The essence of the Montreal Ritz-Carlton Hotel is captured in this book, which weaves stories of human foibles with solid historical research on a world-class establishment. On the bone-chilling morning of January 1, 1913, Montreal's Ritz-Carlton opened for business -- the dream of four tycoons who lived in Montreal's Golden Square Mile, and who were said to have possessed about seventy percent of Canada's entire wealth. The Ritz has since become inseparable from the city it has enhanced, and an integral part of Canadian history. It has coddled the rich, flattered the famous, and catered to the sophisticated needs of anyone else who could afford to be among its guests. Today, the Ritz-Carlton, an idiosyncratic bastion of refinement and elegance, is alive and well and sustained by the durable concept of luxury bequeathed by the one-time Swiss shepherd C+sar Ritz.