The Struggle for the Border

by Hutchison, Bruce; Palmer, Vaughn

• ISBN13: 9780195447927
• ISBN10: 0195447921
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-04-26
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The boundary between Canada and the United States is famously described as the longest undefended border in the world. But it was not always so. In The Struggle for the Border, renowned journalist and popular historian Bruce Hutchison tells the little-known story of how that border was established. It is a story of frontier war, explorers' expeditions, Fenian raids, the burning of Washington, and of political threats and counterthreats. Hutchison carries the amazing chronicle up to the days just after the Second World War and the continental military and economic unification that laid the foundations of contemporary Canada.

The Wynford edition of The Struggle for the Border includes a new Introduction by Vaughn Palmer, one of Canada's foremost political journalists and a winner of the Bruce Hutchison Award. Palmer's Introduction puts both the book and Hutchison's career in historical context for today's readers.

Author Biography

Bruce Hutchison (1901-1992) was one of Canada's foremost journalists. His career spanned most of the twentieth century and he was the recipient of many honours, including three Governor General's Awards for his works of non-fiction.

Born in Prescott, Ontario, he was taken to British Columbia as an infant and grew up in Victoria. He served as editor at the Victoria Times from 1950 to 1963, establishing his reputation as a leading political journalist and commentator. In 1963 he became editorial director of the Vancouver Sun and in 1979 editor emeritus; he wrote a weekly column for the Sun until his death. In addition to his newspaper work, Hutchison wrote dozens of pulp stories in the 1920s, a novel, and even a film script, "Park Avenue Logger," which was produced in Hollywood.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Wynford Edition
Introduction
1. The Odd Neighbours
2. The Rock
3. The Lost Blueprint
4. The Eagle
5. Letters from New York
6. A Soldier of Virginia
7. To Hebert's Farm
8. The English Gentleman
9. Blunder at Philadelphia
10. The Yankee Horse Traders
11. Tragedy at New York
12. The Mad General
13. Beyond the Shining Mountains
14. Race to the Sea
15. The Black Canyon
16. The Man in Scarlet
17. Emperor and King
18. Creatures Large and Tiny
19. The Titan from New England
20. The Dictator and His Disciples
21. Days of Goodwill
22. Old Tomorrow
23. Back to Quebec
24. Wild Irishmen
25. The Road to Ottawa
26. The Five-Ring Circus
27. The World's Lover
28. Defeat on the Potomac
29. Railway and Rebellion
30. Soft Voice, Big Stick
31. Taft's Orphan Child
32. The Higher Lunacy
33. Friends, Alive or Dead
34. Onward from Hyde Park
35. Days of Doubt
Index