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The National Dream: The Great Railway 1871-1881
Pierre Berton's The National Dream is the perfect antidote to recommend to anyone who thinks history, especially Canada's history, is boring. Canada's best-known historian takes the seemingly unexciting story of the building of a railroad and tells it with the colour and humour of a master yarn-spinner. The National Dream and its sequel, The Last Spike, published in 1970 and 1971, were two of Canada's biggest best-selling books and were turned into an eight-part series on CBC-TV watched by more people than any other dramatic program in the network's history to that date. The Last Spike won for Berton his third Governor General's Award for non-fiction.
The story he tells has no end of crazy and bizarre characters: sleazy politicians, robber baron-style railroad tycoons, corrupt newspaper publishers, many of them considered the political and economic founders of Canada. Somehow, in a few short years, this band of misfits managed to build the world's longest railway across a vast, unforgiving land, much of which was unknown to non-Natives. The project left a mixed legacy. Opposition politicians denounced it as "insane" and "reckless," accurately predicting that the massive spending would lead to a flood of corruption. It almost bankrupted the country and provoked the displacement of the Native peoples of the Prairies from their ancestral lands. The railroad became the spine of an empire, an imperial highway linking Britain with Asia, conveniently paid for by the Canadian public. On the other hand, the railway dream is also credited with binding together a fledgling nation with a steel ribbon. "The dream," wrote Berton, "would be the filling up of the empty spaces and the dawn of a new Canada." --Alex Roslin
439 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
40 people are currently reading
665 people want to read
About the author
Pierre Berton
179 books207 followersPierre Francis de Marigny Berton, CC, O.Ont. (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a Canadian historian, writer, journalist and broadcaster.
From narrative histories and popular culture, to picture and coffee table books to anthologies, to stories for children to readable, historical works for youth, many of his books are now Canadian classics.
Born in 1920 and raised in the Yukon, Pierre Berton worked in Klondike mining camps during his university years. He spent four years in the army, rising from private to captain/instructor at the Royal Military College in Kingston. He spent his early newspaper career in Vancouver, where at 21 he was the youngest city editor on any Canadian daily. He wrote columns for and was editor of Maclean's magazine, appeared on CBC's public affairs program "Close-Up" and was a permanent fixture on "Front Page Challenge" for 39 years. He was a columnist and editor for the Toronto Star, and a writer and host of a series of CBC programs.
Pierre Berton has received over 30 literary awards including the Governor-General's Award for Creative Non-Fiction (three times), the Stephen Leacock Medal of Humour, and the Gabrielle Leger National Heritage Award. He received two Nellies for his work in broadcasting, two National Newspaper awards, and the National History Society's first award for "distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history." For his immense contribution to Canadian literature and history, he has been awarded more than a dozen honourary degrees, is a member of the Newsman's Hall of Fame and a Companion of the Order of Canada.
From narrative histories and popular culture, to picture and coffee table books to anthologies, to stories for children to readable, historical works for youth, many of his books are now Canadian classics.
Born in 1920 and raised in the Yukon, Pierre Berton worked in Klondike mining camps during his university years. He spent four years in the army, rising from private to captain/instructor at the Royal Military College in Kingston. He spent his early newspaper career in Vancouver, where at 21 he was the youngest city editor on any Canadian daily. He wrote columns for and was editor of Maclean's magazine, appeared on CBC's public affairs program "Close-Up" and was a permanent fixture on "Front Page Challenge" for 39 years. He was a columnist and editor for the Toronto Star, and a writer and host of a series of CBC programs.
Pierre Berton has received over 30 literary awards including the Governor-General's Award for Creative Non-Fiction (three times), the Stephen Leacock Medal of Humour, and the Gabrielle Leger National Heritage Award. He received two Nellies for his work in broadcasting, two National Newspaper awards, and the National History Society's first award for "distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history." For his immense contribution to Canadian literature and history, he has been awarded more than a dozen honourary degrees, is a member of the Newsman's Hall of Fame and a Companion of the Order of Canada.
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April 28, 2018
This is the first volume, of two, on the building of the railroad across Canada. As the title suggests this is the dream portion – the lead-up of parliamentary debates, potential railroad builders, and the land surveyors.
Background and Geography
British Columbia, on Canada’s west coast, joined the Canadian Confederation as a province in 1871. The deal that clenched this decision was a promise to connect British Columbia by railroad to the eastern provinces. This was no simple task. It would require the construction of over 2,000 miles of railroad over unchartered remote areas. The only viable connection at the time to the new province of Manitoba, which joined in 1870, was via the United States under the Great Lakes to Minnesota – and not all of this was by railroad. A Canadian railroad could not be dependent on a U.S. route.
