As the key component in aluminum production, bauxite has become one of the most important minerals of the last one hundred years. To some it brought economic and political advantage, but for many others, its development left a legacy of exploitation. Aluminum Ore explores the history of bauxite in the twentieth century and the global forces that this history represents, from its strategic development in the First World War to its role in the globalization of markets as companies from the northern hemisphere vied for the resources of the south. Featuring essays by scholars from around the world, this wide-ranging collection is a history of one essential mineral and a new perspective on a time of change.

Canada's role as world power and its sense of itself in the global landscape has been largely shaped and defined over the past 100 years by the changing policies and personalities in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). This engaging and provocative book brings together fifteen of the country's leading historians and political scientists to discuss a century of Canada's national interests and DFAIT's role in defining and pursuing them. Accomplished and influential analysts such as Jack Granatstein, Norman Hillmer, and Nelson Michaud, are joined by rising stars like Whitney Lackenbauer, Adam Chapnick, and Tammy Nemeth in commenting on the history and future implications of Canada's foreign policy. In the National Interest: Canadian Foreign Policy and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, 1909-2009 , gives fresh insight into the Canada First concept in the 1920s, the North American security issues in the 1930s, Canada's vision for the United Nations, early security warnings in the Arctic, the rise of the international francophone community, conflicting continental visions over energy, and Canada/U.S. policy discussions. The impact of politicians and senior bureaucrats such as O.D. Skelton, Lester B. Pearson, Marcel Cadieux, Jules Leger, Pierre Trudeau and Brian Mulroney are set against issues such as national defence, popular opinion, human rights, and energy production. In the National Interest also provides a platform for discussion about Canada's future role on the international stage. With its unique combination of administrative and policy history, In the National Interest is in a field of its own.