The Day of Sir Wilfrid Laurier

The Day of Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1916) is Oscar D. Skelton’s (1878-1941) survey of modern Canadian politics; Skelton was a Queen’s University political economist who later directed Canada’s Department of External Affairs as its top civil servant. Issued as volume 30 of the Chronicles of Canada series by Glasgow, Brook and Company of Toronto, the book traces Canada under its first French-Canadian prime minister, covering the Liberal victory of 1896, the prairie immigration boom, the naval debate, and the reciprocity election of 1911 that ended Laurier’s fifteen years in power. Skelton knew his subject closely and went on to write the authorized two-volume Life and Letters of Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1921. It remains a clear, readable primer on the era that made Canada a transcontinental nation. Free PDF download available on BDeBooks.