There were many in Manitoba and British Columbia that were threatening to join the United States. There was talk in the United States of annexing these Northern areas. Without a railroad there was not much that Canada would have been able to do to prevent this. Having a railroad would bring unity. It was essential.
There was no quick route above the Great Lakes (Lake Superior, Lake Huron) to Western Canada. This area of Canada is a part of the extensive Canadian Shield made up of a multitude of lakes, forests, muskeg bogs and granite rock. As the author vividly depicts constructing a railroad through muskeg was like building upon a vast bowl of porridge!
Muskeg in Ontario
Rocky Mountains
Canada’s population was only 4 million and nationhood had only started in 1867. Many inhabitants were going to the U.S. where they saw more opportunities and farmland – and better transportation to move westward. There was no Canadian Shield to stop them.
The books’ passages on the land surveyor’s were thrilling and stunning. These men (they were mostly men) were intrepid – and many lost their lives. In British Columbia several routes through the mountainous Rockies to the coast were proposed. Surveyors had to endure snowstorms, avalanches, attacks by grizzly bears. In both Ontario and British Columbia there was extreme isolation; the surveys could take from one to two years. In the summer there were hordes of mosquitoes and black flies. In British Columbia especially, there could be torrential rains. There was a lack of supplies so bad food and lack of nourishment was a constant.
In this book there is too much on the parliamentary debates (inevitable accusations, political infighting, and corruption), the contracts for the railroad (more corruption). There was wheeling and dealing between politicians, entrepreneurs, and builders. Some of this became tedious and should have been condensed. I also found it annoying when the author discussed a photograph, but none were supplied with the book.
Page 388 (my book)
[after the passage of the bill to build the railroad in 1881] cities yet unnamed would have their birth, passes yet uncharted would ring to the sound of axe and sledge. Within one year an army of twelve thousand men would be marshalled to invade [present day Alberta and British Columbia] . Other armies would follow: ten thousand along the Fraser [river], twelve thousand attacking the mountain crevices, fifteen thousand ...on the Canadian Shield. Nothing would ever be the same again. The tight little Canada of Confederation (1867) was already obsolete; the new Canada of the railroad was about to be born... The granite shield of Canada had to be cracked open to let the railway through. The mountain barrier must be... broken. There would be grief aplenty in the years to come – frustration, pain, hard decisions and, as always, bitter opposition. But the great adventure was launched. At last the dream was about to become a reality. The triumph lay just a few short years ahead.
So this was stupendous, herculean enterprise for a small newly formed country to undertake!
Background and Geography
British Columbia, on Canada’s west coast, joined the Canadian Confederation as a province in 1871. The deal that clenched this decision was a promise to connect British Columbia by railroad to the eastern provinces. This was no simple task. It would require the construction of over 2,000 miles of railroad over unchartered remote areas. The only viable connection at the time to the new province of Manitoba, which joined in 1870, was via the United States under the Great Lakes to Minnesota – and not all of this was by railroad. A Canadian railroad could not be dependent on a U.S. route.
There were many in Manitoba and British Columbia that were threatening to join the United States. There was talk in the United States of annexing these Northern areas. Without a railroad there was not much that Canada would have been able to do to prevent this. Having a railroad would bring unity. It was essential.
There was no quick route above the Great Lakes (Lake Superior, Lake Huron) to Western Canada. This area of Canada is a part of the extensive Canadian Shield made up of a multitude of lakes, forests, muskeg bogs and granite rock. As the author vividly depicts constructing a railroad through muskeg was like building upon a vast bowl of porridge!
Muskeg in Ontario
Rocky Mountains
Canada’s population was only 4 million and nationhood had only started in 1867. Many inhabitants were going to the U.S. where they saw more opportunities and farmland – and better transportation to move westward. There was no Canadian Shield to stop them.
The books’ passages on the land surveyor’s were thrilling and stunning. These men (they were mostly men) were intrepid – and many lost their lives. In British Columbia several routes through the mountainous Rockies to the coast were proposed. Surveyors had to endure snowstorms, avalanches, attacks by grizzly bears. In both Ontario and British Columbia there was extreme isolation; the surveys could take from one to two years. In the summer there were hordes of mosquitoes and black flies. In British Columbia especially, there could be torrential rains. There was a lack of supplies so bad food and lack of nourishment was a constant.
In this book there is too much on the parliamentary debates (inevitable accusations, political infighting, and corruption), the contracts for the railroad (more corruption). There was wheeling and dealing between politicians, entrepreneurs, and builders. Some of this became tedious and should have been condensed. I also found it annoying when the author discussed a photograph, but none were supplied with the book.
