Great Fortune Dream: The Struggles and Triumphs of Chinese Settlers in Canada, 1858-1966

In 1858, gold was discovered in the Fraser River. News of this discovery travelled to the Pearl River Delta, where, in the aftermath of the Opium Wars, many Chinese sought to escape the poverty, overcrowding, political unrest and even slavery-invaders from western Asia captured and shipped many Chinese to South America as "piglets." This tumultuous period marked the beginning of Chinese migration to Canada.

At first, white settlers welcomed the cheap labour provided by these "coolie labourer...