Hugh MacLennan (1907-1990) was a widely respected Canadian novelist and academic. He wrote primarily of Canadian themes and was credited with being the first writer to establish a national literary identity for Canada. Although MacLennan was known first and foremost as a novelist, he published several collections of essays and has himself been the subject of academic study. The National Film Board (NFB) of Canada has paid tribute to MacLennan by dramatizing his life and work.

Born March 20, 1907, in Glace Bay, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, (John) Hugh MacLennan grew up in Halifax, where he was educated at Dalhousie University. He received his bachelor's degree there in 1929, and won a Rhodes scholarship, which took him to Oxford University. The Oxford years were invaluable, for they provided MacLennan with the opportunity to travel extensively and test his left-wing convictions against firsthand impressions and personal observations.

He returned to Canada...