Life: The Seductive Call of Poliitics

What keeps politicians coming back for more? Certainly, it's not the public's respect for what they do. Can the monotony of dealing with a myriad of constituents' problems really be all that satisfying? Do they ever really enjoy wielding power? And why do some high-ranking superstars in public life never seem to be able to equal that success after they leave politics for the private sector?

What motivates these people to invite public scrutiny, endanger their marriages, alienate their friends, and court exhaustion? Steve Paikin has spent a career covering politics. For this book, he interviewed nearly one hundred politicians who were attracted to politics for various reasons. Some feel politics is a crusade. Some see it as the family business. A few see themselves as pioneers blazing new trails. Others fall into The Life quite by accident.

We hear from Brian Mulroney, William Davis, Peter Lougheed, David Peterson, Kim Campbell, Audrey McLaughlin, Lewis MacKenzie, Tom Long, Jason Kenney, Pierre Marc Johnson, Sharon Carstairs, David Smith, John Laschinger, Glen Murray and many more.

The Life is filled with fascinating stories of political life, direct from one-on-one interviews with the politicians themselves. If you've ever wondered what motivates these people to step up to the plate, here are the answers - and they may surprise you.