Page 388 (my book)
[after the passage of the bill to build the railroad in 1881] cities yet unnamed would have their birth, passes yet uncharted would ring to the sound of axe and sledge. Within one year an army of twelve thousand men would be marshalled to invade [present day Alberta and British Columbia] . Other armies would follow: ten thousand along the Fraser [river], twelve thousand attacking the mountain crevices, fifteen thousand ...on the Canadian Shield. Nothing would ever be the same again. The tight little Canada of Confederation (1867) was already obsolete; the new Canada of the railroad was about to be born... The granite shield of Canada had to be cracked open to let the railway through. The mountain barrier must be... broken. There would be grief aplenty in the years to come – frustration, pain, hard decisions and, as always, bitter opposition. But the great adventure was launched. At last the dream was about to become a reality. The triumph lay just a few short years ahead.
So this was stupendous, herculean enterprise for a small newly formed country to undertake!
April 24, 2012
Pierre Berton was one of Canada's most popular historians, from the Donald Creighton school which opted for abandoning footnotes and references and dry overviews in favor of relating history like a good story—full of anecdote and big personalities—written more to appeal to fiction lovers than scholars. People have nitpicked about inaccuracies and liberties that Berton has taken with his subject matter over the years, but that overlooks his towering strength: the ability to make potentially dull episodes in our country's life seem alive and important and immensely readable.
The story of the construction of the Canadian Pacific railway, linking the core populations of eastern Canada with the scattered colonies in British Columbia (principally along the Pacific Coast) is one of a virtually impossible, herculean, nigh-ruinously expensive task accomplished through sheer willpower: political, financial, physical and organizational. Without the railway Canada could not have come into existence as a country; as Berton points out, all the natural travel routes, via land and water, run north-south in North America. East-west the way is limited by towering, massive mountain ranges and impenetrable forest. By all rights, British Columbia should have joined with Alaska and Washington State to form the Pacific territories of the United States. That this wasn't the historical result is almost entirely due to the construction of the CP Railway.
Berton paints wonderfully vivid portraits of the principal players in the conception and execution of the Great Task (the Dominion politicians, the executives and managers of Canadian Pacific, as well as construction engineers, surveyors and indomitable explorers—with my favorite being Sir Sandford Fleming, one of the bevy of slightly-mad Scots who hauled themselves and their Indian guides through the most appalling of obstacles in order to find the best routes for the railway to run along—and even priests who solaced the laborer's souls amongst the itinerant work-camps while endeavoring to save them from demon drink and unstable nitroglycerin) and makes clear the daunting obstacles overcome: endless swamps and forests; the hostile and torturous rock fortress of the Canadian Shield; the ocean of mountains—most over 7,000 feet—separating the Pacific from the central prairies. The vast quantities of capital required was more than a newborn country could hope to raise by itself, so financing had to be pried from dubious banker's fingers in the United States and far distant Europe. Land speculation made and broke fortunes with impunity and turned stranded municipalities into ghost towns; political scandals threatened to bring the whole undertaking to a crashing halt several times; yet, due to the tenacity of the amazing personalities involved, work was never stopped and, against all odds, the three thousand miles of track was completed without tearing the country apart.
Berton's tale is told in two books: The National Dream followed by The Last Spike . The dual tomes tell of heroism of a far different sort from that of conquest, of empire, of great foreign policy—but one no less compelling in the hands of Berton, who relishes this national epic and its actors, and conveys his enthusiasm in spades. An insane, impossible scheme to build a country that, by all rights, should never have existed: from this madcap dream, from the visionary sleep of great men, the nation of Canada was fully formed.
The story of the construction of the Canadian Pacific railway, linking the core populations of eastern Canada with the scattered colonies in British Columbia (principally along the Pacific Coast) is one of a virtually impossible, herculean, nigh-ruinously expensive task accomplished through sheer willpower: political, financial, physical and organizational. Without the railway Canada could not have come into existence as a country; as Berton points out, all the natural travel routes, via land and water, run north-south in North America. East-west the way is limited by towering, massive mountain ranges and impenetrable forest. By all rights, British Columbia should have joined with Alaska and Washington State to form the Pacific territories of the United States. That this wasn't the historical result is almost entirely due to the construction of the CP Railway.
