Written by John English

About this Book

This magnificent second volume, written with exclusive access to Trudeau’s private papers and letters, completes what the Globe and Mail called “the most illuminating Trudeau portrait yet written” — sweeping us from sixties’ Trudeaumania to his final days when he debated his faith.

His life is one of Canada’s most engrossing stories. John English reveals how for Trudeau style was as important as substance, and how the controversial public figure intertwined with the charismatic private man and committed father. He traces Trudeau’s deep friendships (with women especially, many of them talented artists, like Barbra Streisand) and bitter enmities; his marriage and family tragedy. He illuminates his strengths and weaknesses — from Trudeaumania to political disenchantment, from his electrifying response to the kidnappings during the October Crisis, to his all-important patriation of the Canadian Constitution, and his evolution to influential elder statesman.

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER

"This book now becomes the standard biography of Trudeau for the sheer scope and thoroughness of the research on all major aspects of Trudeau’s life. English is even-handed, rarely praising, blaming or psychologizing, but he explains and invokes all the different views on the events recounted. And it’s a good read."
— The Globe and Mail

"English’s biography of Trudeau . . . will surely stand for some time as the definitive account of the oft-told tale. . . . Other books may yet be written about Pierre Elliott Trudeau, but it’s hard to imagine another that would beat English’s version for insight and overview of the man and his time."
— The Gazette

"John English’s terrific new biography of the former prime minister, Just Watch Me, is about as complete an account of Mr. Trudeau’s love life as we are likely to get."
— Margaret Wente, The Globe and Mail

"[Trudeau] was a comet across our heavens, and English does him good justice."
— Winnipeg Free Press

"Shows Trudeau’s private and public sides intersecting poignantly. . . . A prime example of an intensely self-aware man’s quest for fulfillment in every compartment of his complex life."
— Maclean’s

"However many Trudeau books there may be, English reminds us that the man endures and eludes."
— The Daily News (Nanaimo)

"Every life is a whole, and English treats Trudeau’s prime ministerial career as a whole to an extent none of his predecessors did."
— Paul Wells, Literary Review of Canada

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John English is Professor of History, University of Waterloo. Citizen of the World was a multi-award winner and a Globe and Mail Best Book.

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FINALIST 2010 - Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction
FINALIST 2009 - Shaughnessy Cohen Award for Political Writing

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For a complete bibliography for Just Watch Me, click here.

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