The Hudson's Bay Company was one of the great merchant companies. Granted sole trading rights to a huge part what is now Canada they were coerced in the mid nineteenth century to set up a colonial administration on Vancouver Island to protect British interests at a time of growing expansionism from America to the south and possible threats from a Russian Alaska to the north. Company, Crown and Colony tells the story of the challenges they faced. Drawing on rich archival resources the author provides a detailed account of this turbulent period, revealing the difficulties faced by a...