Berton paints wonderfully vivid portraits of the principal players in the conception and execution of the Great Task (the Dominion politicians, the executives and managers of Canadian Pacific, as well as construction engineers, surveyors and indomitable explorers—with my favorite being Sir Sandford Fleming, one of the bevy of slightly-mad Scots who hauled themselves and their Indian guides through the most appalling of obstacles in order to find the best routes for the railway to run along—and even priests who solaced the laborer's souls amongst the itinerant work-camps while endeavoring to save them from demon drink and unstable nitroglycerin) and makes clear the daunting obstacles overcome: endless swamps and forests; the hostile and torturous rock fortress of the Canadian Shield; the ocean of mountains—most over 7,000 feet—separating the Pacific from the central prairies. The vast quantities of capital required was more than a newborn country could hope to raise by itself, so financing had to be pried from dubious banker's fingers in the United States and far distant Europe. Land speculation made and broke fortunes with impunity and turned stranded municipalities into ghost towns; political scandals threatened to bring the whole undertaking to a crashing halt several times; yet, due to the tenacity of the amazing personalities involved, work was never stopped and, against all odds, the three thousand miles of track was completed without tearing the country apart.
Berton's tale is told in two books: The National Dream followed by The Last Spike . The dual tomes tell of heroism of a far different sort from that of conquest, of empire, of great foreign policy—but one no less compelling in the hands of Berton, who relishes this national epic and its actors, and conveys his enthusiasm in spades. An insane, impossible scheme to build a country that, by all rights, should never have existed: from this madcap dream, from the visionary sleep of great men, the nation of Canada was fully formed.
October 20, 2021
I did not enjoy this book as much I would have liked; the very start with all the details about the various parties traversing the mountains of BC to find the best route for the train was very interesting and well-detailed & also about half-way through when we were introduced to the main players was eye-opening, in a good sense, as we found out how hard it was to convince people the railway was a good idea and worthy of investing in.
The amount of back-stabbing, corruption, lying, etc. was crazy, between the political parties themselves and the politicians and other "players" wanting to build the railway. To be honest, I skimmed over those parts as I found it eye-opening, in a bad sense.
Maybe it was the writing style; I really enjoyed the Tim Cook books I've read so far, or those by Ben MacIntyre. Anyway, hopefully the follow-up to this one, The Last Spike, keeps me interested.
The amount of back-stabbing, corruption, lying, etc. was crazy, between the political parties themselves and the politicians and other "players" wanting to build the railway. To be honest, I skimmed over those parts as I found it eye-opening, in a bad sense.
Maybe it was the writing style; I really enjoyed the Tim Cook books I've read so far, or those by Ben MacIntyre. Anyway, hopefully the follow-up to this one, The Last Spike, keeps me interested.
January 20, 2024
[CanLit 2]
Major mixed feelings here.
Fascinating look at early Canada and how the railway pieced it together. Also the writing is more enjoyable and celebratory than most Canadian histories. Epic recounting of the Pacific Scandal.
But it's *way* too long. No need to split across 2 volumes. Too bogged down in details, returns again and again to the same issues dragging on, long descriptions of bond deals and newspaper editorial responses, etc. The railway itself doesn't even appear in this one, just the prelude. Took me a really long time to read it.
Major mixed feelings here.
Fascinating look at early Canada and how the railway pieced it together. Also the writing is more enjoyable and celebratory than most Canadian histories. Epic recounting of the Pacific Scandal.
But it's *way* too long. No need to split across 2 volumes. Too bogged down in details, returns again and again to the same issues dragging on, long descriptions of bond deals and newspaper editorial responses, etc. The railway itself doesn't even appear in this one, just the prelude. Took me a really long time to read it.
February 4, 2023
This is a very detailed account of the decade before the Great Railway was constructed. It is heavy with politics which I'm not that much into. What is interesting is that in the political world, not much has changed. There's as much fighting and blaming between political parties as ever and things take a long time to get accomplished. I guess it's true that the more things change the more they're the same.
Next book... Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub.
Next book... Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub.
February 23, 2026
This book really puts into perspective just how big of a project that building the railroad was. At the time, this project had a gargantuan cost and was pretty divisive among MPs at Parliament Hill. However, I believe that the building of the railroad, despite the enormous cost, was the most important event in Canadian history, it connected Eastern Canada with it's west coast in British Columbia and truly connected the country from sea to sea as the national motto says. Even in the United States l, the building of their own transcontinent railroad was a major event in the history of their country. Why Canada's is more impressive in my opinion is that Canada wasn't even 20 years old as a country yet, while the United States was approaching the century mark when the railroad was built. Canada owes a lot to the railroad!
June 22, 2017
I remember being 12 or 13 when the CBC made Pierre Burton’s “The National Dream” and “The Last Spike” into a mini series. Being the son of a lifelong (2nd generation) CP Railway man (who was a bit of a railway historian), I recall that it became mandatory viewing in our house … all 8 painful hours. Nothing like being forced to study boring old Canadian history.
