Caesars of the Wilderness: Company of Adventurers, Volume 2 [Hardcover]

Peter C. Newman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Company of Adventurers | Publication Date: November 2, 1987

This is the second volume in the history of the Hudson Bay Company, whose empire covered most of modern Canada and the Northwest United States. The proprietors were soldiers of fortune, mainly dispossessed Scots and Englishmen in the service of the Company of Adventurers of England, who became owners of one of history's most valuable and longest enduring land monopolies. "Ceasars of the Wilderness" continues the saga historian Peter Newman began in "Company of Adventurers".

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the third and concluding volume of his history of the Hudson's Bay Company, Canadian journalist Newman ( Empire of the Bay ) traces the growth of the 300-year-old firm from its Arctic colonizing efforts to its 1980s status as a mercantile, transportation and urban real estate empire extending over one-twelfth of the globe. A splendid storyteller and indefatigable researcher, the author never allows the sweep of world and national events or the boardroom politics and internal struggles between London and Winnipeg to obscure the importance of individual adventurers and developers. Notable among the memorable portraits here is that of legendary Donald "Labrador" Smith (1820-1914), who not only served HBC for 75 years but was prominent in Canadian politics, economic and rail expansion and is credited with transforming his country from colony to nation. Smith would have rejoiced at HBC's Canadianization of the company completed in 1979 with its acquisition for $641 million (cash) by a radically different leader, Canadian billionaire Ken Thomson. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This second of three volumes relating the history of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) takes a detailed look at the two major influences on the company's second century: the struggle with the North West Company for monopoly control of the Canadian fur trade, and the governorship of Sir George Simpson, during which that monopoly was consolidated and administered. Not content just to tell the story, Newman analyzes why the HBC won out in the struggle and why its fur monopoly unraveled. As with the previous volume, this is grounded in solid research and delivered in a straightforward, readable style. A popular account for most libraries.Stephen H. Peters, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition edition (November 2, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670809675
• ISBN-13: 978-0670809677
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,218,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An exciting story of adventure, exploration and human folly., July 31, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Company of Adventurers (Paperback)

This is the unvarnished history of the Hudsons Bay Company. Extremely well researched and a pleasure to read this is the story of the founding of the company that opened up Canada and the Artic to trade. Filled with stories of exploration, adventure, hard headed business and hardship on the frontier. This isn't just the story of the founders, but the nuts and bolts of survival at the edge of the known world. If you enjoy history and adventure this will be hard to put down. Vol. 2 is Caesers of the Wildnerness.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Insights in to Northern Canadian history., October 13, 2003

By 

John Bulmer, P. Eng. (Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caesars of the Wilderness: Company of Adventurers, Volume 2 (Paperback)

As a Canadian and living in the Arctic I found this book to be very informative and giving more insight to historic events than what are normally taught in our schools. Peter Newman was able to write this without the typical constraints associated with being "politically correct".

If you're interested in true Canadian History, albeit one small part of it, definitely read this book. If you want an exciting and riveting book and don't have much of an interest in northen Canada then don't read it.

Its amazing that the Bay, and to a greater extent the British, were able to be successful. They seem to be more like a bunch of bumbling bafoons.

5.0 out of 5 stars A most extraordinary book!, May 24, 2010

By 

Windwolfess (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Caesars of the Wilderness: Company of Adventurers, Volume 2 (Hardcover)

This is, without question, the best historical book that I have read in many years! It is part of a three-book trilogy on how the Hudson's Bay COmpany (HBC) shaped Canada. This second book is the strongest of the three, and focuses on the period from the 1600's to the early 1800's when the HBC was primarily engaged in the fur trade in Canada and essentially providing the civil, social and political structure to Canada west of Ontario. The descriptions of the Northwest Company and the struggles between them and the HBC are fascinating. As an American with French-Canadian and Cree ancestors who paddled for both the Northwest Company and the HBC, it was as if I found where I have come from. I gave this book to my mother's companion of 27 years as a Christmas present. He died in hospice in mid-March, but not before finishing this volume. He was a history buff, with no Canadian or British heritage, yet it fascinated him enough that he looked forward to reading it each day when he had enough strength. In his last days, I read to him out loud some of the passages that he particularly liked, such as the description of the goings-on at the Beaver Club in Montreal. A book that can give you something to look forward each day while you are dying of lung cancer has much to be said for it. Thank you, Peter, for this book!