Ebook: Russian Shadows on the British Northwest Coast of North America, 1810-1890: A Study of Rejection of Defense Responsibilities

Russia threw her shadow on the Northwest Coast before the British came to what is now known as British Columbia. Spanish fears of a 'Muscovite' advance on her possessions from Alaskan outposts were well known in eighteenth-century Europe. This book focuses on the development of British and Canadian perceptions of Russian naval strength in the Pacific during the nineteenth century and weighs the consequences -- psychological, political, and military -- of the reluctance of both countries to assume coastal defence responsibilities.