Book
Bush runner : the adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson / Mark Bourrie.
"The book is a biography of eccentric French fur trader Pierre Radisson, a man who helped shape the events of his time. Radisson spent his life trying to be an important part of the rather bizarre European beaver hat trade, but was stymied all his life. He lived through fantastic advenures: capture and adoption by the Mohawks in 1652, escape to early New York City, trading partner with the indigenous people of the Great Lakes, defecting from the French and witnessing the Great Plague and Great Fire of London, defecting back to the French, co-founding the Hudson's Bay Company, running with pirates ... and so on. A fascinating and remarkable life story that is finally being told."- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781771962377 (trade paperback)
- Physical Description: 314 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm
- Publisher: Windsor, Ontario : Biblioasis, [2019]
- Copyright: ©2019
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Radisson, Pierre Esprit, approximately 1636-1710. Hudson's Bay Company. Fur traders > Canada > Biography. Canada > History > 1663-1713. |
| Genre: | Biographies. |
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeshore Branch | 971.016092 Radis-B | 31681010157634 | NONFICPBK | Available | - |
- Perseus Publishing
A biography of eccentric French fur trader Pierre Radisson - an unknown man who shaped nations. - Perseus Publishing
<p><strong>WINNER OF THE 2020 RBC TAYLOR PRIZE • "Readers might well wonder if Jonathan Swift at his edgiest has been at work."âRBC Taylor Prize Jury Citation • "A remarkable biography of an even more remarkable 17th-century individual ⦠Beautifully written and endlessly thought-provoking."â<em>Macleanâs</em></strong></p><p><strong>Murderer. Salesman. Pirate. Adventurer. Cannibal. Co-founder of the Hudson's Bay Company.</strong></p><p>Known to some as the first European to explore the upper Mississippi, and widely as the namesake of ships and hotel chains, Pierre-Esprit Radisson is perhaps best described, writes Mark Bourrie, as âan eager hustler with no known scruples.â Kidnapped by Mohawk warriors at the age of fifteen, Radisson assimilated and was adopted by a powerful family, only to escape to New York City after less than a year. After being recaptured, he defected from a raiding party to the Dutch and crossed the Atlantic to Hollandâthus beginning a lifetime of seized opportunities and frustrated ambitions.</p><p>A guest among First Nations communities, French fur traders, and royal courts; witness to Londonâs Great Plague and Great Fire; and unwitting agent of the Jesuitsâ corporate espionage, Radisson double-crossed the English, French, Dutch, and his adoptive Mohawk family alike, found himself marooned by pirates in Spain, and lived through shipwreck on the reefs of Venezuela. His most lasting venture as an Artic fur trader led to the founding of the Hudsonâs Bay Company, which operates today, 350 years later, as North Americaâs oldest corporation.</p><p>Sourced from Radissonâs journals, which are the best first-hand accounts of 17th century Canada, <em>Bush Runner</em> tells the extraordinary true story of this protean 17th-century figure, a man more trading partner than colonizer, a peddler of goods and not worldviewâand with it offers a fresh perspective on the world in which he lived.</p>
