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Citizen of the World: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Volume One: 1919–1968
John English’s first volume follows Pierre Elliott Trudeau from his Montreal upbringing through his education, extensive travels, intellectual and political development, and emergence as Liberal leader and prime minister in 1968. The narrative covers the years 1919–1968 and presents a life shaped by movement between local experience and wider worlds. Its central themes include education, travel, political formation, and the relationship between ideas and public action. The book also considers the experiences that helped form Trudeau’s character and outlook.
English’s contribution is to bring these stages together in a sustained biographical account. Drawing on private papers, correspondence, diaries, and historical records, he examines not only what Trudeau did but also the experiences and ideas that lay behind his choices. This approach allows the political career to be read alongside the intellectual development that preceded it. The result, as presented here, is a portrait attentive to both personal formation and public emergence.
The book’s significance lies in its focus on the making of a major Canadian political figure before and at the beginning of his national leadership. By ending in 1968, it concentrates on the path toward the Liberal leadership and the prime ministership rather than treating those offices as an isolated starting point. Trudeau appears as a figure whose life connected education, travel, ideas, and politics. The account may therefore help readers consider how private experience becomes public identity.
A collector might care about this work for its literary and historical interest as a sustained life narrative, and for its attention to the ideas behind political action. It offers a way to engage with Trudeau not merely as a public officeholder but as a developing person whose background and travels informed his outlook. Readers interested in biography, Canadian political history, or the interpretation of intellectual development may find this volume especially worthwhile as a work of narrative and historical inquiry.
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Citizen of the World: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Volume One: 1919–1968 by John English. This substantial biography follows Trudeau from his Montreal upbringing through his education, extensive travels, intellectual and political development, and emergence as Liberal leader and prime minister in 1968. Drawing upon private papers, correspondence, diaries, and historical records, English examines the experiences and ideas that shaped one of Canada's most influential and debated political figures.
Published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada in 2006, this hardcover is a first edition and first printing, as confirmed by the stated edition and complete number line. The book includes bibliographical references, an index, and historical photographs. It was a 2007 finalist for both the Governor General's Literary Award for English-language non-fiction and the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction.
This copy is personally inscribed and signed by John English on the title page, apparently to Stephen with best wishes. It is in Very Good condition with its original dust jacket, which is now protected by clear removable plastic. Light handling and shelf wear are present, while the representative illustrated interior spread shown appears clean. The handwritten archival material visible beside the historical photograph is reproduced content within the book rather than reader notation.
Please review all photographs carefully, as they form part of the description and show the actual copy offered.
