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Biography & Autobiography Political

Grit

The Life and Politics of Paul Martin Sr.

by (author) Greg Donaghy

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
May 2015
Category
Political, Canadian, General
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780774829113
    Publish Date
    May 2015
    List Price
    $39.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774829144
    Publish Date
    May 2015
    List Price
    $125.00

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Description

“I am not afraid to be called a politician,” declared Paul Martin Sr., defending his life’s work in politics. “Next to preaching the word of God, there is nothing nobler than to serve one’s fellow countrymen in government.” This book examines Martin’s remarkable career as a liberal reformer and cabinet minister who tackled the issues of his day with consummate political skill and gritty determination. Though some mocked his ambition and doubted his progressive politics, his resolute championing of health care and pension rights, new meanings for Canadian citizenship, and internationalism in world affairs would leave its mark on Canada’s political landscape.

About the author

Greg Donaghy is Head of the Historical Section at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and General Editor of its series, Documents on Canadian External Relations. His publications include Tolerant Allies: Canada and the United States, 1963-68, and the edited collection (with Patricia Roy) Contradictory Impulses: Canada and Japan in the 20th Century.

Greg Donaghy's profile page

Editorial Reviews

During his lifetime Martin published two volumes of memoirs, and the diaries he kept while High Commissioner. But they are dull stuff: too long, too detailed, too stiff; as one reviewer put it, he left out the politics. Donaghy’s impeccably researched and immensely readable biography, which draws on new material and numerous interviews, shows the extent to which Martin undersold himself. It also reveals him to be a very complex, highly intelligent, well-read, thoughtful, likeable, convivial, and witty man. It is one of the best biographies I have read in the last decade.

British Journal of Canadian Studies, Vol. 29 No. 2, Fall 2016

In his detailed biography, Greg Donaghy ably chronicles the key roles that Martin played in ... Canadian political and international history ... Grit will surely serve as a valuable reference tool for scholars interested in the inner workings of policy formation and ministerial wrangling, and it illuminates our understanding of one of Canada’s important twentieth century political operatives.

Canadian Journal of History

Greg Donaghy paints a picture of a man whose ambition never superseded his fundamental decency, his connection to individuals both great and small, and his unwavering loyalty to colleagues, constituents and indeed a country that often treated him with something less than loyalty. This is both a fascinating study of twentieth-century Canada and the somewhat poignant story of a boy with big dreams.

Ontario History

Other titles by

People, Politics, and Purpose

Biography and Canadian Political History

edited by Greg Donaghy & P. Whitney Lackenbauer

Breaking Barriers, Shaping Worlds

Canadian Women and the Search for Global Order

edited by Jill Campbell-Miller, Greg Donaghy & Stacey Barker

A Samaritan State Revisited

Historical Perspectives on Canadian Foreign Aid

edited by Greg Donaghy & David Webster

Canada's Department of External Affairs, Volume 3

Innovation and Adaptation, 1968-1984

by (author) John Hilliker, Mary Halloran & Greg Donaghy

From Kinshasa to Kandahar

Canada and Fragile States in Historical Perspective

edited by Michael K. Carroll & Greg Donaghy
contributions by Stephanie M. Bangarth, Duane Bratt, Darren Brunk, Hevina S. Dashwood, Jean Daudelin, Tom Keating, Stephen Saideman, Julian Schofield, Kevin Spooner, Andrew Thompson & David Webster

In the National Interest

Canadian Foreign Policy and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, 1909-2009

edited by Greg Donaghy
contributions by Michael K. Carroll, Norman Hillmer, Galen Roger Perras, Heather Metcalfe, J.L. Granatstein, Adam Chapnick, P. Whitney Lackenbauer, Peter Kikkert, Robin S. Gendron, Michael Hart, Tammy Nemeth, Nelson Michaud, Stephen J. Randall & Elizabeth Riddell-Dixon

Architects and Innovators/Architectes et Innovateurs

Building the Department of Foreign and International Trade, 1909-2009/le développement du ministère des Affaires étrangères et du Commerce international, 1909-2009

by (author) Greg Donaghy & Kim Richard Nossal

Contradictory Impulses

Canada and Japan in the Twentieth Century

edited by Greg Donaghy & Patricia E. Roy

Escott Reid

Diplomat and Scholar

by (author) Greg Donaghy & Stéphane Roussel

Tolerant Allies

Canada and the United States, 1963-1968

by (author) Greg Donaghy

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