One of the most fascinating aspects of the history of Canada is the development of trave—from the canoe-routes and woodland trails first followed by the Indians, the fur-traders and explorers, and the pioneers, to the canals, locks, and highways of a later age, and the seaways, railroads, and air routes of today. Equally interesting is the story of the development of the means of transport—canoes, bateaux, sailing-ships, steamships, stage-coaches, railway cars. This volume contains the chapters from Mr. Guillet's large volume, Early Life in Upper Canada, describing early travel and transportation. He draws on contemporary letters, diaries, newspapers, and periodicals, in order to describe vividly the conditions of travel at various periods, and the book is abundantly illustrated with authentic portraits, photographs, and drawings.

At the time of its publication in 1930, The Fur Trade in Canada challenged and inspired scholars, historians, and economists. Now, almost seventy years later, Harold Innis's fundamental reinterpretation of Canadian history continues to exert a magnetic influence. Innis has long been regarded as one of Canada's foremost historians, and in The Fur Trade in Canada he presents several histories in one: social history through the clash between colonial and aboriginal cultures; economic history in the development of the West as a result of Eastern colonial and European needs; and transportation history in the case of the displacement of the canoe by the York boat. Political history appears in Innis's examination of the nature of French-British rivalry and the American Revolution; and business history is represented in his detailed account of the Hudson's Bay and Northwest Companies and the industry that played so vital a role in the expansion of Canada. In his introduction to this new edition, Arthur J. Ray argues that The Fur Trade in Canada is the most definitive economic history and geography of the country ever produced. Innis's revolutionary conclusion - that Canada was created because of its geography, not in spite of it - is a captivating idea but also an enigmatic proposition in light of the powerful decentralizing forces that threaten the nation today. Ray presents the history of the book and concludes that "Innis's great book remains essential reading for the study of Canada."

A classic work of Canadian historical scholarship, first published in 1930. In his new introduction, A.J. Ray states that this book is argueably the most definitive economic history and geography of Canada ever produced.