Dominion - Stephen R. Brown

[Jaygo]

A book about the Canadian Pacific Railroad. 

 

A quick read and entertaining if you share my love of railroads, economics, history, politics  and adventure. 

 

The building of the railroad was about as ambitious and difficult a project as any in history, on par with the pyramids and space travel in its absolutely ridiculousness of an idea, shedding of economic realities and nation building potential. It is safe to say without the CPR Canada would be a mostly maritime country never expanding past lake superior to the west.

 

The main take away is just how awesome Canada is. We have a continental country touching 3 oceans all without the wars and terrible history of our southern neighbors or the indefensible colonial empires of history. Granted there were a people here before who's population was going through a population decline and cultural decimation all the while the settlers poured in around them. For the original natives the result was less than satisfactory and death, starvation and humiliation was common. 

 

Canada of late has a shame surrounding the founding of the country and treatment of the first nations but in my estimation we as a whole acted with the best intentions and morality given the times. This is compared to the barbaric Spaniards, Americans, Belgians, Dutch, French and Japanese. We were less colonizer via the bullet and more fat guy who sits beside you on a plane and steals your armrest, his sweaty arm pushing you further away to create a void which is quickly filled. Canada as it is known today comes from that expanding railroad and the European settlers who filled in along the line. 

 

A book id highly recomend.

https://a.co/d/6G4lPpO

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Xerxes]

Have you read this one ?

 

[Jaygo]

Ordered it on thrift books last night. As well as a book about John a Macdonald.