The Call of the World

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 27 JUIN 2016

Writing this political memoir, Graham, Canadian foreign affairs minister from 2002 to 2004 and defense minister until 2006, was careful not to step on the toes of his Liberal associates, thereby depriving readers of the honest insights that might make this a worthwhile read. Instead, this overly long, bland recounting of his life and career people lists people he met and places he visited, and mixes occasional anecdotes and recalled conversations with scores of pictures of himself with other leaders. He fails to plumb the depths of the political world he seeks to describe, and his occasional critiques of the electoral process or the labyrinthine Canadian parliament are made as if he were a baffled observer rather than an active participant. His self-deprecation is undercut by quoting himself (even the time-honored introductory quotation page features a quote from Graham) while including kind things others say about him. Readers may also tire of frequent references to self-sacrifice and hard work. Historians will find little new here, especially in sections regarding landmark moments such as the Canadian decision not to directly participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, though Graham does express a rare regret in failing to repatriate Omar Khadr, the youngest detainee at Guantanamo Bay, for more than a decade. Graham's book never lives up to its lofty title.