Frigates and Foremasts

A meticulously researched and groundbreaking study of the activities and motivations of the British Navy on North America’s eastern seaboard.

A meticulously researched and groundbreaking study of the activities and motivations of the British Navy on North America’s eastern seabord.

Julian Gwyn is Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Ottawa and the author of Excessive Expectations: Maritime Commerce and the Economic Development of Nova Scotia, 1740-1870.

David R. Jones:
Professor Gwyn’s admirable treatment of the socio-economic aspects of the squadron’s history include the attention paid to the development of the Royal Navy’s docking, building and careening facilities in Bermuda and Nova Scotia; his account of the squadron’s role in imposing London’s trade policies before the American Revolution; and some interesting comments comparing Nova Scotia and Georgia as colonies before 1775.

Paul Webb, University of Western Ontario:
One of the great benefits of the recent upsurge in maritime and naval history has been the attention paid to topics or areas heretofore considered marginal. Julian Gwyn has provided here a welcome example of just such a neglected issue. Gwyn attempts, successfully, to correct the imbalance by explaining the essential role played by this marginal theatre in numerous phases of the great conflicts from 1745 to 1815. The book is a most welcome addition to naval and maritime history. The focus is Halifax and Nova Scotian water, but British relations with the Americans, and to a lesser degree the French, are paramount. Gwyn has thoroughly researched the primary and secondary material, and presents his findings clearly. This is a fine book that throws light on a neglected theatre of operations in several wars.