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Volume 2 of The Spiritualist Prime Minister: Mackenzie King and His Mediums examines how prominent mediums in Canada, New York, and London such as Etta Wriedt, Eileen Garrett, and Gladys Osborne Leonard influenced King before, during and after the Second World War.
The volume includes transcripts of seven of the Prime Minister's séances with Hester Dowden, Florence Jane Sharplin, Gladys Osborne Leonard, Helen Hughes, and Geraldine Cummins in London during 1945-1947. The through-line of the biography is King's search for means to communicate with the divine and to become a servant of God so that the material world could be transformed into the Kingdom of God on earth.
The two volumes draw readers into the mystery of Mackenzie King and show how he communicated with the spirit world. Ninety-six photographs animate the leading personalities discussed in the text. The biography makes fascinating reading for everyone interested in political studies, in the realms of Spiritualism and psychology, and in examinations of power.
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.
