Comment

Aug 29, 2016karendejong rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This is a heavy tome. The last quarter of the book is less interesting, but most of it is a "must-read". This volume discusses Pierre Trudeau's formative years and demonstrated how those early years influenced him as a man, as a leader, and as politician. Trudeau's youth was drastically different than the average Canadian, with tremendous wealth during the Depression even as his rich classmates saw their family fortune lost. I knew that the Trudeau family was well off, but did not realize it was his father's business acumen in the 1930's that brought the family into wealth; his mother however was born into wealth. Even as a youth, Pierre was very clever, and thanks to his family's money, he was able to develop his acuity in the finest French schools of Quebec. He related well with women, but was much more closed with men, which is surprising since he attended private (Catholic) schools for boys. Even so, when it comes to relationships, he is in love with the idea of being in love, and doesn't know how to go to the next stage of just being happy with your woman. The book also describes what Quebec was like; I did not know this province was slow on progress where the horse and buggy was still common while the rest of Canada drove automobiles. For all his brilliance, the young Pierre Trudeau did not comprehend the significance of WWII, and was later remorseful that he missed out on this pivotal event of the century while it was happening. At the time he thought it was an English thing, and not something that concerned French Canadians. How could he come to that conclusion when France was one of the occupied countries? As a prime minister, Trudeau's contributions are among the greatest in Canadian history, which is why I wanted to read this book in the first place. Volume 2 is on my shelf for later reading.