In this book, seven distinguished scholars and writers discuss seven leading figures in the history of Canadian letters and public affairs. Frank H. Underhill, historian, describes the tragic career of Edward Blake, one of the ablest men who ever entered Canadian politics. D.G. Creighton, author of the definitive biography of Sir John A. Macdonald, writes of this politician whose solid achievements mock the facile depreciations of his character current during his lifetime and after. Mason Wade, author of The French-Canadians, describes the career of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who pledged as a law student, "I will give the whole of my life to the cause of conciliation, harmony, and concord among the different elements of his country of ours." Robertson Davies, playwright, author, and critic, writes with penetration and sympathy of Stephen Leacock, the humorist; Munro Beattie, professor of English, of Archibald Lampman's poetry, particularly as related to Ottawa, the city in which he lived and wrote; Wilfrid Eggleston, journalist and poet, of Frederick Philip Grove, "the first serious exponent of realism in our fiction." Malcolm Ross, professor of English, editor, and critic tells of Goldwin Smith, that complex and contradictory figure-the architect of "Canada First," who yet "had no sense whatever of the national feeling of born Canadians."

Aristocrat, democrat, diplomat, cultural advocate, anglophile, fiercely proud Canadian-Vincent Massey was a complex, sometimes enigmatic figure. This finely crafted portrait of Massey's middle and later years, drawn extensively from its subject's diaries and papers, recalls a life of deep commitment to the service of his country and its culture. From 1935 to 1946 he served as Canada's high commissioner to London, a role for which he was perfectly suited: his love of English traditions and values was exceeded only by his intense Canadian patriotism. He served well. The courage and generosity of Vincent and Alice Massey made them favourites with Canadian servicemen in Britain during the war years. His familiarity with, and enthusiasm for, all royal ritual was invaluable to the Canadian delegations during the ceremonies surrounding the coronation of George VI. His proud representation of Canada's cultural accomplishments opened British doors to many Canadian artists. The years in London were happy ones for Massey, at home as he was in the country life of the English upper classes. They were followed by a period of frustration. Mackenzie King was minister of external affairs as well as prime minister during Massey's stint as high commissioner, and was therefore Massey's immediate superior. Relations between the two were never very warm-Mackenzie King considered Massey a snob with dangerous ambitions-and when Massey returned to Canada contemplating a political position, possibly a cabinet post, his path was completely blocked. For a time Massey returned to the academic environment he so enjoyed, as chancellor of the University of Toronto. But two of his greatest achievements were still to come. One was the establishment of the royal commission on culture, which bore his name and led ultimately to the creation of the Canada Council. The other was his appointment as governor-general, the first Canadian ever to hold the post. Claude Bissell has followed his award-winning book, The Young Vincent Massey, with another superbly written volume that explores the attitudes, prejudices, commitments, and passions that shaped Massey's life. This is a revealing portrait of a man whose contributions continue to enrich the lives of Canadians.

For Vincent Massey, youth was a period of protest and emerging public fame. He broke with his strong family traditions of Methodist piety and American ties. He became known as a patron of the arts, innovator, politician, and diplomat. This volume begins with his prosperous Victorian childhood and carries through days as a student and wartime officer. He plans Hart House, which becomes a cultural centre. Promised a cabinet post, he runs for Parliament and is defeated. Instead, he is sent to Washington as Canada's first minister there, and achieves brilliant success. He is prominent in educational circles; he helps to reorganize the Liberal party, presses for progressive policies, and flirts with the idea of replacing Mackenzie King. The book ends in 1935 as he sails to London as his country's high commissioner. He considers it his first major job. In between he writes poetry-usually light, sometimes venom-tipped. He acts, and directs plays. He sponsors a string quartet of international stature. He marries Alice Parkin, a handsome woman of strong convictions, and with her builds a country home near Port Hope, Ontario. He becomes a leading collector of modern Canadian art, and is involved with the painter David Milne. The book is as well a history of the people and ideas which influenced the young Massey-family, teachers, friends, associates. One chapter is given to his relations with Mackenzie King-each of them convinced of his own rightness but separated by fundamental differences, loud in protestations of friendship but nourishing an inner contempt for one another. Claude Bissell has built this complex and absorbing portrait from the unpublished papers of Vincent Massey and members of his circle, diaries of King and other politicians, memories of artists and musicians. He writes with vigour and elegance, quoting extensively from private records and letters, coining epigrams of his own. His portrait is sympathetic but not uncritical, with plenty of scope for the reader to make his own judgements. This is the first of two volumes about one of Canada's best known and least understood figures-statesman, cultural advocate, patron, family man, and first native governor-general.