The Loner: Three Sketches of the Personal Life and Ideas of R.B. Bennett, 1870-1947

by Peter B. Waite

Canada's bachelor prime ministers have always provided extraordinary material for biographers. Richard Bedford Bennett is no exception. In this volume, P.B. Waite offers three entertaining essays on the personal life of Canada's Depression prime minister. The first essay is set in New Brunswick, where Bennett grew up. It focuses on Bennett's youth and the early influences on his school, church, and family. The second, covering his years as a Calgary businessman and an Ottawa MP, explores the development of Bennett's political ideas, his views on the British Empire and Canada's place within it. The third essays covers his years as Conservative leader and priminister; it deals with the women in Bennett's life, particularly his close relationship with his sister and his romance with Hazel Kemp Colville. After his death in 1947, Bennett's devoted secretary destroyed many of his personal papers. Waite has risen masterfully to this challenge. In his skilful hands, the prive Bennett is revealed in a new and fascinating light.

Genres: History

Hardcover

First published October 28, 1992