Merchant Princes (Company of Adventurers) [Hardcover]

Peter C. Newman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Company of Adventurers | Publication Date: March 2, 1992

This book draws the author's "Hudson's Bay" saga to its conclusion. Here, the great fur-trading enterprise expands from its original western Canadian base to "conquer" the Arctic, leaving its influence on Inuit culture and lifestyle. How different would Canada's northern territories be now, had there been no Hudson's Bay Company to transform them from a hunting culture into a trapping and trading one? Peter Newman details the life and times of one of the Hudson's Bay Company's great governors, Donald Smith (he served for a record 44 years), who became one of his generation's leading business powers, concurrently heading the Bank of Montreal, and being the dominant financier behind the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. During World War I, the Hudson's Bay Company acquired the world's third-largest merchant ship fleet which enabled them to undertake secret missions for Winston Churchill and the Allies during World War II. The author reveals the extent of the boardroom backstabbing and conflicts of the 1970s when the Company was involved in a controversial takeover by Toronto billionaire Ken Thomson. The author's history of the Hudson's Bay Company began with "Company of Adventurers" and continued with "Caesars of the Wilderness".

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.

From Library Journal

The third century of Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) was marked by an expansion into the Arctic followed by a slow transition from a fur trading company into Canada's leading retailer. Newman details these changes and the personalities behind them in his final volume on the history of the HBC, which brings the story up to 1991 and includes a discussion of the sale of the northern stores and fur trade divisions in 1987. As with the previous volumes ( LJ 12/85, 12/87), Newman presents a solid analysis based on extensive research and, in this case, interviews with some of the principals involved, and he delivers it with his usual straightforward, readable style. Merchant Princes forms a magnificent conclusion to the three-volume saga and will be of interest to business historians as well as readers interested in the fur trade and Canada. Taken together, the whole of the three volumes is greater than the sum of the parts--they should stand as the standard account of the HBC for decades to come. The set is essential for academic libraries and strongly recommended for public libraries.
- Stephen H. Peters, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (March 2, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067084098X
• ISBN-13: 978-0670840984
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.6 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,641,988 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

Amazon Verified Purchase

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!