The Dark Side: The Personal Price of a Political Life

In his surprise bestseller, The Life, Steve Paikin told the stories of honourable politicians who worked hard and were often well rewarded with political success. In The Dark Side, he shines a light on the politicians who not only experienced the life's exhilarating highs, but felt its crushing lows.

Taking a hard-hitting, analytical look at public life, Paikin examines the lives of the politicians who fell from grace. Swept up in dramatic events beyond their control, many found themselves powerless to change their destiny. Some were only temporarily thrown off-course, but for others, the devastation was profound.

In one chapter, Paikin profiles former provincial premiers David Peterson, Bob Rae, Allan Blakeney, William Vander Zalm, Roy Romanow and John Savage-with surprising results. In another, we learn just how brutal politics can be on women by looking at the fates of Lynda Haverstock of Saskatchewan, Nancy MacBeth of Alberta and Ontario's Lyn McLeod.

Steve Paikin is co-host of Studio 2, TVOntario's highly acclaimed current affairs program now in its ninth season. He also hosts Diplomatic Immunity, a weekly foreign affairs program in its fifth season. A graduate of the University of Toronto and Boston University, Paikin began his career as a city hall reporter for CHFI and CFTR in Toronto. He spent seven years at CBC-TV working as a news reporter, Queen's Park correspondent and eventually anchor of the six o'clock news.