Jimbo wrote on Jan 12^th, 2020 at 12:53pm:

All - These  are highly recommended, reader-friendly treatments of those raucous couple centuries of  Canadian development driven by fur trade.  Peter C. Newman does a wonderful job of bringing larger-than-life personalities into sharp, memorable focus. This is history just as my favorite university professor used to teach it... through the colorful stories of the people that made it ( David Thompson, George Simpson, etc.). These well-worn volumes have had a spot on my bookshelf for a long, long time. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to discover I recommended them in this forum many years ago.   If you enjoy reading about the adventures of that age, read these books! I second OregonDave’s recommendation in the highest terms! Jimbo  8-)

Ok, so I found an ancient discussion of these books from back in 2003 (see:   (You need to Login or Register ).  Apparently, in yet another discussion, I once characterized these books as "historical fiction."  Well, as mentioned earlier, Peter C. Newman's accounts ARE "colorful."  I suspect he has "fleshed in" some of the blank spots with respect to the details & conversations he reconstructs.  Nevertheless, like good historical fiction, the narrative is strongly rooted in fact. I have little doubt that, as "histories", they are quite faithful to events as they actually transpired... and they are anything but dry!

Jimbo   8-)