Andrew Cohen's previous books have focused on who we are at home and who we are in the wider world. As the author of While Canada Slept, an account of how Canada has slipped in its role as a strong diplomatic force in the world, Cohen is the perfect writer to assess the legacy of Lester Bowles Pearson. Pearson, who served as Prime Minister from 1963 to 1968, was a former diplomat whose peace-brokering during the 1957 Suez Crisis brought Canada to the world stage in international affairs and earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.

Andrew Cohen is associate professor at the School of Journalism and Communication and the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University. He has written widely on international affairs over his twenty-five-year career. Cohen's previous books include The Unfinished Canadian: The People We Are and While Canada Slept: How We Lost Our Place in the World, which was a finalist for the Governor General's Award and a Globe and Mail Notable Book. He is a commentator on radio and television and lives in Ottawa with his family.