Here Be Dragons: Telling Tales Of People, Passion and Power

by Peter C. Newman

The #1 national bestseller now revised and updated with a new Epilogue.

Now aged 75, Peter C. Newman at last tells the story of his stranger-than-fiction life. Try to keep up as we follow his many as a pampered child in a Czech chateau; a Jewish kid in short pants being machine-gunned by Nazi fighter planes on the beach at Biarritz, en route to the last ship to escape from France in 1940; as a refugee on an Ontario farm; as an outsider on a scholarship at Upper Canada College; as a Financial Post journalist, then an author whose Renegade in Power made Canadian politics dramatic and disrespectfully exciting for the first time; as the man who revealed the secrets of the rulers of the Canadian business world in The Canadian Establishment , and other huge business success stories, including The Establishment Man , on Conrad Black; or the millionaire who turned his back on business books and tackled Canadian history ( Company of Adventurers and other triumphs), in a career where his work has dominated the bestseller lists in politics, business, history, and current affairs.

In the midst of all this were his years at the Toronto Star and Maclean’s where, as editor, he took the magazine weekly – a huge accomplishment. He is still a legend there, where his columns continue to run.

He knew and wrote about every prime minister from Louis St. Laurent to Paul Martin and every prominent Canadian – hero or villain – in between. Yet his most interesting character is – Peter C. Newman. Incredibly, this central figure known to millions of Canadians sees himself as a perennial outsider. In personal terms, the rich little Czech boy whose nannies never stayed talks frankly about his marriages and the women he has known before his ultimate marriage to his beloved Alvy. His enthusiasms – from jazz to the Canadian Navy, not to mention his adventures on his beloved sailboat – make for a rich portrait of an astonishingcharacter, one who never stops being controversial.

Genres: Canada, History, Biography, Politics, Nonfiction

744 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Peter Charles Newman (born Peta Karel Neuman), CC, journalist, author, newspaper and magazine editor (born 10 May 1929 in Vienna, Austria; died 7 September 2023 in Belleville, ON). Peter C. Newman was one of Canada’s most prominent journalists, biographers and non-fiction authors. After starting out with the Financial Post, he became editor-in-chief of both the Toronto Star and Maclean’s. His 35 books, which have collectively sold more than two million copies, helped make political reporting and business journalism more personalized and evocative. His no-holds-barred, insiders-tell-all accounts of Canada’s business and political elites earned him a reputation as Canada’s “most cussed and discussed” journalist. A recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees, Newman was elected to the Canadian News Hall of Fame in 1992. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1978 and a Companion in 1990.

Early Life and Education

Originally named Peta Karel Neuman by his secularized Jewish parents, Peter C. Newman grew up in the Czech town of Breclav, where his father ran a large sugar beet refinery. As Newman wrote in 2018, “I lived the charmed life of a little rich boy in Moravia, Czechoslovakia — until age nine, that is, when the world as I knew it vanished.” Fleeing the Nazis, his family came to Canada as refugees in 1940.

Newman initially attended Hillfield School in Hamilton, Ontario, a prep school for the Royal Military College of Canada. But, envisaging a business career for his son, Newman's father, Oscar, enrolled him as a “war guest” boarder at Upper Canada College in 1944. There he met future members of the Canadian establishment whose lives he would later document.

After graduating, Newman joined the Canadian Navy Reserves. He was a reservist for decades and eventually reached the rank of captain. For many years, he was rarely seen in public without his signature black sailor cap.


Career Highlights

Once he mastered English, Newman began writing, first for the University of Toronto newspaper, then for the Financial Post in 1951. By 1953, he was Montreal editor of the Post. He held the position for three years before returning to Toronto to be assistant editor, then Ottawa columnist, at Maclean's magazine. In 1959, he published Flame of Power: Intimate Profiles of Canada's Greatest Businessmen. It profiles 11 of the first generation of Canada's business magnates. In 1963, Newman published his masterly and popular political chronicle of John Diefenbaker, Renegade in Power: The Diefenbaker Years (1963). According to the Writers’ Trust of Canada, the book “revolutionized Canadian political reporting with its controversial ‘insiders-tell-all’ approach.” Five years later, Newman published a similar but less successful study of Lester Pearson, The Distemper of Our Times (1968).

