Because of the Courier’s publication schedule, my three annual columns about recommended books I have read during the past year will begin with this column and then appear on Nov. 6 and Nov. 20 (the paper will not be published on Nov. 12).
The aim, of course, is to give you some ideas for books you can give for Christmas – or buy for yourself if you have been good this year.
Milton Friedman, The Last Conservative by Jennifer Burns, a professor at Stanford University, is truly outstanding. As an economist it naturally appealed to me. As a former teacher I realized that this would be an excellent way to provide undergraduates with a precise and clear exposition of the development of economics for the last 200 years. An added benefit is a full history of the thinking of Milton Friedman during his academic career and his subsequent retirement.
As graduate students at Yale in the 60’s, we thought of Friedman and his colleagues at the University of Chicago as being in direct opposition to the Keynesian thinking at Yale. Friedman was almost regarded as an enemy. But Burns tells a fascinating story of Friedman’s development as an economist and the factors that guided him during his career of more than 60 years. When I finished the admittedly-lengthy text, I wrote to Professor Burns to congratulate her on the book, and wrote to those I know in academia suggesting it as a book each undergraduate major in economics be assigned to read. I cannot praise it enough.
John Ibbitson’s, The Duel: Diefenbaker, Pearson and the Making of Modern Canada, is a fascinating account of the contest between John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson who, while they served as Prime Ministers – in alternation, not at the same time – created the Canada we know today.
Diefenbaker’s government launched major reforms in health care, law reform and immigration.
As Prime Minister, he ensured that First Nations obtained the right to vote and his government began to open up the North. He led the attack on South Africa’s policy of apartheid and his Bill of Rights laid the groundwork for Pearson’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Pearson gave coherence to Diefenbaker’s piecemeal reforms. He pushed for the acceptance of the new Canadian flag design with the single red maple leaf, surely one of the most successful branding exercises in history.
While Pearson was superbly prepared for the role of Prime Minister, Diefenbaker was the better retail politician. While Pearson walked with ease in the halls of power, Diefenbaker connected easily with farmers and small-town merchants.
They were, however, probably more alike than either would care to admit.
Here were two political leaders, both born in the 19th century, who led Canada into the atomic age. This is an excellent piece of Canadian history.
Liz Cheney’s Oath of Honor: A Memoir and a Warning is a griping account of the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. capital from the perspective of a Republican member of the House of Representatives. It was certainly the most dramatic chapter in Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the Presidential election of 2020.
Unlike the vast majority of her Republican colleagues in the Congress, Ms. Cheney denounced the election deniers and argued for a strict defence of the Constitution. For these heroic efforts, she has been isolated and eventually removed as the number three Republican in the Congress. This text explains it all in graphic prose and lays out just what a threat Trump is to the Constitution and the rule of law. This is truly an outstanding piece of U.S. political history.
Finally Teresa Lust’s book Please Pass the Polenta is a fun book by a former professional chef who now teaches Italian at Dartmouth college in New Hampshire.
Her stories about a grandmother who plucked chickens in her back yard, a German auntie who learned to kneed bread in a wooden bucket, an introverted mushroom forager who collected chanterelles in the woods, an unassuming wine shop owner who, after closing, offers a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape and an delightful unpretentious way a wine all and more make this volume just a pleasant way to spend a winter evening and a lovely expression of art and love, family and self, soil and the seasons.
This post was originally published on here
