Loyal to the core: Stephen Harper, me and the NCC

Without question, Nicholls is one of Canada's most outspoken and articulate defenders of conservatism. For more than 20 years, Nicholls served as the political and communications strategist for the conservative organization, the National Citizens Coalition. For five of those years, he worked closely with the group's president, a man who would go on to become Canada's Prime Minister-Stephen Harper. Now, in his first book, Loyal to the Core, Nicholls reveals the story of how he went from being a friend and close ally of Harper's, to one of his most fierce and unrelenting critics. Nicholls provides a frank assessment of Stephen Harper the man, and Stephen Harper the leader, tracing his evolution from hardcore conservative ideologue to partisan, pragmatic politician. It is also a story of secret political meetings, clashing personalities and the lure of power. In addition to the candid portrait of Harper, Nicholls offers an unauthorized history of the National Citizens Coalition, Canada's largest independent, pro-free market organization. Who created this unique advocacy group and why? How did this organization, using political guerrilla warfare tactics, help change the face of Canada? We learn how the NCC fought to expose government waste and oppose arrogant politicians, how it battled both in the court of law and the court of public opinion to protect our most cherished individual freedoms. But most of all, Loyal to the Core is a cautionary tale for Canada's conservative movement. Principled conservatives must, says Nicholls, "resist the corrosive influence of partisan politics and focus on what matters: winning the war of ideas!"