Interview: John English, On the Line with Joseph Planta (thecommentary.ca)

John English

Friday, 22 December 2006

John English recently spoke to Joseph Planta about his bestseller, Citizen of the World: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Volume One: 1919-1968, the first volume in his definitive look at the former Canadian prime minister's early life, his loves, and more. English, a former MP is a professor of history at the University of Waterloo, wrote the two-volume biography of Lester Pearson.

Citizen of the World: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Volume One: 1919-1968 by John English. (Knopf, 2006)

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Citizen of the World

You will need the Real Player to listen to the interviews. If you don't have it, you can download it at http://www.real.com.

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

This is the Planta: On the Line program here at THECOMMENTARY.CA.

Many books have already been written about him, and doubtless many more will be written. The latest is the first volume of what's described as the definitive biography of Pierre Elliott Trudeau. How this differs from other books is that it is the first to have benefited from unprecedented and complete access to Trudeau's private letters and papers. What they reveal is interesting.

Citizen of the World: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Volume One: 1919-1968 is written by the noted biographer, John English, a former MP and professor of history at the University of Waterloo. He is also the author of the bestselling two-volume biography of Lester Pearson, Shadow of Heaven and The Worldly Years.

Citizen of the World, $39.95, published by Knopf, covers the years 1919-Trudeau's birth--up to the 1968 Liberal Party convention that elected him leader and installed him as prime minister. I am pleased to welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, John English; Good morning, Professor English.