Sir Wilfred Laurier and the Romance of Canada

One hundred years ago, Wilfred Laurier, a handsome young lawyer from Arthabaska, Quebec became Canada's first Canadien prime minister. The challenge he faced was as awesome as it was clear: unifying a country that was threatening to fall apart along racial, religious, and regional lines.

Laurier succeeded, and succeeded brilliantly. How? By grasping that Canada was more than a political and geographical entity - it was a great romance.

The century may have changed, but the challenge is there for us to take up again.

And Sir Wilfred Laurier has shown us the way. 

One of Canada's best-loved and most-read historians, Laurier LaPierre, provides an intimate portrait of Sir Wilfrid, from his school days at the College classique and McGill University law school, his marriage to his beloved Zoe and his friendship with the beguiling Emile.