A collection of in-depth essays published in the Epoch Times. Readers will be treated to penetrating and insightful commentary on a wide range of topics germane to the larger question of how we ought to live, as individuals, and as a nation.
A country that forgets its own history has lost its rudder. When William Gairdner wanted to learn what Canada's Founders thought about things like democracy, he discovered, to his dismay and astonishment, that although almost a century and a half old, no one had ever bothered to collect Canada's founding debates in a book. So he raised the money, hired…
The book was released on a beautiful Monday morning in spring of 1994, and 5,000 copies had "sold out" by Wednesday night. Québecois journalists flew to Toronto to interview Gairdner, whom they assumed was a maudit anglais (accursed Englishman), but who surprised them by doing the entire interview in fluent French - which he really enjoyed, especially when told that…
This is a collection that includes many of William Gairdner's best essays as they have appeared in various journals, some previously unpublished essays, and important selections from his many published books. It is in the genre of a "Reader" intended to serve as a well-rounded introduction to Gairdner's work for newcomers, as well as a handy refresher for those seeking…
This is a collection of a year's worth of sparkling columns written for The Edmonton Journal, whose editor had called Gairdner to say he was tired of being accused of leftist journalism, and hearing conservatives label his newspaper The Edmonton Urinal. He wanted some strong conservative columns for "balance." He got it! - for an entire year the Letters page…
When Gairdner got to Stanford University, he met a charming Professor who was very overweight and a four-pack-a-day smoker. But he loved track and field. So Gairdner made a deal. "You help me get smart; I will train you to run." Two years later, "the Prof", as he was affectionately known, had lost forty pounds, quit smoking, and set four…
This book began at a cocktail party. Whenever he mentioned something that he considered indubitably true, Gairdner got fed up hearing people say, "Well, it may be true for you, but it's not true for me." He would counter with: "Well, it can't be true and false at the same time. One of us must be wrong!" - which was…
Mostly for readers who like an intellectual challenge, this book examines what Gairdner calls "the architecture of ideology" in great detail, as constructed by literary critics from various fields such as philology, psychology, marxism, existentialism, and structuralism.
From the very first page, readers are thrown into scenes of gigantic, crushing "ice monsters" in the high arctic, dangerous exploration among hardy and curious Eskimos, then the rough and tumble lives of the colonists of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia; and finally, deep into the fascinating customs, war, killing, loving, torturing, hunting, and exotic ways of the Huron and Iroquois…
This is not a book about politics; it's about political philosophy. Imagine a man standing on the street. Suddenly, the ground splits open and buildings start to crumble. The man says: "It's an earthquake!" But what he sees is really the consequences of the earthquake, which is happening invisibly underground in the grinding of geological forces. This book is about…
From #1 Bestseller on the Globe and Mail Bestseller list (1990), comes a fresh look. This is a powerful update of the #1 Bestseller of 1990 that sparked a conservative renewal by issuing a comprehensive moral and intellectual challenge to the steady ideological drift of Canada into the trap of socialism that began in the 1960s. Public illusions, economic and…
"Democracy" has become almost an empty can't word in our time. The first sign of this is when we hear two people debating completely opposing, logically incompatible points of view, both citing democracy in their defence. This book critically examines and exposes the virtues and vices of democracy from ancient times to the present. Readers will be shaking their heads…
