The Diplomat: Lester Pearson and the Suez Crisis, by Antony Anderson
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| Author | David J. Bercuson |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702018782981 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Book Reviews
Antony Anderson
The Diplomat: Lester Pearson and the Suez Crisis
Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane, 2015. 400 pp. $32.95 (cloth)
ISBN: 978-0-86492-974-0
Reviewed by: David J. Bercuson (bercuson@ucalgary.ca), University of Calgary, Canada.
Lester B. (Mike) Pearson’s achievements are well known to Canadians, with high
schools named after him and Lester B. Pearson International Airport being the
most important hub in Canada’s aviation world. With a three-volume memoir,
a two-volume biography by John English, and numerous mentions in books
such as Jack Granatstein’s The Ottawa Men, it is difficult to believe that anything
new could be written about Pearson. But Anthony Anderson has done just that.
Focusing on the few days in October and November 1956 when the Suez Crisis
played out in the Middle East, Anderson pries apart myth from reality and steers a
clear path that focuses on Pearson’s role in the crisis and shows why he is the only
Canadian to have ever been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It is a book well worth
reading, to see exactly how Pearson’s handling of that crisis produced a result
(United Nations peacekeeping operations) that in some ways is still with us today.
Anderson begins his book in the standard way of biographies by describing the
upbringing of the young Pearson, his short wartime career as a fighter pilot, and his
education. Known in his early years for his physical prowess in sports activities,
especially hockey, Pearson settled down to what might have been a humdrum
career in the small Department of External Affairs under the stark leadership of
O. D. Skelton. Working with a small group of other young men who, like Pearson,
had gone off to the UK to study International Relations after the First World War,
he began to distinguish himself early as a man who had few illusions about what
his country could accomplish in world affairs and a shrewd sense of how to extract
the last bit of influence on an international stage dominated by the great powers of
the day. Perhaps his greatest strength was his realization of how little room Canada
had to manoeuvre in any international crisis, and what Canadian interests were at
stake in events occurring far from Canada’s shores. Slowly he rose through the
small department to take up important positions, and during the Second World
War became known in international circles as a bright diplomat with a good
grasp on realism and how to push the boundaries of what a small country such
as Canada might contribute—even under the parsimonious leadership of William
Lyon Mackenzie King.
International Journal
2018, Vol. 73(2) 326–337
!The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0020702018782981
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