Frigates and Foremasts

The first comprehensive study of naval operations involving North American squadrons in Nova Scotia waters, Frigates and Foremasts offers a masterful analysis of the motives behind the deployment of Royal Naval vessels between 1745 and 1815, and the navy's role on the Western Atlantic.

Interweaving historical analysis with vivid descriptions of pivotal events from the first siege of Louisbourg in 1745 to the end of the wars with the U.S. and France in 1815, Julian Gwyn illuminates the complex story of competing interests among the Admiralty, Navy Board, sea officers, and government officials on both sides of the Atlantic. In a gripping narrative encompassing sea battles, impressments, and privateering, Gwyn brings to life key events and central figures. He examines the role of leadership and the lack of it, not only of seagoing heroes from Peter Warren to Philip Broke, but also of land-based officials, such as the various Halifax naval yard commissioners, whose important contributions are brought to light.

Gwyn's brilliant evocation of people and events, with the scholarship he brings to bear on the subject makes Frigates and Foremasts a uniquely authoritative history. Wonderfully readable, it will attract both the serious naval historian and the general reader interested in the "why" and "what" of naval history on North America's eastern seaboard.

Published in association with the Canadian War Museum