I recently saw the Art in the Age of Steam exhibit here in KC. Unfortunately, Canada wasn't touched upon, so I was excited to read Berton's account of the CPR's accomplishment in The Last Spike: The Great Railway, 1881-1885. The engineering accomplishments were truly amazing. The book has given me a new appreciation of places that I've visited: Kamloops, Banff, Regina, Calgary, and Sudbury to name a few; all were founded or grew because of the CPR.

I was also surprised by the political turmoil that surrounded the CPR's construction. I had no idea of Sir John A. McDonald's tendency to avoid conflict. Berton has a knack of drawing you into his histories, by making historical figures live and breathe.

I had forgotten that this is the sequel to The National Dream, which I have not read. Regardless, the book stands on its own right. And though this is an early work by Berton, I find his later books to be better, it still is excellently written. I highly recommend his books, including this one.

Good lord! The movie isn't out yet, and they are talking about a sequel!

If you don't know, "300" is a fictionalized account of the Spartan stand at Thermoplylae. The battle is truly legendary. Though the true size of the Persian army is not known, the 300 Spartans were outnumbered by well over 1000-to-1, if not 10,000-to-1. They stood to the last man. Though the Spartans were defeated, they achieved their goal of giving Greeks behind the lines time to evacuate.

And there's the rub: the Spartans died. If a sequel is made none of the main Spartan characters could be back. And it wouldn't make sense to call a sequel "301". Reality and Hollywood, however, don't go hand in hand. I doubt "300" will be historically accurate, so, who knows? If a sequel is made, it should be about the Greek victory in the battle of Plataea.