Providing avenues into a time when Canada was struggling to define itself, this collection shows the ways in which O. D. Skelton pushed the country onto the global stage.

The Land Newly Found is comprehensive, fascinating collection of first-hand accounts from the frontiers of Canadian immigration history. Drawn from letters, newspapers, and reportage, these vivid accounts range from the 18th century to the present day, and provide an insightful look into the lives and minds of newly arrived immigrants to Canada as well as the politicians, policy-makers, and public who witnessed their arrival. Chosen for their immediacy and engaging acuity into the Canadian immigration experience, these eyewitness accounts are broad in scope, revealing the hardships and heartbreak, hard work and happiness of people beginning their lives anew in a foreign land. From war brides and home children to refugees and boat people, The Land Newly Found not only explores the personal stories of those who choose to make Canada their new home, but provides keen insight into the policies and political struggles of a budding multicultural nation.

An interdisciplinary exploration of the meanings, uses, and contradictions of nationalism, critical to contemporary understandings of Canada and Canadians.

An interdisciplinary exploration of the meanings, uses, and contradictions of nationalism, critical to contemporary understandings of Canada and Canadians.

An in-depth examination of the challenges confronting the new Canadian government as it charts a course in the turbulent world of international affairs.