Winner of the 2002 Shaughnessy
Cohen Prize for Political Writing
National Bestseller
Named One of the Best Canadian
Political Books of the Last 25 Years
by Samara, in association with the
Writers’ Trust of Canada
Fights of Our Lives
by John Duffy
Produced under the editorial and art direction of Sara Angel
Just what makes a great Canadian election? Is it a great fight? Certainly. Must a great leader be at the top of his form? No question. Does the battle always include a clash over fundamental issues? Undoubtedly. But as political strategist John Duffy persuasively argues, the great campaigns also combine the three crucial components of Canadian politicking—policy, region, leadership—in new and nation-defining ways. Fights of Our Lives is something new: a way of looking at the history of Canadian elections from the point of view of a backroom strategist who is also a thoughtful political historian. It is also the first visual history of Canadian electioneering, a marriage of text and images that echoes and explores the evolution of the Canadian art of winning.
Praise for Fights of Our Lives
The book is a history of Canada told in terms of the country’s “great” elections, judged according to the following criteria: the election entailed a “good fight,” meaning the result could go either way; it resolved some “nation shaking” issue; and it represented a milestone in the development of the Canadian democratic process….Any Canadian history buff (and Duffy has made me consider becoming one), will really like this book.”
—Quill & Quire