Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson (Untold Lives Series)

To Americans his last name will remind them of a hotel chain. To Canadians he is one of the main players behind the founding of the British Hudson Bay Company, which helped plant the foothold of Britain in Canada. His name was Pierre-Esprit Radisson, and he was an adventurer, kidnapped by First Nations and adopted into their culture, who struggled to rise above his station in Europe. This is his story. Mark Bourrie does more than just cover the life of Radisson. He also gives us the context and the bigger picture that Radisson was involved in, whether that was switching sides to the British after he was rebuffed by the French, living with the Iroquois for many years and essentially becoming one of them, or fighting against the system. While much beyond what Radisson wrote himself has not survived, this book does help provide a picture of colonial North America outside of the 13 colonies and tells how the French were in a precarious position. This book will help American audiences understand the importance of this character and the struggle to make a go of it in an inhospitable wilderness.