From Telegrapher to Titan: The Life of William C. Van Horne

by Valerie Knowles

  Winner of the 2005 Ottawa Book Award for Non-fiction , the 2005 University of British Columbia Award for Best Canadian Biography, and the Canadian Railroad Historical Association Award for Best Railway Book of the Year.



William Van Horne was one of North America’s most accomplished men. Born in Illinois in 1843, he became a prominent railway figure in the United States before coming to Canada in 1881 to become general manager of the fledgling Canadian Pacific Railway. Van Horne pushed through construction of the CPR’s transcontinental line and went on to become company president. He also became one of Canada’s foremost financiers and art collectors, capping his career by opening Cuba’s interior with a railway.

Genres: Canada, Biography Memoir, Transport, History

504 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Elinor · Rating 4 out of 5]

There aren't many Canadians, I think, who don't know that William Van Horne was the president of the Canadian Pacific Railway and achieved the nearly insurmountable task of creating the country's transcontinental railway. The ceremonial photo shows a portly figure in a Homburg hat watching as the Last Spike was driven at Craigellachie, British Columbia in 1885 by company director Donald Smith.

However, the man who began as a humble telegrapher in a railway station in Iowa truly did become a titan of Canadian industry. I had no idea of his widespread accomplishments in business and finance, his indefatigable energy, his fertile mind, and his astonishing ambition. From creating a national railway in Cuba to establishing the world's largest collection of Japanese art, from conceiving the chain of famed CPR railway hotels (now owned by Fairmont Hotels), to breeding and showing prize livestock, painting works that are good enough to be shown at the National Gallery, serving as director of 40 different companies along with starting dozens of them himself, being awarded a knighthood . . . the list goes on and on. Every chapter reveals new dimensions to the man's drive (perhaps because he rarely slept). Van Horne did so much to shape today's version of Canada that his life and times deserve to be better recognized.

I'm deducting a star for the most spurious of reasons -- I found it a tiny bit tedious to wade through all the machinations of business deals and railway acquisitions, although I'm sure the author's dedication to detail is why the book won so many awards. The parts that most interested me concerned the man himself, his personality, friendships and love for his family.

[Margaret Virany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fascinating, award-winning book depicts William C. Van Horne, the colorful, imposing figure behind the construction of Canada's transcontinental lifeline, the Canadian Pacific Railway. He also developed a telegraph service, launched the Empress line of Pacific Steamboats, founded CP hotels, opened up the Cuban interior with a railway and amassed a huge art collection. Without hyperbole, this very readable book gives the reader a vivid portrait of what one man can accomplish in exciting, expansionist times. At his death Van Horne was extolled by bells ringing from one end of Cuba to the other, and by a stoppage of all traffic on the CPR for five minutes. Thanks to Valerie Knowles for rescuing this Titan from near obscurity to entertain and educate Canadians and railway buffs of all ages.