The Impossible Railway: The Building of the Canadian Pacific

by Pierre Berton

hardcover

Genres: History, Nonfiction

574 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Pierre 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.

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished the epic The Impossible Railway, by Pierre Berton. What can I say? This book is overlooked epic of the building of a great country as much as the building of a great railroad and a great nation.

The book itself is great. It is not written apologetically, as so many more modern tracts are. The author does recognize that the railroad was not an unmixed blessing.

I'll start with the shortcomings of the country highlighted in the book. It goes into detail on its distortion of the financial markets, its effect on Native Americans/First Nations, and other woes.

Quebec demonstrated its ability to dominate Parliament out of proportion to its numbers, And also, in a mixed socialist-capitalist system, the potential for corruption. And the love/hate relationship with Americans and the U.S. All of these have been more or less permanent features of Canadian life. Canada is simply not as wealthy a country as its neighbor to the south, against whom comparisons are inevitably made.

Now for the greatness. It is obvious. A destitute country that was barely in existence (six years) when it embarked on a Herculean nation-building project. Think what you will about the Riel Rebellion but it demonstrated the need to be able to move across the country expeditiously. And Canada built the railroad successfully through some extremely hostile terrain. Frankly, it dwarfs my country's accomplishment in building its railroad.

I look forward to reading books by this author.

[Josh Liller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts were interesting, but other parts were really dry.