During the tumultuous and often violent election riots of 1861, members of the Royal Newfoundland Companies opened fire on a crowd of rioters, killing three and wounding several others. In the sobering aftermath, a compromise evolved that would shape Newfoundland politics and society into the twentieth century. In The Invisibles, James E. Candow provides the fascinating backstory of the Royal Newfoundland Companies while enhancing our understanding of the role they played in Newfoundland history and the lives of our communities. This is an important, often overlooked, chapter in the British Military's involvement in the colony at a time when Newfoundlanders fervently sought to become masters of their own fate—expertly told in Candow's engaging and vivid prose.