Bill Warden

This inside peek at a diplomat's career was very interesting. The storytelling was a bit uneven in that the details and insights were much fuller in some episodes and very superficial in other periods. This may have been due to Warden's untimely death and his daughter's finishing the biography from manuscript notes and a rough draught. Despite these necessary constraints, the memoir was a fascinating insight into the politics and history of many Asian, Russian and Canadian events. The 'Air India' catastrophe was retold from Warden's point of view as Canada's ambassador to India, for example. It was appalling how poorly the Canadian government of the day heeded early warnings of the Sikh extremism at the time. The other fascinating details that were especially well-covered was the Cuban missile crisis and Warden's sojourn as a diplomat in Havana. The book has a nice balance between factual historical reminiscence and human family-oriented anecdotes.… (más)