As a journalist, author and public intellectual, Michael Ignatieff has become a major figure in Britain, the U.S. and Canada. He is a recognized world authority on human rights and nationalism - and a leading candidate for the Liberal party leadership. With no experience in Canadian politics, Ignatieff comes with no political baggage. Much like Pierre Elliott Trudeau, he would put a completely fresh face on the country's 'natural governing party.'
But Michael Ignatieff does have a track record, as a thinker and public intellectual. That record is the focus of this book. Here Denis Smith, the distinguished Canadian biographer of Liberal Walter Gordon and Conservative John Diefenbaker, examines Ignatieff's extensive writings to capture the essence of his values and his approach to the world.
In the past ten years, Michael Ignatieff has written about the Balkans, the role of the U.S. in the world, and Iraq. He has taken positions on missile defence, pre-emptive war, the rights of accused terrorists, the use by governments of torture. He has been at the centre of many debates - such as a recent British controversy about whether he has helped the Bush administration legitimize the use of torture.
In this book, Denis Smith presents Ignatieff's intellectual journey from liberal internationalism to support for the American invasion of Iraq, Canadian military intervention in Afghanistan, and the selective use of assassination by governments.

DENIS SMITH has had a distinguished career as a professor of Canadian politics, university administrator, and author. He was the founding editor of the Journal of Canadian Studies from 1966 to 1975 and editor of the Canadian Forum from 1975 to 1979. His books include a biography of Liberal cabinet minister Walter Gordon, Gentle Patriot and of Conservative prime minister John Diefenbaker in Rogue Tory, both of which won the UBC Medal for Canadian Biography.Canadian Author

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