
Thumper
The Memoirs of the Honourable Donald S. Macdonald
McGill-Queen's University Press
Will be published approx. on 30. September 2014
Book
Hardback
292 pages
978-0-7735-4469-7 (ISBN)
Description
"At a certain point in our lives we are left only with our close relationships and our clear recollections." So begins Thumper: The Memoirs of the Honourable Donald S. Macdonald. An early supporter of Pierre Trudeau for the Liberal Party leadership, Donald Macdonald has had a career in public life spanning four decades that included posts as House leader, minister of national defence, minister of energy, and minister of finance. He chaired the landmark Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada, which led to free trade between Canada and the United States, and as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom he conferred with Margaret Thatcher and dined with Queen Elizabeth II. Drawing on extensive archival resources and contemporaneous personal diaries, Macdonald insightfully details his friendship with Trudeau, fascinating encounters with world leaders, and personal revelations about the October Crisis. In this behind-the-scenes account of the business of governing, he also describes high-stakes disputes with Alberta over soaring energy prices, the real story behind the resignation of John Turner as finance minister, and the decisive action taken against inflation using wage and price controls. Interlaced with anecdotes that reveal Macdonald's self-effacing good-nature, Thumper is a riveting memoir written with humility and candour, recalling an exceptional period in Canadian politics.
Reviews / Votes
"Thumper is an important piece of Canadian political history, written with passion and wit. As a memoir it will rank among the finest that deal with the second half of the twentieth century." John English, University of Toronto and author of the two-volume biography of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Citizen of the World and Just Watch MeMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Montreal
Canada
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
25 b&w photos
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
558 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7735-4469-7 (9780773544697)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Persons
The Hon. Donald S. Macdonald (1932-2018) was a former cabinet minister, Royal Commissioner, and High Commissioner.
Rod McQueen is the author of more than a dozen books including the National Business Book Award-winning Who Killed Confederation Life? and The Eatons: The Rise and Fall of Canada's Royal Family, winner of the Canadian Authors Association prize in history.
Rod McQueen is the author of more than a dozen books including the National Business Book Award-winning Who Killed Confederation Life? and The Eatons: The Rise and Fall of Canada's Royal Family, winner of the Canadian Authors Association prize in history.

