A Fleeting Empire: Early Stuart Britain and the Merchant Adventurers to Canada

Before the future of North American rule was decided by the battle between British and French forces on the Plains of Abraham, Britain's emerging imperial interests were represented by ambitious merchants and privateers. A Fleeting Empire examines the lives and exploits of early European adventurers in North America, revealing the murky mix of self-interest, patriotism, and adventure that motivated them.

The union of the English and Scottish crowns in 1603 gave rise to a new British seafarin...