Book review: Fire and Ashes, by Michael Ignatieff

by Michael Ignatieff
Harvard
4 stars
David Runciman

Michael Ignatieff was an academic and a journalist before he decided to take the plunge into Canadian politics. He was by no means an ivory tower intellectual: although he taught at Harvard, he had seen plenty of the real world.

Still, as he admits in this compelling and curiously moving account of his traumatic experiences near the very summit of Canadian politics, he really had no idea.

His rude awakening started early. Parachuted into a safe seat, he was shocked to be greeted by angry protesters at what he had assumed would be a routine nomination meeting. "Iggy Go Home!" read the placards. Many Canadians were not impressed by someone who had been living abroad for 30 years coming back to tell them how to run their country, and just as many had never forgiven Ignatieff for his support of the Iraq war.

Ignatieff got the nomination despite the protests. What he then discovered was just how physically demanding a career in politics can be. This was not simply because of the stamina needed for all the endless meetings and trips to visit remote constituents. It was also the relentless demand for physical contact required to seal the deal: democratic politics is still primarily a face-to-face business, in which voters have to be able to look their candidates in the eye.

Ignatieff discovered he was bad at this: he had a habit of looking down and away when meeting strangers, and a tendency to tell them what was on his mind, not to intuit what was on theirs.