Michael Bliss – författare

The discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921-22 was one of the most dramatic events in the history of the treatment of disease. Insulin was a wonder-drug with ability to bring patients back from the very brink of death, and it was no surprise that in 1923 the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to its discoverers, the Canadian research team of Banting, Best, Collip, and Macleod.

In this engaging and award-winning account, historian Michael Bliss recounts the fascinating story behind the discovery of insulin – a story as much filled with fiery confrontation and intense competition as medical dedication and scientific genius.

Originally published in 1982 and updated in 1996, The Discovery of Insulin has won the City of Toronto Book Award, the Jason Hannah Medal of the Royal Society of Canada, and the William H. Welch Medal of the American Association for the History of Medicine.

The discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921-22 was one of the most dramatic events in the history of the treatment of disease. Insulin was a wonder-drug with ability to bring patients back from the very brink of death, and it was no surprise that in 1923 the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to its discoverers, the Canadian research team of Banting, Best, Collip, and Macleod.

In this engaging and award-winning account, historian Michael Bliss recounts the fascinating story behind the discovery of insulin – a story as much filled with fiery confrontation and intense competition as medical dedication and scientific genius.

Originally published in 1982 and updated in 1996, The Discovery of Insulin has won the City of Toronto Book Award, the Jason Hannah Medal of the Royal Society of Canada, and the William H. Welch Medal of the American Association for the History of Medicine.

Updated with an insightful and controversial assessment of Jean Chrétien

Since first published in 1994, Right Honourable Men has remained the definitive source for Canadians wanting to know more about the quality of our leaders and the personalities behind the policies. Now, in this timely new edition, Bliss evaluates Jean Chrétien''s record and asserts that he was actually a conservative prime minister -- as conservative as Mulroney himself. And Chrétien''s legacy? A decade of squandered opportunities, national decline, and dashed hopes of real reform.

From the visionary Macdonald, the reckless Laurier, and the misunderstood King, to the flamboyant Trudeau, the vainglorious Mulroney and the wily Chrétien, Right Honourable Men defines the essence of political leadership in Canada, sets the standard for rating prime ministers, and provides a fascinating roadmap for our past -- and our future.

The discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921–2 was one of the most dramatic events in the history of the treatment of disease. Insulin, discovered by the Canadian research team of Frederick Banting, Charles Best, James Collip, and John Macleod, was a wonder drug with the ability to bring diabetes patients back from the brink of death. It was no surprise that in 1923 the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded for its discovery.

In this engaging and award-winning account, historian Michael Bliss draws on archival records and personal adventures to recount the fascinating story behind the discovery of insulin – a story as much filled with fiery confrontation and intense competition as medical dedication and scientific genius.

With a new preface by Michael Bliss and a foreword by Alison Li, the special centenary edition of The Discovery of Insulin honours the one hundredth anniversary of insulin’s discovery and its continued significance a century later.

For too long the history of Canadian society has been hidden in secondhand bookstores, the dark corners of library stacks, and the privacy of the occasional graduate seminar. Contrary to what often seems the common impression, there is a richness and distinctiveness to our labour history, our urban development, our traditions of regional and cultural conflict, our movements for social reform and justice – to all that vast range of topics, events, issues, and ideas that comprise the social history of a nation. The demands of teachers and students and indeed the general public for material relevant to Canadian social history have been matched only by the frustrations raised by the inaccessibility, sometimes the apparent non-existence, of documents basic to a new understanding of our heritage. It is now time that this heritage be retrieved and made available to everyone.

It is the purpose of this new series to help meet these demands. The titles in the series will be issued in a common format, in both hardcover and paperback editions, and will deal with all areas of social history. Most of these volumes will consist of a reissue of classic works now out of print – novels, histories, investigations, polemics, tracts; others will contain a compilation of documents in areas where there are no worthwhile book-length studies. Each work will have a new introduction by a scholar who is a specialist in the field.

It is hoped that this series will simultaneously enrich our knowledge of the past and lay the groundwork for future advances in scholarship and historical consciousness.

The League for Social Reconstruction was formed in 1932 to provide an analysis of the capitalist system and to define the social goal toward which political action should be directed. Early in its history the need was seen for a comprehensive book bringing together important pieces of individual research and spelling out in some detail a plan of social and political action based on the LSR Manifesto, the declaration of the League''s principles and plan of action.

Social Planning for Canada, published in 1935, was the result of this perception and marked a turning point in Canadian political history. It was the first comprehensive democratic socialist book about Canada. The authors, who freely admitted their debt to Fabianism, provided a historical and critical survey of Canadian conditions and applied the ideas of planning and social democracy to the Canadian scene, attempting throughout to write in ''specifically Canadian terms.'' The first part of the book surveys and analyses the economic system, documenting the LSR Manifesto statement that ''the present capitalist system has shown itself unjust and inhuman, economically wasteful, and a standing threat to peace and democratic government.'' The longer part of the book ''What Socialist Planning Really Means,'' deals with the application of the principles and policies of social reconstruction.

Social Planning for Canada exerted great influence on policies and platforms of the CCF and indirectly on those of the other parties. It is the most comprehensive study by the Canadian left of an economic and social alternative to Canadian capitalism.

For too long the history of Canadian society has been hidden in secondhand bookstores, the dark corners of library stacks, and the privacy of the occasional graduate seminar. Contrary to what often seems the common impression, there is a richness and distinctiveness to our labour history, our urban development, our traditions of regional and cultural conflict, our movements for social reform and justice – to all that vast range of topics, events, issues, and ideas that comprise the social history of a nation. The demands of teachers and students and indeed the general public for material relevant to Canadian social history have been matched only by the frustrations raised by the inaccessibility, sometimes the apparent non-existence, of documents basic to a new understanding of our heritage. It is now time that this heritage be retrieved and made available to everyone.

It is the purpose of this new series,　The Social History of Canada,　to help meet these demands. The titles in the series, including The Rapids, will be issued in a common format, in both hardcover and paperback editions, and will deal with all areas of social history. Most of these volumes will consist of a reissue of classic works now out of print – novels, histories, investigations, polemics, tracts; others will contain a compilation of documents in areas where there are no worthwhile book-length studies. Each work will have a new introduction by a scholar who is a specialist in the field.

It is hoped that this series will simultaneously enrich our knowledge of the past and lay the groundwork for future advances in scholarship and historical consciousness.