The Tancook Schooners recounts the history of a remarkable, yet neglected, Atlantic Canadian watercraft. The "little Bluenoses," as they were called, formed the backbone of Nova Scotia's inshore fisheries and short-run coastal trade in the early twentieth century. The book also records the story of a unique, although in many ways typical, Maritime coastal community on the brink of the modern industrial age.

Wayne O'Leary provides detailed descriptions of how the schooners were conceived and perfected, and paints a vivid picture of life on Tancook from the late eighteenth century into the twentieth century. He shows how national and international developments affected the lives of the Tancook Islanders and the character and uses of the vessel for which they became famous. He also includes many stories about individual builders and a wealth of photographs and drawings. The Tancook Schooners will be of interest to maritime enthusiasts as well as maritime, economic, and social historians.