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In the first major study of the Royal Canadian Navy's contribution to foreign policy, Nicholas Tracy takes a comprehensive look at the paradox that Canada faces in participating in a system of collective defence as a means of avoiding subordination to other countries. Created in 1910 to support Canadian autonomy, the Royal Canadian Navy has played an important role in defining Canada's relationship with the United Kingdom, the United States, and NATO. Initially involved with participation in Imperial and Commonwealth defence, the RCN's role shifted following the Second World War to primarily ensuring the survival of the NATO alliance and deflecting American influence over Canada. Tracy demonstrates the ways in which the Navy's priorities have realigned since the end of the Cold War, this time partnering with the US and NATO navies in global policing. Insightful, detailed, and grounded in solid historical scholarship, A Two-Edged Sword presents a complete portrait of the shifting relevance and future of a cornerstone of Canadian defence.

Britannia's Palette looks at the lives of British artists who witnessed the naval war against the French Republic and Empire between 1793 and 1815. This band of brothers, through their artistic and entrepreneurial efforts, established the images of the war at sea that were central to the understanding their contemporaries had of events - images that endure to this day. In this unprecedented book, Nicholas Tracy reveals the importance of the self-employed artist to the study of a nation at war. He includes lively accounts of serving officers, retired sailors, and academy-trained artists who, often under the threat of debtor's prison, struggled to balance the standards of art with the public desire for heroic, reassuring images. Containing over eighty illustrations, Britannia's Palette explores a varied and exciting collection of paintings that reveal the poignancy of the human experience of war.