When Charles Tupper, a young Nova Scotian country doctor, discovered the power of his oratory at a local political meeting, his career and the future of Nova Scotia and Canada were changed forever. He was admired and reviled but he never surrendered to his opponents once he had started out on a reforming crusade. Between periods of great political activity he returned to the practice of medicine and to his loyal and devoted patients. He saw the need for a major university and medical school in the maritime provinces, for a national medical organization (he was elected the first President of the Canadian Medical Association), for maritime union and equality among the colonies within the Empire, for a railroad from sea to sea and for a union of all the regions with the confederation of Canada. History has not always given him his due.

Jock Murray is a Fitzhenry and Whiteside author.

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"Tupper shouldn't just rest on a pedestal. He should be read about."
— Canadian Medical Association Journal