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The Spiritualist Prime Minister by historian Dr. Anton Wagner presents former Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's quest for spirit communication within the historical and cultural context of British, Canadian, and American Spiritualism.
Mackenzie King was Canada's longest-serving Prime Minister from 1922 to 1930 and from 1935 to 1948. Historians have ranked him as Canada's greatest Prime Minister for his political leadership in winning Canada's autonomy from the British Empire and for organizing Canada's enormous war effort that enabled Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt to lead their countries to victory in World War II.
The Spiritualist Prime Minister is the first in-depth examination of King's spiritualist beliefs and occult practices. Volume 1: Mackenzie King and the New Revelation takes its title from Arthur Conan Doyle's affirmation during World War I that Spiritualism was a new revelation from God that would become the dominant world religion within a generation. The volume contrasts the rapid growth of Spiritualism in the United Kingdom with King's turn towards Spiritualism following the death of his mother in 1917 and demonstrates the very significant influence of British Spiritualism on a Canadian Prime Minister.
About the author
Anton Wagner holds doctorates in drama and on Mackenzie King and Canadian artists from the University of Toronto and York University. He was one of the founding executive members of the Canadian Association for Theatre Research. Anton has edited ten books on Canadian theatre and drama including Contemporary Canadian Theatre: New World Visions, A Vision of Canada: Herman Voaden's Dramatic Works 1928-1945, and Establishing Our Boundaries: English-Canadian Theatre Criticism, published by the University of Toronto Press. As a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada Research Fellow, he was the Director of Research and Managing Editor of The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre, published by Routledge. Anton is a contributor to Canadian Performance Documents and Debates: A Sourcebook, published by the University of Alberta Press in 2022. His documentaries broadcast on television include The Photographer: An Artist's Journey, At the Crossroads: Faith in Cuba, and Our Hiroshima.
