A Maritime History of Scotland, 1650-1790

<p>The period 1650 to 1790 was such a turbulent one for Scottish seafarers that much of this fast-flowing narrative reads like <em>Treasure Island</em>. Colourful characters abound in a story teeming with incident and excitement: John Paul Jones descends upon the Scottish coast creating widespread panic; press gangs prowl the coastal towns; wartime conditions turn merchantmen into privateers fighting the French, the Spanish and the American Colonists – almost anyone flying a di