Samuel Hearne's three, eighteenth century journeys on the Barren Lands of northern Canada were undertaken on behalf of the Hudson's Bay Company in an attempt to discover a reputed source of copper and to advance the company's fur trading interests in the region.

Travelling almost entirely with First Nations people, sharing their food, their tents, their frequent hardships and near starvation, Hearne paints an invaluable first-hand description of life in that wild and dangerous part of the world. He never flinches away from describing the sometimes brutal realities of tribal life, but never loses sight of his position as an outsider.