Peter Stursberg

Diefenbaker Peter Stursberg

The second volume of Peter Stursberg's absorbing, multi-faceted study of the Chief and his time captures the excitement of the period and chronicles the waning years of Diefenbaker's leadership. Peter Newman said of the first volume of this oral history, Diefenbaker: Leadership Gained, that Stursberg's interviews with the Chief's political associated, opponents, and close observers of the Ottawa scene 'evoke the Diefenbaker magic much more effectively than the Chief ever does.' In this second volume, Douglas Harkness, Howard Green, Eddie Goodman, Pierre Sévigny, Dalton Camp, Judy LaMarsh, David Lewis, and Réal Caouette are among those who recall events and emotions. From the bitter near-defeat of the 1962 election to Diefenbaker's last days in leadership, we see the grand orator under fire, whether fending off the threat from the old Tory establishment that never really accepted him, or confronting Lester Pearson over the flag and bilingualism. Diefenbaker: Leadership Lost reveals the inside stories of such matters as the nuclear warhead issue that caused a rebellion in the party ranks and brought down the Conservative government, the nortorious Munsinger case, and Dalton's Camp campaign to unseat the Chief, culminating in the 1967 convention when Diefenbaker was defeated in his attempt to hang on to the party leadership.