In 1969, Newman became editor-in-chief at the Toronto Star. During this period, he published some of his best journalism in Home Country: People, Places and Power Politics (1973). He then published popular studies on the lives of those who wielded financial power in the Canadian business establishment. These included his two-volume The Canadian Establishment (1975, 1981), The Bronfman Dynasty (1978; see also Bronfman Family), and The Establishment Man: A Portrait of Power (1982). A third book called Titans: How the New Canadian Establishment Seized Power was added to this series in 1998.

Newman was also editor of Maclean's from 1971 to 1982. He transformed the magazine from a monthly to a weekly news magazine — the first of its kind in Canada — with a Canadian slant on international and national events. In 1982, he resigned to work on a three-volume history of the Hudson's Bay Company.

Honours

Peter C. Newman received the Canadian Journalism Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Toronto Star's Excellence in Journalism award in 1998. He received a National Newspaper Award and in 1992 he was elected to the Canadia

Reviews

[Nykea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly well told story that intertwines history (mostly Canadian), Canadian financial giants, and Newman's own life. Newman has always worked in excess, which is the reason for his career success, and an attribute to two failed marriages. As the story unfolds, we learn about Newman's loss in the faith of many politicians and other people. This book incorporates bits and pieces from many of his profiles, including Hudson Bay Company, Conrad Black, and Pierre Trudeau. Fascinating read.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This very long book of 700 pages has been sitting on my book shelves for years and finally got around to it. Loved it! Not an easy or quick read but well worth the effort & looking forward to reading more of his books.

[Joe Boudreault]

Why would I read a 700 page door-stopper of a book about politics and finance? Because it is by one of Canada's finest historians. This is essentially a literary biography by Newman, dominated by his coverage of half a century of his literary life. In a revealing chapter called “Writers of the Purple Sage”, Newman describes a thing called creative non-fiction. It's a literary choreography that transcends the boring histories already written. It works here, as this is far more readable than the stuffy and dull stuff from the traditional academics of our history. Along with the late Pierre Berton, this is the writer to go for understanding Canada in all it's aspects. Berton was prolific and equally readable, but Newman is a step higher because of his humor and accomplished use of the language of story-telling.

Considering that he came to Canada as a young boy and had to learn English as his fourth tongue, he has succeeded remarkably well. Having previously read his Hudson Bay book (Vol. 1) I couldn't resist this one. Newman has written about every Canadian celebrity out there, and is a master of the interview. But it isn't always about celebrity; rather, it is about the essence and spirit of the country which adopted him. I'm not even sure if I want to know how totally accurate the stories are. He can sometimes miss the mark, as in his disbelief in the presence of WMDs in Iraq (they existed, but it's a side-story), but the stories are engrossing. Newman has sided with the description about Canadian identity (“Submissive to law and order”) vs American identity (“individuality and the challenge of law”). At the very end, he seems to contravene that view, saying that he was 'being too damn Canadian, too respectful of those twin traits that sink us every time: our affinity for ambiguity and deference in the face of authority. That is our national plague.” Isn't that the very thing he tried to uphold?

Newman nevertheless talks lovingly about our nation, even if a large portion of it is name-dropping in an almost modestly narcissistic way. You have to love a historian like that.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember seeing Peter C Newman's picture in Macleans when I wasn't yet flipping the pages for anything other than gawking at the pictures. I regret not having delved into his writing sooner and look forward to continuing to immerse myself in his work.

I'm a proud Canadian who doesn't really follow politics other than shaking my head at the shenanigans south of the border but reading this book has given me a sense that there is a really good amount of entertainment that exists in our Parliament and Establishment that hasn't previously captivated my attention.

My attention is now captivated and I'm proudly looking forward to rounding out my Canadiana.

Thank you Peter Newman!

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this autobiography of Peter Newman. I know that my opinion is influenced by the fact that I'm just a tad younger than he, and remember well many of the events he describes. Besides that, I've always enjoyed Peter's writing style.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this!!!!!!