William Lyon Mackenzie King was born in Berlin, Ontario, now known as Kitchener. The town was unusual in Victorian Ontario in being largely German in origin and mixed in religion. In this book some of Canada’s leading experts on King and his times describe aspects of King’s youth in Berlin, his fascination with posterity, his early interest in sociology, and the impact of his unusual community on his later political attitudes. Among the topics explored are King’s concern to preserve Canadian sovereignty in the north during the Second World War; his handling of relations with the United States over the war in the Pacific; his attitudes, typical for their time, toward Asians; his approach to social welfare programs; and his difficulties with western Canada. Mackenzie King has been regarded as perhaps the most successful of Canadian prime ministers; these essays both evaluate that success and bring new insight to bear on this remarkable leader.
John English, Kenneth McLaughlin, and P. Whitney Lackenbauer (eds.), Mackenzie King: Citizenship and Community, Essays Marking the 125th Anniversary of the Birth of William Lyon Mackenzie King (Toronto: Robin Brass Studio, 2002), xii, 256 pp.
