Amazon.com Review
The author chronicles with detail Harper's political beginnings, his stint--and his ensuing disenchantment--with the Mulroney Progressive Conservatives, the events that led to him becoming a key architect of the Reform party, and his rescue of the Canadian Alliance, which led to the merger with the Progressive Conservatives to create the new Conservative Party that he led into federal elections against Paul Martin's Liberals in 2004. With a different leader at the top but Harper behind the scenes, Canadians might very well have elected a Conservative government in 2004: one cannot help but feel from Johnson's account that Harper would be better appreciated as a back-room policy director, a role he may not relish, but may be essential if he is to continue in politics. --Eric Wilson
Review
— Calgary Herald
“The book does a formidable job of exploring Stephen Harper’s mind. It is a first-rate intellectual history. . . . A well-constructed study that shines light on a fogbound public figure at a time when it is most important to know him.”
— Globe and Mail
“This is an important book for political junkies and others who are trying to understand recent Canadian political history.”
— Halifax Chronicle-Herald
“Thoughtful, thorough and often surprising. . . . the book rests its premises on solid ground.”
— London Free Press
From the Trade Paperback edition.
