This is without question one of the best memoirs by a Canadian politician. It is splendidly written, moving, funny, personal, and eloquent. At times, Bob Rae’s prose can make you laugh out loud or weep. In every respect but its content, From Protest to Power is a triumph.

The book covers all of Rae’s life, though most of the text focuses on his time as Ontario premier. We are introduced to his family and friends, his schooling in Canada and abroad, his battle with depression, and his lack of judgment (how else can one describe someone who admits to liking British food in the early 1970s?).

Rae made his way into electoral politics in Ottawa when he was very young, and he made a substantial impact because he says he was seen as “bright, articulate, and never in danger of holding power,” in other words, the “perfect political fantasy figure.” This self-deprecating charm is very winning. Of course, the danger was all too real.

When Rae unexpectedly led the NDP to victory in Ontario in 1990, this instantly became obvious. His caucus and cabinet were full of novices – though one could never tell from his account that all (except for one minister he fired) were not administrative and political geniuses. His government sadly divided the province with equity legislation and, even more, with its Social Contract that hit at the NDP’s base of support in labour. Rae makes a good case for the necessity of acting against the deficit his first budget had helped to worsen, but he gets more than slightly shrill when he denounces the union leaders who believed he had betrayed them. Similarly, Rae defends his course in negotiating and supporting the Charlottetown Accord, again something very divisive in Ontario. Essentially, while he accepts responsibility for his actions and their outcome, Rae simply does not realize that he created the Mike Harris victory and gave the Tories the opportunity to be hailed for imposing their right-wing agenda on the province.

Nonetheless, this is a revealing memoir, one that showcases Bob Rae’s great strengths and his many weaknesses as a politician and strategist. Funny, fast-paced, informative, more than a little defensive and, occasionally, offensive, Rae’s book unquestionably ranks with our best political biographies.