"One of the most important, exciting biographies of our time: the definitive, major two-volume biography of Pierre Elliott Trudeau--written with unprecedented, complete access to Trudeau's enormous cache of private letters and papers. Bestselling biographer John English gets behind the public record and existing glancing portraits of Trudeau to reveal the real man and the multiple influences that shaped his life, providing the full context lacking in all previous biographies to-date. As prime minister between 1968 and 1984, Trudeau, the brilliant, controversial figure, intrigued Canadians and attracted international attention as no other Canadian leader has ever done."--Publisher description.

"From the moment of his election in 1968 until his retirement in 1984, Pierre Elliot Trudeau dominated Canadian politics and shaped our institutions. In many ways - through his comments on the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords, for example - he has continued to wield extraordinary influence." "Claude Couture describes our inheritance from the Trudeau era as fractured between notions of collectivity and individual rights. Couture dissects this seeming paradox by examining the very nature of Trudeau's liberalism."--Jacket.