William Lyon Mackenzie King, Volume III, 1932-1939 : : The Prism of Unity / / H. Neatby.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Archive 1933-1999
• VerfasserIn: Neatby, H.,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2019]; ©1976
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Series: Heritage
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (384 p.)

Aided by meticulous knowledge of the former Prime Minister's diary, and with characteristic conciseness and clarity, H. Blair Neatby has written the impressive and long-awaited third volume of the official biography of Mackenzie King. He carefully and judiciously untangles a complexity of issues in Canadian political history to produce definitive accounts of controversies that have engaged the attention of Canadian historians for years. Beginning the story in 1932, this volume treats the depression years when King was first in Opposition and then the years after 1935 when he was once again Prime Minister; it is a masterly analysis of how one of the most enigmatic figures in Canadian history made shrewd and critical political decisions. Attention is paid in turn to his clearly successful tactics as Leader of the Opposition; the election campaign of 1935; a wide range of his domestic policies, including those on unemployment, inflation, relief, and trade; and to a series of international crises – the Ethiopian crisis, the Spanish Civil War, Anschluss, and Munich – that culminated in the Second World War. At all times, King's overriding concern was to preserve national unity at home and to avoid commitments abroad, either through the British Commonwealth or the League of Nations. We see King in his relations with other Canadian leaders – Aberhart, Pattullo, Hepburn, Duplessis, and Bennett – and with world leaders – Roosevelt, Baldwin, Chamberlain, and Hitler. We also see the personal side of the man, and the link between the private and the public figure. William Lyon Mackenzie King, Volume III is an accomplished piece of historical writing; progressing in a controlled way through a profusion of incident and accident, it brings to completion the outstanding biography of a consummate politician.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- PREFACE -- CONTENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- CHAPTER ONE. THE OTTAWA TRADE AGREEMENTS -- CHAPTER TWO. THE NEW LIBERALISM -- CHAPTER THREE. PRE-ELECTION MANŒUVRES -- CHAPTER FOUR. BEYOND POLITICS -- CHAPTER FIVE. THE NEW CONSERVATISM -- CHAPTER SIX. DEALING WITH THE NEW DEAL -- CHAPTER SEVEN. KING OR CHAOS -- CHAPTER EIGHT. THE REINS OF OFFICE -- CHAPTER NINE. THE LIBERAL RESPONSE TO THE DEPRESSION -- CHAPTER TEN. CANADA AND THE EUROPEAN VORTEX -- CHAPTER ELEVEN. PORTENTS OF DISUNITY -- CHAPTER TWELVE. A FORAY INTO EUROPEAN DIPLOMACY -- CHAPTER THIRTEEN. THE PROVINCIAL CHALLENGE TO NATIONAL UNITY -- CHAPTER FOURTEEN. THE RELUCTANT ASSERTION OF FEDERAL LEADERSHIP -- CHAPTER FIFTEEN. ON THE EDGE OF THE VORTEX -- CHAPTER SIXTEEN. CANADA GOES TO WAR -- EPILOGUE -- NOTE ON SOURCES -- NOTES -- INDEX