Embattled Nation - by Patrice Dutil & David MacKenzie (Paperback)

About the Book

Embattled Nation explores Canada's tense wartime election of 1917. Amidst the drama of the First World War, Canada's most divisive election ever raised pivotal questions about Canada's place in the war and the world. This book examines the issues, people, and events behind one of the most important elections in Canada's history.

Book Synopsis

Embattled Nation explores Canada's tumultuous wartime election of 1917 and the people and issues that made it a pivotal moment in Canadian history.

Embattled Nation explores the drama of Canada's tumultuous election of 1917. In the context of the bloody battles of Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, Passchendaele, and of the Halifax explosion, Sir Robert Borden's Conservative government introduced conscription and called for a wartime election. Most Liberals, led by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, opposed compulsory military service, while in Quebec a new movement emerged to contest the Canadian government's attitude and policy. To survive and win the election, Prime Minister Borden resorted to unprecedented measures that tested the fabric of Canadian democracy.

From the Back Cover

Embattled Nation explores Canada's tumultuous wartime election of 1917 and the people and issues that made it a pivotal moment in Canadian history.

Embattled Nation explores the drama of Canada's tumultuous election of 1917. In the context of the bloody battles of Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, Passchendaele, and of the Halifax explosion, Sir Robert Borden's Conservative government introduced conscription and called for a wartime election. Most Liberals, led by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, opposed compulsory military service, while in Quebec a new movement emerged to contest the Canadian government's attitude and policy. To survive and win the election, Prime Minister Borden resorted to unprecedented measures that tested the fabric of Canadian democracy.

Review Quotes

Embattled Nation is a timely re-examination of the hard-fought and bitter election campaign that shaped modern Canada by two exceptional historians, who have spent their careers immersed in the Laurier-Borden era. Presented in breezy and accessible prose, their frenzied account is the first sustained study of Canada's first wartime election, and taps an extensive range of new private and public sources in its detailed look at the string of blunders and missed-opportunities that put Canada's national unity on the line in 1917. A sobering reminder that politics matters!-- "Dr. Greg Donaghy"

In this work of deep scholarship and gripping narrative, Dutil and MacKenzie provide new insight into the political battles that raged throughout the country as Canadian soldiers were fighting and dying in Flanders fields.-- "Tim Cook, C.M."

About the Author

Patrice Dutil is professor of politics and public administration at Ryerson University and the president of the Champlain Society. He is the author and editor of many books on Canadian politics. He lives in Toronto.

David MacKenzie is professor of history at Ryerson University and the author of several books on Canadian history and international relations. He lives in Toronto.