Fast forward to 2017; my friend Helen’s choir sang a rousing rendition of The Canadian Railway Trilogy by Gordon Lightfoot at their summer concert .. that combined with it being Canada’s 150th birthday I decided I needed to read this series. Wow, Wow, Wow .. I’m really glad I did. How your mindset changes in 40+ years. The book is well written, easy to digest and brings the whole era vividly to life. In the final scene where the CP Rail legislation was passed in early 1981, I felt like I was actually there, living the moment. My experience with this book could only have been better if my dad was still alive to discuss it with him.
If you are Canadian and want to learn about an era that shaped our identity as a young nation, then do yourself a favour and read this book. (If you aren’t Canadian, you should also read it).
Fast forward to 2017; my friend Helen’s choir sang a rousing rendition of The Canadian Railway Trilogy by Gordon Lightfoot at their summer concert .. that combined with it being Canada’s 150th birthday I decided I needed to read this series. Wow, Wow, Wow .. I’m really glad I did. How your mindset changes in 40+ years. The book is well written, easy to digest and brings the whole era vividly to life. In the final scene where the CP Rail legislation was passed in early 1981, I felt like I was actually there, living the moment. My experience with this book could only have been better if my dad was still alive to discuss it with him.
If you are Canadian and want to learn about an era that shaped our identity as a young nation, then do yourself a favour and read this book. (If you aren’t Canadian, you should also read it).
March 16, 2014
Received the two volume box set for Christmas, when I was 13, and still own it almost 40 years later. Pierre Berton's true masterpiece, bringing Canadian history to life, painting a portrait of what Canada was in the 1870's and 1880's. Although the railroad is built in The Last Spike, it is The National Dream where many dreamed of the future Canada and Berton lays out the visions of many.
From surveyor Walter Moberly, to Sandford Fleming; from Donald Smith to Charles Tupper; most of all the real Greatest Canadian, Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, who staked his political career on the CPR. Political scandal shunted him to the wilderness for 5 years, but he was always the one man who kept the dream alive.
Just 168 ratings, this was a huge bestseller in Canada when it came out, #1 in non-fiction for close to a year. Sad how it's neglected here.
From surveyor Walter Moberly, to Sandford Fleming; from Donald Smith to Charles Tupper; most of all the real Greatest Canadian, Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, who staked his political career on the CPR. Political scandal shunted him to the wilderness for 5 years, but he was always the one man who kept the dream alive.
Just 168 ratings, this was a huge bestseller in Canada when it came out, #1 in non-fiction for close to a year. Sad how it's neglected here.
June 16, 2023
Paid $2 for it at a local library book sale. Didn't know the author and had no expectations. It was excellent.
Berton packs his writing with facts but keeps a great pace and, somehow, weaves excitement and drama into political battles waged over a century ago. His writing is poetic and lends itself well to describing our visionary prime minister, Sir John A. MacDonald. I truly had little-to-no fore-knowledge of this passage of history but didn't feel overwhelmed or encumbered. Berton does a good job of holding your hand and providing context throughout.
By far my favourite chapters in the book dealt with the surveyors, explorers, adventurers, and engineers. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the wilderness and the technological limitations builders faced to carve the railway across Canada. I'm left viewing it as truly an unbelievable feat and admiring the men who dared to dream it into reality.
Will be seeking out the sequel, The Last Spike
Berton packs his writing with facts but keeps a great pace and, somehow, weaves excitement and drama into political battles waged over a century ago. His writing is poetic and lends itself well to describing our visionary prime minister, Sir John A. MacDonald. I truly had little-to-no fore-knowledge of this passage of history but didn't feel overwhelmed or encumbered. Berton does a good job of holding your hand and providing context throughout.
By far my favourite chapters in the book dealt with the surveyors, explorers, adventurers, and engineers. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the wilderness and the technological limitations builders faced to carve the railway across Canada. I'm left viewing it as truly an unbelievable feat and admiring the men who dared to dream it into reality.
Will be seeking out the sequel, The Last Spike
March 30, 2021
Never have I been more proud and disgusted at the spectacle the Canadian founders made of themselves. I always pictured Canadians as boring beer drinkers and never giving that much lip to the same muck that pervades American politics. I was wrong. We are just as exciting, stupid, passionate, stubborn, annoying and plain old jackasses as any other group out there.
We had a dream. We fought for it and almost lost it but it was saved by a drunken reprobate I am proud to call Prime Minister.
We had a dream. We fought for it and almost lost it but it was saved by a drunken reprobate I am proud to call Prime Minister.
January 7, 2025
Author Pierre Berton was a major Canadian celebrity in the 1970s but has long since passed from the memories of Canadians younger than me. Having recently read Ken Mather's wonderful Stagecoach North: A History of Barnard's Express, it reminded me that I've never read Berton's grand opus, The National Dream, which is the story of how the Canadian Pacific Railway came to be built as an act to unify the young nation of Canada.
