The Hudson's Bay Company: A Historical Exploration of the Rise and Fall of an Empire

Ranvir singh: It's about early business customs and understanding the locals and their requirements integrating the same with international business

India on Feb 28, 2024

cash: I have been reading more about Canadian history lately. Recently read a book on Champlain and another on the Franklin expedition. Canadians don't read enough about their own history and we read too much American history. I didn't know much about the origins of the Hudson's Bay Company so this book is full of revelations.

Canada on Jan 24, 2024

BirchBark: Came on Time and in great condition. Great history of Hudson Bay Company from beginning to end.👍

United States on Dec 29, 2023

Wyatt: Great read for lovers of history. I especially liked that the author often included several different perspectives from various peoples to better paint an entire un-biased story.

United States on Oct 03, 2023

aearlobe: I knew something of the company before reading this book, but I sure know a lot more now. I read this over about a year, as it can be a bit much. Indigenous peoples are at least appropriately central to the story,although I’d bet they would see it quite differently. Also sad, is the fate of the beaver populations of the US and Canada, subject to man’s “dominion “. May they not meet the fate so many others now face.

United States on Jul 27, 2023

Philomath: I feared that this book would be a tedious read with too much detail to sustain my interest. However, as soon as I started to read it I realized that my misgivings were entirely misplaced. Stephen Brown has written a delightful narrative that perfectly blends geographical, political and historical facts with compelling biographical stories detailing the adventures of the many colorful characters who forged the history of the Company. I particularly appreciated his perspectives on the roles, treatment and fates of the indigenous peoples on whose lands the story is built. I learned so much from reading this book, and thoroughly enjoyed every page.

United States on Jan 12, 2023

Sugawara Michizane: This book is too long by about half. You could summarize the content in five sentences, but the author drags the story out for 400+ pages.
There also should be an additional book for those of us who aren't well versed in Canadian history, because the author keeps name dropping people who we are supposed to know and be impressed by, which falls short entirely if this is the first time you heard of that person.
The tale itself is good. It's the telling that fails.

Germany on Dec 21, 2022

Daniel Beaudoin: A very well written book on an important chapter of our history. The history of the Hudson Bay Company is the history of Canada before it’s time, from the Hudson Bay to the pacific coast, exposing the development of British Columbia as we know it today, Manitoba through Alberta, without forgetting the importance of the Company in the development of them Oregon and now Washington State and Oregon. An important book to better understand how the west was discovered.

Canada on Dec 13, 2022

Brian Lewis: This is well researched attempt to document the effort to settle northern Canada, from the St. Lawrence to the Pacific Northwest, but I have to admit, sometimes it just became a long slog to press on to the end.

It did cover a lot of Canadian history that I did not know about. I found the vast distances, over space and time, and the multiple unfamiliar characters added up to a story I had trouble following.

I would only recommend it for people who are already pretty knowledgeable on Canadian history.

I picked up the book because I am interested in the combination of private enterprise and state action here that seems to have given birth to the modern corporation. I just feel there should be a really good historical volume on the Hudson Bay Company, or the East India Company and its implications for our current situation, and I can not seem to find one

United States on Sep 26, 2021

Dr J Chatterton: I loved reading this. It was essentially for research purposes, but the characters that created and worked for the Hudson's Bay Company are so interesting it immediately became a page turner. Fascinating. Stephen Bown writes informatively and engagingly. He is never pedantic. The maps were really helpful and it was good to be able to marry the portraits in the illustrations with the various characters. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Canadian history or the HBC.

United Kingdom on May 07, 2021