Canadian politics was a different beast in the early 20th century, and Richard Bedford Bennett (friends and associates called him “R.B.”) was very much a man of his time. It’s hard to imagine an obese, teetotalling bachelor with the ability to quote poetry at the drop of a hat getting to be prime minister today, let alone a conservative from Calgary who publicly spoke out against the pernicious influence of American values.

Bennett, who led Canada from 1930–35, wasn’t particularly charismatic or colourful – in those days a politician didn’t have to be – and history hasn’t been kind to his memory. With his substantial girth (a political plus at the time, as it signified respectable stability), his background as a corporate executive, and his rhetoric of putting socialism under “the iron heel of ruthlessness,” Bennett may seem to us a kind of cartoon plutocrat. And though he made many important contributions to Canadian society, he is best remembered today for presiding over the onset of the Great Depression, a disaster he foresaw but could do nothing about when it struck. After Bennett’s party was drubbed in a mid-Depression election, this native of New Brunswick retreated “home” to England, where he was elevated to the peerage, died, and was buried.

Veteran Canadian historian P.B. Waite does a sterling job making this a readable and at times downright entertaining study that goes some way to rehabilitating Bennett’s standing. The book moves at a good pace and even comes in at a reasonable length. It is, however, very much a political biography, with the bulk of the text given over to Bennett’s time in power, his various foreign and domestic accomplishments, and the inner workings of his administration. One suspects this material will be less fascinating to a general reader than the author’s nicely observed portrait of the social background of the time and the accompanying attempt to tease out details of Bennett’s personality through an inquiry into some of his personal relationships (which also seem downright weird by 21st-century standards).

Perhaps the thing that most separates us from Bennett and his era is the fact that he was at once a public figure and an “intensely private man” who “covered his tracks.” There is a paper trail, but it has some significant gaps. That said, Waite’s work bears the heft of a full portrait that should be of interest to anyone curious about this still controversial figure.