Across the early modern world (late 1400s to mid-1900s), oceans provided the key connection between far-flung communities in an age of empire and colonial expansion, while also serving as an increasingly important source of resources, from salted fish to whale oil to luxurious pearls.This story has rarely been told from the perspective of the marine environment itself. This book brings together the newest research to explore an era of newfound importance for the global ocean, focus...

A bottom-up story of the fishworkers, whalers, First Nations, merchantwomen, oceans, and animals who together made a new colonial world in the early AtlanticIn the early decades of the sixteenth century, mariners from across Europe forged a vast seasonal fishery along the coasts of the northwest Atlantic. Long before there was Newfoundland or Canada, Europeans called this floating colony Terra Nova, and they laid the foundation for a history of extracting food and ...

In the early decades of the sixteenth century, mariners from across Europe forged a vast seasonal fishery along the coasts of the northwest Atlantic. Long before there was Newfoundland or Canada, Europeans called this floating colony Terra Nova, and they laid the foundation for a history of extracting food and fuel that extended into the twentieth century. Once one of the largest European colonies in the Atlantic basin, Terra Nova has never before been considered in its historical entirety...

'Stunning...divine' Stephen Fry‘A fabulous book, good enough to eat with a spoon! Marvellous’ John Lloyd, creator of QI‘Perfect for the armchair adventurer historian, this is a rich visual exploration of some of the most beautiful charts ever created’ National Geographic'Introduces us to a whole different way of looking at maps. Great illustrations, most engaging - the author is just a mine of information' Simon Mayo's Books of the Year

Wreckers sinks the old narratives of imperialism, revealing the violent, chaotic and improvised reality of empire-building from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries.'Clever and compelling book. The storytelling and the scholarship fairly spark off each other. It could be a model for how academics should write history for a general audience' The Times‘A flowing, gripping narrative, Wreckers is distinguished by en...

A STUNNINGLY ILLUSTRATED BOOK REVEALING THE GREATEST MYTHS, LIES AND BLUNDERS ON MAPS'Highly recommended' - Andrew Marr'A spectacular, enjoyable and eye-opening read' - Jonathan RossThe Phantom Atlas is an atlas of the world not as it ever existed, but as it was thought to be. These marvellous and mysterious phantoms - non-existent islands, invented mountain ranges, mythical civilisations and other fictitious...

2017 Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award — ShortlistedPaul Chiasson reveals the possibility that early Chinese settlers landed in Cape Breton long before Europeans.From the very beginning of the European Age of Discovery, Cape Breton was considered unusual. The history of the area even includes early references to the island having once been the land of the Chinese. In 1497, at least a century before any attempt at European settlement in the regio...

For over four decades, world-renowned diver and treasure hunter Captain Robert MacKinnon has reclaimed sunken caches from the dangerous shallow waters along Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia’s Atlantic coast. Known as the Death Coast for its treacherous reefs and violent currents, the rocky bottom is layered with shipwrecks and untold riches.In short, a treasure hunter’s paradise.The shipwrecks in these rough waters can be piled three deep, and some date back to the 1700s. Br...

“It was the wild west, as all fished in a totally unregulated way in a free-for-all.” For centuries, fishermen the world over have been prosecuting the waters teeming with cod from the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and Labrador. The growing demand for fish in world markets, the inexorable march of technology, and the failure of international governments to limit the harvest from the sea have each played a part in turning this industry into a thin shadow of its once great majesty. With more t...

The names Cook and Quadra ring a bell for most of us, as do Bering and Vancouver, but how much do we know about the Greek-born navigator, Juan de Fuca or the Machiavelli of the maritime fur trade, John Meares? British Columbia's earliest authors and explorers are skilfully introduced, for the first time collectively, by Alan Twigg. This is a compelling account of the characters, events and intrigues that comprised British Columbia's earliest literary history prior to 1800.

Cundill History Prize FinalistLongman–History Today Prize Finalist“Meticulous environmental-historical detective work.”—Times Literary SupplementWhen Europeans first arrived in North America, they faced a cold new world. The average global temperature had dropped to lows unseen in millennia. The effects of this climactic upheaval were stark and unpredictable: blizzards and deep freezes, droughts and famines, winters in which ...

Since before recorded history, people have congregated near water. But as growing populations around the globe continue to flow toward the coasts on an unprecedented scale and climate change raises water levels, our relationship to the sea has begun to take on new and potentially catastrophic dimensions. The latest generation of coastal dwellers lives largely in ignorance of the history of those who came before them, the natural environment, and the need to live sustainably on the world's ...