The history of Nova Scotia is an amazing story of a land and people shaped by the waves, the tides, the winds and the wonder of the North Atlantic. Lesley Choyce weaves the legacy of this unique coastal province, piecing together the stories written in the rocks, the wrecks, and the record books of human glory and human error.

"Lesley Choyce, with the soul of a novelist and poet, looks at how one of our seas ... has shaped Nova Scotia, the land and her people ... We owe Choyce a debt: in Canada we do not tell stories about ourselves to each other enough." — The Globe and Mail

"Lesley Choyce's writing captures the ebb and flow of Nova Scotia seafaring, from its Golden Age of Sail to disasters and crimes at sea ..." — The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax)

"Choyce weaves his way through what other historians have written, adding his own personal flourishes and point-of-view that is refreshingly biased ... Nova Scotia Shaped by the Sea is a good landmark along the road in search of a real history, whatever that might be." — Atlantic Books Today

"Nova Scotia Shaped by the Sea is almost spiritual, with the natural world plaing a dominant role in shaping the development of the province ... There is a kind of Zen peacefulness to this cyclical interpretation of history." — The Edmonton Journal