From his modest Ontario beginnings to his rise as one of Canada’s most gifted diplomats, Lester B. Pearson’s early life was shaped by war, scholarship, and an unshakable sense of public duty. In this first volume of a landmark biography, award-winning historian John English traces Pearson’s journey through the turbulence of the First and Second World Wars, his years as a professor and civil servant, and his growing influence on the world stage as Canada began to define its role in global affairs. Drawing on unparalleled access to Pearson’s private papers, English reveals both the reserve and the determination of a man who would later become a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and one of the most respected leaders of his time. Shadow of Heaven is an intimate portrait of a statesman in the making, capturing the personal struggles and historic forces that shaped the Canada of the mid-twentieth century.