Fleming's Army

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The book's history context is the period of the mid-1800s, when railway technology projects were viewed as making (or breaking) a community -- 'making' if the railway came to 'our' town, or hamlet, or even passed near our field -- 'breaking' if it did not, for our community would surely suffer, wither, maybe even die if passed by. The new technology was still in its infancy, with much 'learning as we go' -- and it was expected that the railway would bring prosperity to its developers, cash to its contractors, fame (and re-election) to its politicians . . . and perhaps a little, or lots, of silver over the palms of those who supported the railway's establishment, rights-of-way choices, and it civil engineers. The building of the Intercolonial Railway opened the opportunity for all kinds of excitement, greasing of palms, and outright fraud involving those who paid the bills to those who did (and often didn't) do overseeing of the construction work. Once completed, the Intercolonial Railway became a vital transit corridor, carrying thousands of people and tons of merchandise, with ICR eventually becoming one of the key components of Canadian National Railways.