num_pages: 1152
description: Politics was always Brian Mulroneys real love. As an undergraduate in Nova Scotia he amazed his friends by getting Prime Minister Diefenbaker on the phone and he rose fast in the Tory ranks in Quebec as a young Montreal lawyer. He tried for the leadership of the party in 1976 losing to Joe Clark then returned to win a rematch in 1983. The next year he ran the most successful election campaign in Canadian history winning 211 seats and taking office in September 1984. His first term in office was a stormy one marked by the launch of the Meech Lake Accord and the Free Trade Agreement with the United States. In 1988 however he was re-elected after a rollercoaster campaign and his second term in office was just as controversial featuring the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords  still a source of bitter regret for him as opportunities missed.This book falls into two main sections: first his rise out of a working-class family in Baie-Comeau. Second his immersion into the world of Ottawa politics in opposition and then in power. The years in power are dealt with in fascinating detail and we receive his candid accounts of backstage dealings with Trudeau Clark and other Canadian leaders and on the international scene with Reagan Thatcher Mitterrand Kohl Gorbachev Mandela Clinton and many more. This big book has a huge cast of major players.Brian Mulroney is determined to make this the best prime ministers memoirs this country has ever seen and a full-time researcher has been helping him for three years. This account of his career is colourful and forthright and a number of opponents will be sorry that they caught his attention.The manuscript is full of personal touches and reflects the fact that he wrote it by hand reading it aloud for rhythm and impact. Studded with entries from his private journal this book  by a son brother husband and father  is deeply personal and includes some surprisingly frank admissions.The book establishes the scale of his achievements and reveals him as a man of great charm. Memoirs will allow that little-known Brian Mulroney to engage directly with the reader. This book is full of surprises as we fall under the spell of a great storyteller.
language: English
title: Memoirs
publisher: Douglas Gibson Books