Song of a Nation: The Untold Story of Canada's National Anthem

The greatest story never told, this formidable and gorgeously written biography documents the amazing and controversial short life of Calixa Lavallée—the composer of "O Canada"—and the tumult of 19th-century North America.

He was a composer, a performer, an entrepreneur, and an educator; played pop and classical music; and appeared in his quasi-colonial society, tragically, just ahead of his time. Calixa Lavallee, the French Canadian composer of "O Canada," has a compelling, almo…