From the portage trails snaking their way through the wilderness to superhighways carrying the raw materials and produce of an industrial nation, Canada's roads have had a romantic but long-neglected history. For the first time their development is described in this handsomely illustrated volume by a distinguished Canadian historian. Mr. Guillet has written a book which is often humorous and always human, to be enjoyed by readers of many ages. It contains nearly two hundred sketches, engravings, paintings, and photographs, most of them contemporary, gathered from archives and libraries across the country and well displayed in the specially chosen large format. Few are generally available elsewhere. For school and public libraries, as well as the general reader, this book documents a fascinating aspect of Canada's social history.

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'Here's a patchwork of history and travellers' tales to divert and inform a schoolboy or a company president. From a monumental pile of facts and figures, writings and reminiscences emerges an account of the birth of industrial Canada. The author follows the grave-dotted routes of the voyageurs, the Temiscouta Trail between the Atlantic Provinces, the infamous corduroy roads and bridges that, in 1842, gave Charles Dickens such a bruisingly unfavorable impression of Canada, the cart tracks carved across the prairies by the Métis and, finally, sweeps down the Trans-Canada Highway. It is a fascinating work ... rich in personal accounts ... it is a perfect gift.'

Globe and Mail