The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company

Bryce, George, 1844-1931Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.8
Word count
1.1M words
Chapters
108

Tags

English Originals World History Northern ExplorationHistorical ReappraisalBusiness DecisionsTeam CollaborationTrade HistoryLeadershipRise and FallExploration and PioneeringField ReportAmerican Frontier

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company by George BryceAuthor: Bryce, George, 1844-1931,Language: English, Class: F1001: North America local history: Canada, Release Date: Nov 30, 2013

Editor's review

This book is George Bryce's history of the Hudson's Bay Company, an important popular work in Canadian local history and North American colonial trade history. Its strength lies in placing a commercial company's centuries-long expansion, fur trade network, and relations with Indigenous peoples and colonial authorities within the larger framework of imperial rivalry and the formation of Canada; the narrative is strong and it serves well as an introductory reading on the subject. In reading, one can learn about corporate governance and trade operations, and also see how geographical exploration, settlement, and local social change intertwined. Note that the author lived from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and the writing carries the perspectives and phrasing of that era; readers should read critically and compare it with later scholarship. The electronic edition is convenient for searching names, places, and events, suitable for consulting by topic, and also suitable for systematic reading by readers interested in Canadian history, business history, and the development of the Arctic and the West.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the table of contents and introduction first to establish a timeline and geographical framework, then select chapters by theme.
  2. While reading, note the author's period stance and phrasing, compare with contemporary research, and keep critical notes.
  3. Consult maps for the company's trade routes and post locations to help understand the geographical relationships in the narrative.
  4. If used for research, first use the electronic edition to search names, places, and events, then return to close reading of the chapters.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
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  70. 70
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  108. 108

FAQ

Is this a contemporary academic work? No. The author, George Bryce, lived from the nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and the book carries the narrative perspective and language style of that era. It is suitable as an introductory and source-oriented reading, but on issues involving Indigenous peoples and colonialism, it should be read in comparison with contemporary scholarship.
Can I read it without a foundation in Canadian history? Yes. The book is strongly narrative and suitable as an introduction. But it is advisable to first understand the rough timeline of the Hudson's Bay Company and North American geography; using maps and background materials while reading will noticeably reduce the difficulty.
How is the electronic edition best used? The electronic edition is convenient for searching names, places, and events, and suitable for consulting by topic and taking notes. For systematic reading, you can first read the table of contents to build a framework, then select chapters for close reading; it is not necessary to read from beginning to end.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Bryce, George, 1844-1931 Author

George Bryce (1844–1931) was a Canadian Presbyterian minister and historical writer; published sources on his life are limited in Chinese. Five of his works are held here, spanning the history of western North America, Indigenous and colonial settlement, Arctic exploration, and archaeology and natural history. He valued readable historical narrative and often told in vivid prose of the Hudson’s Bay Company, Lord Selkirk’s colonists, Red River missionary work, and polar journeys, while also touching on legendary themes such as the Mound Builders and the North Pole. Combining source material with a storytelling sense for general readers, his writing helped preserve and spread memories of western Canadian development and Arctic exploration, and remains a popular reference for understanding these historical contexts.