Juan de Fuca's Strait

From internationally recognised author and historian Barry Gough, here is another riveting history of intrigue and exploration on the high seas. The tale begins in sixteenth-century Venice, when explorer Juan de Fuca encountered English merchant Michael Lok and relayed a fantastic story of a marine passageway that connected the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. This tale would be the catalyst for for centuries of dreaming and exacerbate English and Spanish rivalry. The search for the fabled Northwest Passage inspired explorers to seek out fame, adventure, knowledge and riches. Likewise, the empires of Spain and Great Britain were impelled by the hopes of finding a naval trade route that would connect Europe to Asia, thus securing their dominance over the other as an economic power. The story of the Northwest Passage is one of significant figures and great empires, jostling for a distant corner of North America. Gough provides meticulously researched insight, delving into diplomatic records, narratives of explorers and commercial aspirants, legal affidavits and court records to illuminate the journeys of Martin Frobisher, James Cook, Francis Drake, Manuel Quimper, Jose Maria Narvaez, George Vancouver and Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, among others. A sea venture tied up with piracy, political loyalty and betrayal, all bound up in a web of international intrigue, this is an indispensable contribution to the history of discovery on the Northwest Coast.