Juan de Fuca's Strait by Barry Gough

Juan de Fuca's Strait by Barry Gough

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 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, José María Narváez, 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, Juan de Fuca’s Strait is an indispensable contribution to the history of discovery on the Northwest Coast.

Dr. Barry Gough was founding director of Canadian Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Fellow of King's College London, and Life Member of the Association of Canadian Studies. He is author of many critically acclaimed books, including Fortune’s a River: The Collision of Empires in Northwest America (Harbour, 2007), which won the John Lyman Book Award for best Canadian naval and maritime history. Gough has been writing about the history of the Pacific Coast for almost four decades. He lives in Victoria, BC, with his wife Marilyn.