The Prairie Populist

The populist who mobilized farmers to support a socialist platform, George Hara Williams was undermined by Tommy Douglas and M.J. Coldwell just as Saskatchewan’s CCF was on the threshold of power.

“There are few people more attuned to the history of the populist movements in Western Canada than John Conway. In this book, he has composed a mesmerizing and long-needed history of George Hara Williams, the CCF’s first Saskatchewan Leader. More than just a political biography, Conway has constructed a timely narrative about how principled leadership can create viable political movements dedicated to progressive social change.” Charles W. Smith, co-author of Unions in Court: Organized Labour and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

“Conway’s work is an important addition to, and corrective to, the existing literature on Canadian populism, socialism, and to the history of Saskatchewan and the CCF. It is also an intellectually interesting consideration of the role of political leadership in a social movement.” James Naylor, author of The Fate of Labour Socialism

“Conway has recovered and placed in context the life of George H. Williams, whose significance in the organization of Canadian farmers and the development of the CCF in Saskatchewan is richly demonstrated here.” Kirk Niergarth, author of The Dignity of Every Human Being