The Remarkable Chester Ronning
The Remarkable Chester Ronning

Author: Brian L. Evans

Publisher: University of Alberta

Published: 2013-09-30

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 0888646631

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Chester Ronning’s life story offers a candid view of Canada’s post-WWII diplomacy and China relations.

The Worldly Years
The Worldly Years

Author: John English

Publisher: Vintage Canada

Published: 2011-09-14

Total Pages: 501

ISBN-13: 0307375390

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"His life changed that of his nation." John English illuminates the years of Lester Pearson's greatest eminence, and vividly explores his life and times. His period as prime minister was to prove one of the most decisive in our history, and his policies helped shape Canada’s foremost international statesman. The Lester Pearson who emerges from the account of these momentous years—from the Korean War, through the tumultuous sixties to his death in 1972—is a complex, paradoxical figure. A man uneasy with ambition, who shunned the flamboyance of his arch-rival Diefenbaker, Pearson nevertheless competed for the most glittering prize in Canadian political life. World recognition brought him the Nobel Peace Prize, yet in his battle to maintain independence for his country he deliberately incurred the wrath of its powerful traditional allies, particularly Lyndon Johnson whom he heartily disliked. He was oddly unprepared personally to take on Canada’s highest political office, and led the Liberal Party to the worst defeat in its history, yet went on to sponsor astonishing, far-reaching changes in Canadian society—bilingualism, biculturalism, medicare, modern Canadian nationalism, and co-operative federalism--all innovations of the Pearson years. And while he has been called our greatest prime minister, other see him as the leader of a government that created many of Canada’s discontents, and crises and scandals that swirled about him. Most paradoxically of all perhaps, this unassuming man became a national icon, winning a lasting place in the hearts and minds of a generation of Canadians. In this second volume of his award-winning biography, John English has had remarkable access to Pearson’s personal and political papers, drawing on the letters and diaries and private papers of a host of his contemporaries, and on personal interviews with his family and friends, rivals and foes alike. The result is a compellingly readable—a richly detailed portrait of Canada and of a remarkable Canadian whose impact was immense.

Pearson
Pearson

Author: Norman Hillmer

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 9780773517684

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Hillmer (history, Carleton U.) and a host of other scholars, journalists, and government officials assess the legacy of Lester B. Pearson--Canada's Prime Minister during the 1960s--to mark the centenary of his birth. Pearson was tremendously successful during his diplomatic career; even winning a Nobel Peace Prize. He was also a controversial prime minister, and the authors examine all of the paradoxes and controversies of his tenure. Topics include Canadian national unity, Pearson's world view and theories of politics, his relationship with the media, and his legacy. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

China Mission
China Mission

Author: Audrey Ronning Topping

Publisher: LSU Press

Published: 2013-10-07

Total Pages: 431

ISBN-13: 080715279X

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When the Reverend Halvor Ronning, his sister Thea, and fellow missionary Hannah Rorem set out in 1891 to found a Lutheran mission and school in the interior of China, they could not have foreseen the ways in which that decision would ripple across generations of the Ronning family. Halvor and Hannah would marry, and their son Chester, born in Hubei Province in 1894, would spend over half his life in China as a student, teacher, and a Canadian diplomat. Chester's daughter, Audrey, studied at Nanking University during the Chinese Civil War and later spent decades reporting on the People's Republic of China for the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, and many other publications. "During the last century," Audrey Topping notes, "a member of our family was there for almost every event of importance." China Mission presents a personal history of her family's ties to their adopted home and the momentous events that radically changed one of the most powerful countries in the world. The Ronnings found Imperial China at the end of the nineteenth century to be a nation on the cusp of change, and they were swept up as both observers and participants in these dramatic events. During their years as missionaries, the Ronnings witnessed the Boxer Uprising in 1898, the subsequent Palace Coup and the Siege of Peking, the death of the last emperor, and the collapse of China's dynasty system. They also endured personal challenges -- famine, births, deaths, and the almost constant threat of attack -- that were countered with songs, celebrations, friendship, and a deep appreciation for the culture of which they had become a part. Later, Chester Ronning would return to China, as would his daughter Audrey, bringing their family's story to the end of the twentieth century. This extraordinary account, compiled from the diaries, letters, and photographs of three generations, offers modern readers a rare and remarkable look at a world long gone.

LBJ and Vietnam
LBJ and Vietnam

Author: George C. Herring

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2010-07-07

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 0292749007

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“[A] compelling analysis . . . A solid addition to our understanding of the Vietnam War and a president.” —Publishers Weekly The Vietnam War remains a divisive memory for Americans—partisans on all sides still debate why it was fought, how it could have been better fought, and whether it could have been won at all. In this major study, a noted expert on the war brings a needed objectivity to these debates by examining dispassionately how and why President Lyndon Johnson and his administration conducted the war as they did. Drawing on a wealth of newly released documents from the LBJ Library, including the Tom Johnson notes from the influential Tuesday Lunch Group, George Herring discusses the concept of limited war and how it affected President Johnson’s decision making, Johnson’s relations with his military commanders, the administration’s pacification program of 1965–1967, the management of public opinion, and the “fighting while negotiating” strategy pursued after the Tet Offensive in 1968. This in-depth analysis, from a prize-winning historian and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, exposes numerous flaws in Johnson’s approach, in a “concise, well-researched account” that “critiques Johnson's management of the Vietnam War in terms of military strategy, diplomacy, and domestic public opinion” (Library Journal).

Conflicting Visions
Conflicting Visions

Author: Ryan Touhey

Publisher: UBC Press

Published: 2015-05-15

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0774829036

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In 1974, India shocked the world by detonating a nuclear device. In the diplomatic controversy that ensued, the Canadian government expressed outrage that India had extracted plutonium from a Canadian reactor donated only for peaceful purposes. In the aftermath, relations between the two nations cooled considerably. As Conflicting Visions reveals, Canada and India’s relationship was turbulent long before the first bomb blast. From the time of India’s independence from Britain, Ottawa sought to build bridges between Indian and the West through dialogue and foreign aid. New Delhi, however, had a different vision for its future, and throughout the Cold War mistrust between the two nations deepened. Ryan Touhey draws on archival records, personal papers, and interviews from Canada, India, the United States, and Britain to trace the breakdown of this complicated bilateral relationship. In the process, he deepens our understanding of the history of Canadian foreign aid and international relations during the Cold War.