Long Way to Paradise

Robert A.J. McDonald was professor emeritus of history at the University of British Columbia and a leading historian of British Columbia. He was the author of Making Vancouver: Class, Status, and Social Boundaries, 1863–1913, and co-editor of Vancouver Past: Essays in Social History, among other works. As editor of BC Studies and a member of various boards and committees, he was passionate about raising awareness of the history of the province and Vancouver. He was Seagram Chair at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, president of the Vancouver Historical Society, and a much-loved teacher.

This book is one of the very best histories of Canadian provincial politics. - J. L. Granatstein, emeritus, York University (CHOICE Connect) A new history of British Columbia richly blends political history with the not-so-new social history in the late Robert A.J. McDonald's A Long Way to Paradise. - Gene Homel (BC Bookworld) ...a masterful book that will undoubtedly be the definitive political history of British Columbia for years to come. - Forrest Pass (The British Columbia Review)

• Introduction1 Confederation and the Birth of Popular Politics, 1871–832 Politics before Parties in a New Province, 1884–19023 Singing the Song of Progress in the McBride Years, 1903–154 Paradise Modern and the Party of Reform, 1916–285 Pattullo's New Liberalism and the Revolt beyond the Rockies, 1928–416 Unsettling Capitalism during the Depression, 1933–397 The Politics of War and Keeping the Socialists at Bay, 1941–458 Right versus Left and Social Credit's Triumph, 1945–529 Prosperity for All and Province Building in the Bennett Era, 1952–7210 Trying to Dress Up the NDP in a Saville Row Suit, 1961–7211 Bennett's Defeat and BC's First Social Democratic Government, 1965–72ConclusionAppendix; Notes; About the Author; Index