As every Canadian school child knows, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald realized that the thinly populated Canadian provinces of early confederation (British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and a couple of the maritime provinces) needed a transportation corridor to promote immigration and trade and, perhaps most importantly, be a binding link between them to keep the Americans out! Part of the deal with British Columbia was the promise of a railroad so that the once western depot of the Hudson's Bay company could modernize in its new industries of forestry, mining and fishing, bringing in supplies and immigrants from the east and shipping its wares back to the original seed colonies still loyal to the British monarchy. Berton's book explains the situation wonderfully in terms of the geography of the landscape and the politics of the day.
The political aspects of the book are quite interesting to me, as it is a story full of wheeling and dealing, 19th century tycoons and robber barons, intrigues and scandal. The entire railway idea almost fell to pieces due to the Pacific Scandal of 1872-3, in which a main financier, Montreal business Hugh Allan, made a series of ill-advised political contributions to key members of the Macdonald government to help grease the wheels of getting the railway company started, after he assumed that he would be its chairman. The scandal caused a non-confidence vote in Macdonald's government that forced them to resign. Luckily, Canada's second prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie kept the dream of the railway alive, but mismanaged the process of surveying the prospective routes and mired the formation of an actual business plan into snail-paced progress. Eventually Macdonald's Conservative Party regained power in 1878 and found an experienced syndicate of Canadian railway men that took on the huge, risky enterprise.
Of course, my most favorite parts of the book have more to do with the surveying of the prospective routes, especially through my home province of BC, where the never-ending mountain ranges were thought to be almost impassable. It was a great way to learn how many western Canadian towns actually sprang into existence due to the speculation of the final route to the Pacific Coast.
The National Dream actually ends in 1881 when Macdonald's government has just succeeded in awarding the contract to the syndicate that formed the Canadian Pacific Railway company. Berton's second volume The Last Spike: The Great Railway 1881-1885, completes how the railroad was then actually built in a surprisingly short 4 more years, especially given the challenges of extreme geography, 19th century technology, and a young country's fledging government guiding the process.
As every Canadian school child knows, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald realized that the thinly populated Canadian provinces of early confederation (British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and a couple of the maritime provinces) needed a transportation corridor to promote immigration and trade and, perhaps most importantly, be a binding link between them to keep the Americans out! Part of the deal with British Columbia was the promise of a railroad so that the once western depot of the Hudson's Bay company could modernize in its new industries of forestry, mining and fishing, bringing in supplies and immigrants from the east and shipping its wares back to the original seed colonies still loyal to the British monarchy. Berton's book explains the situation wonderfully in terms of the geography of the landscape and the politics of the day.
The political aspects of the book are quite interesting to me, as it is a story full of wheeling and dealing, 19th century tycoons and robber barons, intrigues and scandal. The entire railway idea almost fell to pieces due to the Pacific Scandal of 1872-3, in which a main financier, Montreal business Hugh Allan, made a series of ill-advised political contributions to key members of the Macdonald government to help grease the wheels of getting the railway company started, after he assumed that he would be its chairman. The scandal caused a non-confidence vote in Macdonald's government that forced them to resign. Luckily, Canada's second prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie kept the dream of the railway alive, but mismanaged the process of surveying the prospective routes and mired the formation of an actual business plan into snail-paced progress. Eventually Macdonald's Conservative Party regained power in 1878 and found an experienced syndicate of Canadian railway men that took on the huge, risky enterprise.
Of course, my most favorite parts of the book have more to do with the surveying of the prospective routes, especially through my home province of BC, where the never-ending mountain ranges were thought to be almost impassable. It was a great way to learn how many western Canadian towns actually sprang into existence due to the speculation of the final route to the Pacific Coast.
The National Dream actually ends in 1881 when Macdonald's government has just succeeded in awarding the contract to the syndicate that formed the Canadian Pacific Railway company. Berton's second volume The Last Spike: The Great Railway 1881-1885, completes how the railroad was then actually built in a surprisingly short 4 more years, especially given the challenges of extreme geography, 19th century technology, and a young country's fledging government guiding the process.
