A Long Way to Paradise: A New History of British Columbia Politics

by Robert A.J. McDonald

Published by: UBC Press

Series: The C.D. Howe Series in Canadian Political History

Imprint: UBC Press

Sales Date: 2021-10-15

Hardcover

CA$39.95
ePub

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Published: October 2021

Product Details

Imprint: UBC Press

Series: Series: The C.D. Howe Series in Canadian Political History

Page Count: 428 Pages

Illustrations: 18 b&w photos, 12 illus., 11 tables, 4 maps

Dimensions: 6.25 x 9.25

428 Pages, 6.25 x 9.25 x 1.15 in, 18 b&w photos, 12 illus., 11 tables, 4 maps

Hardcover

CA$39.95

ISBN: 9780774864718

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Description
Authors
Contents
Reviews
Awards

The political landscape of British Columbia has been characterized by divisiveness since Confederation. As outsized personalities from Amor De Cosmos to W.A.C. Bennett dominated the halls of power, militant radicals and reformers took to the streets and hustings. A Long Way to Paradise traces the evolution of political ideas from 1871 to 1972 to explore British Columbia’s journey to socio-political maturity, answering both why and how British Columbia became Canada’s most fractious province. Robert McDonald explains its classic left-right divide as a product of “common sense” liberalism that also shaped how British Columbians met the challenges of a modernizing world. McDonald tackles key questions: Why were the Liberal and Conservative parties obliterated in the 1950s? What can account for Bennett’s decades-long reign? And why did parties as diametrically opposed as Social Credit and the NDP succeed? This lively overview provides fresh insight into the fascinating story of provincial politics in Canada’s lotus land.

Robert A.J. McDonald was professor emeritus of history at the University of British Columbia and a leading historian of British Columbia. He was the author of Making Vancouver: Class, Status, and Social Boundaries, 1863–1913, and co-editor of Vancouver Past: Essays in Social History, among other works. As editor of BC Studies and a member of various boards and committees, he was passionate about raising awareness of the history of the province and Vancouver. He was Seagram Chair at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, president of the Vancouver Historical Society, and a much-loved teacher.

Introduction

1 Confederation and the Birth of Popular Politics, 1871–83

2 Politics before Parties in a New Province, 1884–1902

3 Singing the Song of Progress in the McBride Years, 1903–15

4 Paradise Modern and the Party of Reform, 1916–28

5 Pattullo’s New Liberalism and the Revolt beyond the Rockies, 1928–41

6 Unsettling Capitalism during the Depression, 1933–39

7 The Politics of War and Keeping the Socialists at Bay, 1941–45

8 Right versus Left and Social Credit’s Triumph, 1945–52

9 Prosperity for All and Province Building in the Bennett Era, 1952–72

10 Trying to Dress Up the NDP in a Saville Row Suit, 1961–72

11 Bennett’s Defeat and BC’s First Social Democratic Government, 1965–72

Conclusion

Appendix; Notes; About the Author; Index

This book is one of the very best histories of Canadian provincial politics. J. L. Granatstein, emeritus, York University, CHOICE Connect

A new history of British Columbia richly blends political history with the not-so-new social history in the late Robert A.J. McDonald’s A Long Way to Paradise. Gene Homel, BC Bookworld

...a masterful book that will undoubtedly be the definitive political history of British Columbia for years to come. Forrest Pass, The British Columbia Review