These are two separate books, really.  "Caesars" picks up where "Empire of the Bay" finishes.  They are very readable accounts by Peter C. Newman of one of the most dominating business enterprises ever, the HBC (Hudson's Bay Company).  

The first book is a narrative concerned with how the HBC gets started, its fur trading practices, & how it flourishes.  It provides exhaustive coverage of historical events related to the geographic expansion in Canada as well as its economic development on both sides of the Atlantic.  Newman has a knack for finding the human interest angle inside of what might otherwise be episodes crusty with historical fact.  He is at his best when he gets into the sometimes violent relations of the HBC with its upstart rival, The Northwest Company.

"Caesars of the Wilderness" actually comes in two volumes.  It continues the exhaustive but very entertaining narrative, analyzing the struggles between the two dominating fur trading companies.  Various characters emerge as giants on the historical stage... folks we Americans probably never heard of before.  George Simpson, for instance, headed the HBC in Canada and was probably its most colorful character.  This guy personally travelled to most of the hundreds of outposts each season for a couple decades.  He prided himself upon surprise arrivals & hired the very best of the voyageurs to paddle him at incredible speeds across the wilderness.  There's one account where he gets frustrated with the folks he was travelling with because they resisted crossing a dangerous icy river, swollen in Spring flood.  So, Simpson actually swims the river himself!  Then he moves on WITHOUT his entourage!  The guy WAS focused!   He also drove the HBC to its pinnacle of success.  Anyhow, even if half of the tales are true, the guy seems bigger than Paul Bunyan.

There are similarly engaging stories about other characters such as David Thompson (no, not the basketball player!), McKenzie, etc..  These are the folks that made Canadian history, that crossed America a decade BEFORE Lewis & Clark, and who - for the most part - got off to a far better relationship with the Native American peoples of this continent.

If you have an interest in the early history of the fur trading years, I recommend these books in the highest terms!  PBS thought highly of them, too, basing a well-made documentary on the first book.  If you're not much for reading, DO try to catch the TV documentary in PBS re-runs.  It's worth it.

I'd classify these books as being more "popular history" versus "rigorous history".  I don't dispute their accuracy.  I merely point out they are gauged to "entertain" versus "inform".  I think Peter C. Newman clearly reached his objective.

Jimbo  

Bump to the top, for Jimbo & solus.