February 13, 2019
This is Part 1 of the story of the birth of Canada as a nation. Yes, I know that Confederation was in 1867, but with the addition of Manitoba and British Columbia, Canada had a big problem. It was virtually impossible to travel to these new provinces from the eastern provinces, and they really didn't feel connected to their new country. As it was considerably easier to travel north and south than it was east and west, people usually traveled to these provinces through the United States. It seemed almost inevitable that the US would eventually annex the western parts of Canada. How could this improbable marriage of provinces be kept intact? Sir John A. MacDonald had a dream...to build a railway across the country to link the provinces. This was much easier said than done, as the Rocky Mountains and the Canadian Shield were very formidable obstacles. This book tells of the ten year process required to turn this dream into a concrete plan...not an actual railway, just a realistic plan. This was a decade of political in-fighting, corruption (so unbelievably much corruption), waffling, back-tracking, and just a tiny bit of railroad building. I have to say that Pierre Berton did a very good job of telling this story in lay-man's terms, but reading about so much politics was a struggle for me. Having said this, I can't think of anything he could have left out, as it is important to understand just how many obstacles there were to getting the railway built. I am looking forward to reading the second book, The Last Spike: The Great Railway, 1881-1885, which details the actual building of the railway, as I think it will be much easier to read. I am deducting one star because I wish he had included pictures rather than his extremely detailed and strangely romanticized physical descriptions of the people involved. It might have made it easier to keep everyone straight.
August 14, 2019
The entire book is written from actual historical documents, making this a true story through and through. The country of Canada is only 4 years old at the beginning of the book with a population that is slightly more than 3 million with some of its provinces threatening to be annexed into the United States. George McMullen is the man who is promoting the idea of the railroad being built because he thinks that it will help unify the country. Marcus Smith was the lead surveyor, who had to trek through entirely unexplored Canada, and within weeks there had already been deaths among the group due to avalanches, blizzards, and animal attacks. and finally the great engineer Sanford Fleming who was originally born in Scotland but immigrated to Canada when he was 18, he is also the man who invented worldwide standard time. Fleming could not make up his mind about the route to take the railway so he had to make heavy decisions. The difference between the culture of Canada and America was vast during the time period, America was making strict immigration laws that restricted the number of immigrants. While Canada was accepting most people that came to support their country. Berton wrote this book to inform readers of the hardships that the new country was facing. This is shown through his use of historically accurate sources. The theme of the text could be to never give up. Berton supports this theme through his characters because even when Smith's men were dying from harsh conditions none of them faltered. If you like historical books and lots of politics than this book is for you. The politics can get boring at times but if you can get past them then this is one hell of a read about a young country's struggle.
March 23, 2024
There were parts of this which were almost laughable due to the 'playschool bickering of boys in the sandpit' mentality of the men involved in the 'Who's idea and bank account is bigger and better'.
The flow and chapter structure of the narrative was easy to read and it was interesting to learn how and why the route of the railways came about, and I am glad that I read this prior to travelling across Canada by train.
It always amazes me how humans of the past can build great structures, have depths of resilience and determination, and yet in today's world, just the thought of 10% of what the men and women achieved 100's years ago brings people out in hives. The words 'hard work' has people running for the hills due to the pampered lives so many of us live today.
As I read the history of this incredible railway system, I opened up the terrain view of Google Maps and mirrored the routes the railways took, comparing them to the line maps provided in the book. It was both fascinating and enlightening to see that not much of the terrain has changed, and it allowed me to get present the challenges those who built the railways had. Travelling during the winter months brought the strength, endurance and resilience home even more.
Personally, I would have preferred less repetition of the school boy bickering, and more focus on the various humanitarian crisis' that came about due to the colonisation, displacement and slavery of the Chinese and Japanese men who built the railways, and we then later on treated less than humans and very similar to the African Slaves in America were treated around the same time.
Overall a fascinating read into the attitudes of colonisers, their egos and disregard for human life.
The flow and chapter structure of the narrative was easy to read and it was interesting to learn how and why the route of the railways came about, and I am glad that I read this prior to travelling across Canada by train.
It always amazes me how humans of the past can build great structures, have depths of resilience and determination, and yet in today's world, just the thought of 10% of what the men and women achieved 100's years ago brings people out in hives. The words 'hard work' has people running for the hills due to the pampered lives so many of us live today.
As I read the history of this incredible railway system, I opened up the terrain view of Google Maps and mirrored the routes the railways took, comparing them to the line maps provided in the book. It was both fascinating and enlightening to see that not much of the terrain has changed, and it allowed me to get present the challenges those who built the railways had. Travelling during the winter months brought the strength, endurance and resilience home even more.
Personally, I would have preferred less repetition of the school boy bickering, and more focus on the various humanitarian crisis' that came about due to the colonisation, displacement and slavery of the Chinese and Japanese men who built the railways, and we then later on treated less than humans and very similar to the African Slaves in America were treated around the same time.
Overall a fascinating read into the attitudes of colonisers, their egos and disregard for human life.
April 23, 2024
During the 1870s in Canada the political and business worlds were maneuvering and scheming and competing over the plan for a railway from the St. Lawrence valley, home to Lower and Upper Canada (Quebec and Ontario respectively), to the Pacific coast (British Columbia).
