Ron Graham: The Coutts Diaries. “The best Canadian political diary that exists"

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Alright, you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites! So, about 8 weeks ago I started in on a book, and I could NOT put it down. What makes “The Coutts Diaries: Power, Politics and Pierre Trudeau” so compelling, is that it is what it says it is ... a written diary of exactly what when on in the backrooms of power during most of Pierre Trudeau’s 15 years as Prime Minister. 

It’s not conjecture. It’s not speculation. It’s the record. 

Meticulously transcribed – candid detail by candid detail – by Trudeau’s Principal Secretary, Jim Coutts, one of the most powerful men in Canada, in his private diary.

Today on the pod, the man who breathed life into those diaries over 40 years after the last entry, editing it all into one astonishing volume. Author and journalist: Ron Graham.

Ron is a multi-award winner and the man responsible for one of my favourite books on Canadian politics, “One-Eyed Kings”. Other notable works are “The French Quarter” and “The Last Act: Pierre Trudeau, the Gang of Eight, and the Fight for Canada.” He also edited “Straight from the Heart and My Years as Prime Minister, the memoirs of Rt. Hon. Jean Chrétien”.

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