Thursday, June 14, 2012

Prime Ministerial Biography....


What about me?
... is really thriving.  Gwyn on Macdonald (and Ged Martin in the wings). André Pratte on Wilfrid Laurier. Peter Waite on R.B. Bennett (and John Boyko not long ago).  Allan Levine recently on Mackenzie King. Yves Engler most recently, and Andrew Cohen not long ago, on Pearson. Just about everybody, but particularly John English and the Nemnis, on Pierre-Elliott Trudeau.  Roderick Benns, author and publisher, draws our attention to his new ebook on Arthur Meighen -- at $3.99, surely holding the price advantage. Stretching the boundaries a little, there's Michael Cross's long-in-the-works life of Robert Baldwin, coming this fall.  Who'd we miss?

I'm in favour of this trend. Tho' I do smile to remember Historiann's call out to her American colleagues:
Here’s a suggestion, boys:  just stop writing about the so-called “Founding Fathers!”  Stop it!  Stop!  Go find something new, interesting, and utterly undiscovered in the archives, for a change! 
 But as long as prime ministerial biographies are so hot, inquiring minds want to know: where, oh where, is Bowell: The Life and Times?
 
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