John English was given a tremendous opportunity, but one that came loaded with risk, when he was invited by the executor and family of Pierre Elliott Trudeau to write the former prime minister’s biography, for which he was given exclusive access to Trudeau’s private papers and letters.

Under such circumstances, the most obvious pitfall is the temptation to write a puff piece. As a former Liberal MP, English arguably invites this danger more than most. And yet he is also a professor of history at the University of Waterloo and a biographer of Arthur Meighen, Robert Borden, and Lester Pearson, and therefore has the credentials to rise above partisan chicanery.

Thankfully, he does, or rather he walks gingerly along the golden mean, carefully uncovering Trudeau’s thoughts and deeds without being offensive. He includes criticisms of Trudeau’s policies and unflattering revelations about his family life, but they remain vague and muted. Equally restrained are English’s praise and reverence, with a few exceptions, such as the saccharine account of Trudeau’s funeral. 

The greater challenge English faced in accepting this project (the first volume of which, Citizen of the World, was published to great acclaim in 2006) was to give Trudeau his due. Whether or not one admires him, Trudeau is unquestionably one of Canada’s most fascinating and celebrated public figures, and he was at the helm of government during a remarkable period in Canada’s political history. A successful biographer must not only convey the significance of Trudeau’s policy decisions, but also the nuances of how he understood them in contrast to those whom he opposed.

For instance, was there an irreconcilable contradiction between Trudeau’s cosmopolitanism and vehement opposition to nationalism and his duty to uphold Canadian sovereignty? Did he adequately balance governmental authority with individual freedom when he invoked the War Measures Act during the FLQ crisis? When he proposed to revoke the Indian Act, or when he sought to embed the Charter of Rights and Freedoms into the constitution, what were the implications for group rights versus individual rights? Did Trudeau truly understand what it means to have a just society?

Capturing these dilemmas would take an artful hand, and unfortunately English is not equal to the task. Instead, with a few exceptions, his prose is dry and clumsy. The book reads like a compilation of research notes without insight or analysis, and without the soul or sentiment of the moment. Nonetheless, while this biography is an opportunity wasted, we can be grateful to English for compiling these notes for future biographers.