Dominion

The Railway and the Rise of Canada

By: Stephen Bown

Narrated by: Wayne Ward

A thrilling new account of the engineering triumph that created a nation

In The Company, his bestselling work of revisionist history, Stephen R. Bown told the dramatic, adventurous and bloody tale of Canada's origins in the fur trade. With Dominion he continues the nation's creation story with an equally gripping and eye-opening account of the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

In the late 19th century, demand for fur was in sharp decline. This could have spelled economic disaster for the venerable Hudson's Bay Company. But an idea emerged in political and business circles in Ottawa and Montreal to connect the disparate British colonies into a single entity that would stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific. With over 3,000 kilometres of track, much of it driven through wildly inhospitable terrain, the CPR would be the longest railway in the world and the most difficult to build. Its construction was the defining event of its era and a catalyst for powerful global forces.

The times were marked by greed, hubris, blatant empire building, oppression, corruption and theft. They were good for some, hard for most, disastrous for others. The CPR enabled a new country, but it came at a terrible price.

Stephen R. Bown again widens our view of the past to include the adventures and hardships of explorers and surveyors, the resistance of Indigenous peoples, and the terrific and horrific work of many thousands of labourers. His vivid portrayal of the powerful forces that were moulding the world in the late 19th century provides a revelatory new picture of modern Canada's creation as an independent state.

©2023 Stephen Bown (P)2023 Doubleday Canada

Critic reviews

"Dominion is enlivened by vivid portraits of characters like Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie, Jerry Potts, Crowfoot and Sir William Van Horne, and it raises the kind of questions that we should all be asking today. At a time when too many writers and readers are turning away from historical non-fiction, Dominion reminds us that Canadian history is nothing to be afraid of. Bown gives us a clear picture of the winners and losers in one particularly consequential episode."—Literary Review of Canada

Tiresome rave!

A tiresome rave against past social injustice, that never lets up!
I wanted to know how the railway was built, not everything that was wrong with the late 19th century!

Stunning and heartbreaking

Historical moments do not occur in a vacuum, and Bown’s vigorously researched narrative does an incredible job at explaining the culture, climate, challenges and cruelty that shaped the Canadian railway line. A stunning achievement of intelligence and compassion.

Provides a wonderful understanding of Canada

It is a fascinating book about a topic that doesn't get very much discussion. The book is balanced and explains the good and bad about building a railway and its impact on local cultures. Also explains the men behind the hurculean effort to do it.

Canadian History

An excellent and insightful explanation of the construction of the CPR and the significant effects the process had on the Canadian history and society. It is much more that a history of the railroad. It’s also an excellent contribution to our understanding of Canadian society and culture.