Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

Literary Collections Speeches

Canada Transformed

The Speeches of Sir John A. Macdonald

edited by Sarah Gibson & Arthur Milnes

Publisher
McClelland & Stewart
Initial publish date
Dec 2014
Category
Speeches, Canadian, General
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780771057199
    Publish Date
    Dec 2014
    List Price
    $39.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

To coincide with the bicentennial of Sir John A. Macdonald's birth, this is the first-ever selected collection of his most important and defining speeches. Published in collaboration with The Sir John A. Macdonald Bicentennial Commission, and endorsed by all of our living Prime Ministers, this is a beautifully produced book that deserves to be in all Canadian homes, schools, and libraries.
The Sir John A. Macdonald Bicentennial Commission set out several years ago to collect, annotate, and footnote all of our first Prime Minister's speeches. Rather shockingly, this had not been done before; the speeches of even the most minor of US presidents are available in print and e-book form. Obviously, such a collection is a must for libraries and educational institutions across the country as a matter of historical record, but the speeches also make for great reading. His words have a Churchillian feel to them -- direct, decisive, visionary, and very often funny. Sir John A. is marvellously quotable, and through these speeches you understand how our country was formed, what its challenges were and often continue to be, and why our first PM was perhaps the best we'll ever have.

About the authors

Sarah Gibson's profile page

Arthur Milnes is a journalist and public historian and served as a speech writer for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He has edited volumes about the presidencies of George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, and the leadership of prime ministers Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and other Canadian leaders. He also served as research assistant to the Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney on his bestselling memoirs. Arthur lives in Kingston, Ontario.

 

Arthur Milnes' profile page