Pierre Berton's account of this decade is painstakingly researched, and told in as engaging a way as possible for such a maddening story. It's quite an achievement, because the details of the main players' machinations are tangled and exasperating even to read about.
However, it's a good case study in politics, showing that the partisanship of today is not new, and the lengths to which political enemies will go to rob each other of power are vast.
Pierre Berton's account of this decade is painstakingly researched, and told in as engaging a way as possible for such a maddening story. It's quite an achievement, because the details of the main players' machinations are tangled and exasperating even to read about.
However, it's a good case study in politics, showing that the partisanship of today is not new, and the lengths to which political enemies will go to rob each other of power are vast.
May 25, 2017
Trying to read more Canadian history/authors for our 150th celebration. This book was interesting and one I have wanted to read for a long time. I was flabbergasted at the amount of corruption involved and the political fighting. I expected some but this was way beyond my imagination. It is a wonder that the railroad was ever started never mind completed. I found towards the end of the book the politics was getting tedious. Worth the read for the educational scope it provides. Berton does our history justice with his research and writing style.
October 7, 2025
Pierre Berton is a good story-teller and he brings life to the first ten years of the quest to build a national railway by blending events with characters to explain why Sir John A. Macdonald's first attempt at building a transcontinental railway led to his political downfall and why his second attempt succeeded. Berton's conclusion: the mood of the Canadian public had caught up with the Prime Minister's vision and it was time for bold, perhaps reckless action because otherwise the railway would never get built and the country would likely faulter.
January 15, 2025
This is such a valuable text for generations. So often in recent years early political leaders and explorers are projected as nothing by more than racists. An understanding of the time they existed and the enormity of the challenges they faced provides necessary context. There was poor decisions that were made nobody should argue otherwise. However there were also enormous accomplishments that have benefited 10 of millions of families who came after to live in this wonderful country
December 15, 2025
There are lots of great passages of the fight, either for or against an all-Canadian railway across the continent, that transformed Canada into more than a giant piece of unexplored real estate and potential. Unfortunately, Pierre Berton spends too much time reviewing sideburns, whiskers, dresses and uniforms to warrant much more than a 3/5.
June 4, 2018
While definitely not my favourite Berton book thus far, it was an important read. The book is not bad; the content is just super dry 19th century politics which can make it a serious slog. Worth reading for historical import and I look forward to Vol II which covers the actual construction.
September 11, 2017
You'll want to read its companion, the Last Spike
November 4, 2019
Lots of very boring political stuff and some very interesting geological stuff.
January 23, 2020
I LIKE THIS BOOK.
April 3, 2025
Why couldn't my history teachers be so interesting? Pierre Berton doesn't just give you the facts, he turns Canadian history into illustrations in your mind, that take you back in time
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August 12, 2025A fascinating history of the development of Western Canada and the birth of the country.
February 2, 2026
Lesson I learned from reading this book; politicians were extremely corrupt then and unfortunately remain so now.
August 1, 2014
An excellent history of the building of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. One of the things I like in history as written by Pierre Berton is his extensive use of anecdotes to bring the story alive. One I particularly liked in this book was the time John A. MacDonald was whistlestopping across the country during an election. He often spoke to crowds from the rear platform of the last coach on the train. On one occasion, John A., who was a notable toper, felt the booze swirling in his belly and spewed in front of the crowd. Always one with a quick comeback, John A. quipped, "I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen. Whenever I think of the leader of the opposition, it just turns my stomach."
October 24, 2012
I was expecting something different from this book. If I had remembered more of what when on in high school I wouldn't have. I was expecting and wanted to read about the actual laying of the track and the trials and tribulations and I was expecting to read about the people that actually did the work. Instead the book was about the politics behind the railway and getting the financing for it. It was slow going and way more information that I "needed/wanted" - educational though and I'm glad I read it to learn (and possibly retain) some Canadian history.
March 27, 2007
Great history behind the politics of nation building. In 1871 British Columbia joined with Canada on the promise of an intercontinental rail connection that would be completed in ten years. This is the story of the struggle to keep that promise, the rise, fall and rise of Prime Minister Macdonald, and the birth of some of the east vs. west animosities that exist to this day in Canada. For those interested in Canadian history and politics, this is a must-read.
January 3, 2011
Pierre Berton has often taken hits on his tendency to veer away from the facts for the sake of the story. However, through the years, he has made Canadian history exciting for many students. For this he should be commended. Often Canadian historians have written Canadian history as if it should be read in a University undergraduate class. Berton turned people on to our history and made it enjoyable to read.
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