Nominated for the 2023 Heritage Toronto Book Award • Finalist for the 2023 Ottawa Book Award in English Nonfiction • Longlisted for the 2023 National Business Book Award
The remarkable true story of the rise and fall of one of North America's most influential media moguls.
When George McCullagh bought The Globe and The Mail and Empire and merged them into the Globe and Mail, the charismatic 31-year-old high school dropout had already made millions on the stock market. It was just the beginning of the meteoric rise of a man widely expected to one day be prime minister of Canada. But the charismatic McCullagh had a dark side. Dogged by the bipolar disorder that destroyed his political ambitions and eventually killed him, he was all but written out of history. It was a loss so significant that journalist Robert Fulford has called McCullagh’s biography "one of the great unwritten books in Canadian history"—until now.
In Big Men Fear Me, award-winning historian Mark Bourrie tells the remarkable story of McCullagh’s inspirational rise and devastating fall, and with it sheds new light on the resurgence of populist politics, challenges to collective action, and attacks on the free press that characterize our own tumultuous era.
"The remarkable true story of the rise and fall of one of North America's most influential yet unknown publisher and aspirational politician. When George McCullagh bought The Globe and The Mail and Empire and merged them into the Globe and Mail, today still one of Canada's preeminent daily newspapers, the 31-year-old high school dropout had already made millions on the stock market after the Crash of 1929 and the construction of his glamorous suburban Toronto estate was just the beginning of the meteoric rise of a man widely expected to one day serve as the country's prime minister. But the self-made McCullagh had a dark side. Dogged by the bipolar disorder that destroyed his political ambitions and eventually killed him, the man who would be minister was all but written out of history, erased from the archives of his own newspaper, a loss so significant that journalist Robert Fulford has called McCullagh's biography "one of the great unwritten books in Canadian history"--until now. In Big Men Fear Me, award-winning journalist and historian Mark Bourrie tells the remarkable story of McCullagh's inspirational rise and devastating fall."--
Praise for Bush Runner
“Mark Bourrie beautifully describes Radisson as the ‘Forrest Gump of his time’ … well-written … compelling.”
—Washington Times
“A dark adventure story that sweeps the reader through a world filled with surprises. The book is compelling, authoritative, not a little disturbing—and a significant contribution to the history of 17th-century North America.”
—Ken McGoogan, Globe and Mail
“A remarkable biography of an even more remarkable 17th-century individual … Beautifully written and endlessly thought-provoking.”
—Maclean’s
“Highly entertaining reading … fascinating … an engaging achievement.”
—Winnipeg Free Press
“Bourrie’s writing is grounded in a strong sense of place, partly because of his own extensive knowledge of the land and partly because of Radisson’s descriptive storytelling abilities … a valuable and rare glimpse into 17th-century North America.”
—Canadian Geographic
