Nation Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times

A very easy and enjoyable read. Gwyn's "Nation Maker" looks at Sir John A. Macdonald's post-Confederation career. Just as Canadian Confederation was not a guarantee, neither was the young country's success as an independent state on the North American continent. Gwyn shows both the personal and professional lives of a complicated man both of his time and ahead of it and how he helped make Canada what it is today. Gwyn's style makes this volume, with its companion "John A.: The Man Who Made Us", a very approachable biography to Canada's first prime minister.

In this era of reconciliation, it was interesting to read of Macdonald's efforts to include indigenous peoples in the government of the country and of his response to both the show more collapse of the bison and the Metis uprising of 1885. It would seem his failings, just as his successes, played their part in shaping the country's history. show less

This is Volume 2 of Richard Gwyn's biography of Sir John A. MacDonald, Canada's first prime minister. Highly readable, with lots of information about Sir John, including details about his family life. I found the book to be more about Sir John's personality than his political philosophy. It's clear he wanted to remain part of the British Empire and that he didn't want to become part of the U.S., but that's as much as we get.

The author seems to have given his subject the benefit of the doubt. He treated Sir John's involvement in the Pacific Scandal quite delicately, as he did his role in the Riel Rebellion. Not surprising since Mr. Gwyn describes Sir John as "The man who made us", the man without whom there wouldn't have been Canada as show more we know it. Personally, I don't subscribe to the great man/woman theory. No one is irreplaceable (except pregnant woman in the first 38 weeks of pregnancy!) And Canadians are certainly very different from what we were in Sir John's time, demographically and in terms of values. But, he did, in my opinion, recognize that the secret to building and sustaining Canada is dialogue among different groups. When Rene Levesque said "We're done talking", he couldn't have been more wrong. Dialogue is the part of Sir John's legacy that lives on today. show less

Best work of Canadian history that I have read in years. It positions Sir John A in his time and it makes him come alive as a human as well as a politician.

An excellent biography of this intriguing man who founded a nation.