Maps were an essential tool for the Hudson's Bay Company and during the two centuries before Confederation the Company became the main mapping agency in British North America for the immense territory extending from Ungava Bay to the Pacific Ocean.

In A Country So Interesting Richard Ruggles describes and analyses the mapping activities of more than 160 Company servants and surveyors as well as the contributions of more than 50 Indians and Inuit who drew sketches and provided original configurations. Also included are annotated catalogues of all the maps known to have been produced by the Hudson's Bay Company and sixty-six reproductions of the most important maps and sketches.

The Hudson's Bay Company was responsible for the largest collection in North America of manuscript charts and maps related to the fur trade and Ruggles has produced the first and most comprehensive study of this unique and rich body of material.