Manitoba's long history of conflict, and the impact that has had on the rest of Canada, is revealed in these political biographies of the province's first eighteen premiers.
Throughout its history, Manitoba has been a province struggling with religious, linguistic, ethnic, and class conflict. Manitoba's premiers have led--and often barely controlled--political movements and parties that have been consistently unstable. Their governments have been characterized by policies that have divided the province.

The premiers of Manitoba have ranged from clever legislative managers, like Davis and Norquay, through tough party bosses like Greenway, Roblin, and Norris managing a rudimentary two-party system, to uneasy coalitions controlled by the iron-willed Bracken and his successors Garson and Campbell. The modern period has seen shifting partisan alliances under the successive premierships of Roblin, Weir, Schreyer, Lyon, Pawley, Filmon, and Doer. These are their stories.

Barry Ferguson is a Professor of History and currently Duff Roblin Professor of Manitoba Government at the University of Manitoba. His work is in political ideas in Canada, particularly liberalism and federalism, as well as provincial politics and government.

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Robert Wardhaugh is an associate professor in the Department of History at University of Western Ontario and is the author of Mackenzie King and the Prairie West.

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