An epic in prose (wrote Kildare Dobbs, Esq), an overview of the venerable Hudson's Bay Company in business since 1670. And it is indeed that: an epic tale enlivened with utterly wonderful caricatures by Ronald Searle.

The facts (there are many, in between the asides, the digressions and back-handed compliments) are essentially true ~ tales of grim hardships, European disagreements between the French and British, rivalries amongst bands of natives all eager to sell furs or trade for the HBC trade goods over the 300-year history of the oldest merchandising corporation in the world. A completely irreverent history book: the backstairs view, rather than the aristocratic board rooms and palaces of the elite owners.

Warning to the politically-sensitive: allowances should be made for a book written in the standards acceptable at the time. All the people are stereotypes. A politically-correct rendering á la 2020 is entirely absent. It is a history with its underpants showing. The men are hilariously atrociously lampooned. There is copious use made of caricature in the illustrations: the Kings of France and England, the explorers, the Indians (as they are named in this narrative), the women, and the representatives of the Hudson's Bay Company. Even the wildlife comes in for their share of Searle's wickedly-amusing parody. ( )