Vol. 2 has title: Nation maker : Sir John A. Macdonald : his life, our times.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

v. 1: 1815-1867; v. 2: 1867-1891.

Volume 1: Lairds ourselves -- A boy's town -- The right time to be a Scot -- Horse dealing, tavern keeping and the law -- A conservative in a conservative country -- Going headlong -- New guys with new ideas -- A short time before the long game -- Enlarging the bounds -- Forms are things -- The double shuffle -- Isabella, Hugh John and Daisy -- Double majority -- The shield of Achilles -- Canada's first anti-American -- The will to survive -- Irreplaceable man -- A pact of trust -- Parliament vs the people -- The administration of strangers -- The turn of the screw -- The man of the conference -- Two unions -- Idea in the wilderness.

Volume 2: Present at the creation -- Agnes of God -- Modest country; ambitious leader -- A triumph; a tragedy -- Who speaks for Canada? -- Good times and hard times -- Manifest destiny versus manifest destiny -- Champions of two nations -- Building the future; ruining the present -- Rage and recovery -- First the North-West; then the west -- Bragging rights -- Railway first; election next -- Gristle into bone -- The blunder -- Decline -- Fall -- A second act -- Bismark's twin -- The people change their minds -- A considerable man; a considerable empire -- Build it and they will come -- The best of times -- A dream baulked -- The worst of times -- God's messenger -- The one white than whom there is no higher -- A defiant, doomed gesture -- Wickedly, maliciously and traitorously -- Knocking off the queen's bonnet -- You'll never die -- The wheels of his mind -- The second bell -- Loyalty versus the dollar -- A last bow from the stage.

Charles Taylor Prize for literary non-fiction, 2008 (vol. 1)

Governor General's Literary Awards, non-fiction shortlist, 2011 (vol. 2)