Download or read book Extraordinary Canadians:Stephen Leacock written by Margaret MacMillan and published by Penguin Canada. This book was released on 2009-03-31 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stephen Leacock's satiric masterpiece Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town captures "the Empire forever" mentality that marked Anglo-Canadian life in the early decades of the twentieth century. Historian Margaret Macmillan—whose books Women of the Raj and Paris 1919 cast fresh light on the colonial legacy—has great affection for Leacock's gentle wit and sharp-eyed insight. The renowned historian examines Leacock's life as a poor but ambitious student who rose to become an economist, celebrated academic, and, most importantly, the beloved humorist who taught Canadians to laugh at themselves.