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Rogue Tory: The Life and Legend of John G. Diefenbaker

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Dumping on Dief--Again
A great biography of a towering figure of Canadian history..
The Definitive Dief!

Rogue Tory: The Life and Legend of John G. Diefenbaker
Denis Smith
Manufacturer: Macfarlane Walter & Ross
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Winner of the Dafoe Book Prize
Winner of the University of British Columbia Medal for Canadian Biography

1995 marked the 100th anniversary of that most charismatic and enigmatic public figure, the thirteenth prime minister of Canada, John George Diefenbaker. Beloved and reviled with equal passion, he was a politician possessed of a flamboyant, self-fabulizing nature that is the essential ingredient of spellbinding biography.

After several runs at political office, Diefenbaker finally reached the Commons in 1940; sixteen years later he was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party. In 1958, after a campaign that dazzled the voters, the Tories won the largest majority in the nation’s history: the Liberal party was shattered, its leader, Lester Pearson, humiliated by an electorate that had chosen to “follow John.”

Diefenbaker’s victory promised a long and sunny Conservative era. It was not to be: instead Dief gave the country a decade of continuous convulsion, marked by his government’s defeat in 1963 and his own forced departure from the leadership in 1967, a very public drama that divided his party and riveted the nation. When Diefenbaker died in 1979, he was given a state funeral modeled - at his own direction - on those of Churchill and Kennedy. It culminated in a transcontinental train journey and burial on the bluffs overlooking Saskatoon, alongside the archive that houses his papers - the only presidential-style library built for a Canadian prime minister.

Canadians embraced the image of Dief as a morally triumphant underdog, even as they were repelled by his outrageous excesses. He revived a moribund party and gave the country a fresh sense of purpose but he was no match for the dilemmas of the Cold War of Quebec nationalism, or the subtleties of the country’s relations with the United States.

This compelling biography, illuminating both legend and man and the nation he helped shape, was among the most highly praised books of the year.

Customer Reviews:

Dumping on Dief--Again.......2002-09-28

This book's virtues are obvious. It is a very thorough, well-researched scholarly monograph covering all aspects of the public and private lives of the former Conservative prime minister of Canada. It is factually reliable and stylistically readable, if a touch dull.

But it is so thoroughly, comprehensively, persistently hostile towards its subject that it cannot be considered balanced or fair. It probably contains the truth (and nothing but the truth) about Diefenbaker, but it doesn't contain the WHOLE truth about him. The author is too obviously grinding an axe; his antipathy seems almost personal at times.

The cover is a clue to the contents, since it has a demonic close-up of a glowering Diefenbaker. Basically, the author thinks that the former PM did nothing right, apart from give South Africa a hard time on occasion. According to the author, everything Dief touched went wrong. His account of Diefenbaker's relations with John F. Kennedy are particularly disappointing. Absolutely nothing is granted to the PM's position while the President emerges as the very epitome of cool-headed reasonableness. (We know otherwise now.)

In other words, this is just a long, dull but dependably scholarly version of Peter Newman's anti-Diefenbaker polemics from the 1960s. It is as though the author wanted to make Newman's caricature of Diefenbaker respectable. Measured against that very low ambition, this book must be judged a success. Too bad the author didn't aim higher and produce a balanced picture of Diefenbaker warts and all, rather than just all wart.

A great biography of a towering figure of Canadian history.........1998-12-08

This text appeared as I was attending graduate school in Toronto, Ontario. I ended up writing my thesis on a specific part of the Diefenbaker governments and this book is the reason why. (I'd also like to say that I wrote Smith about some of my research and he was very cooperative and professional!) Wonderfully researched and well written, you'll learn quite a bit about Dief the Chief and US-Canadian relations during the dangerous years from the late 50s to early 1960s; but you'll also learn more about the Canadian experience.

This book is simply must for anyone hoping to understand Canadian politics and culture.

The Definitive Dief!.......1998-08-04

This book has all you'll ever need to know about Canada's 13th PM. It is thoroughly (almost excessively!) researched, and covers the Chief's life from start to finish. At no point did I find myself thinking, "gee, I wish Smith could have provided us with more details or factual information". No book has gone this far in providing us with the definitive Dief!

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