A. J. B. (John) Johnston

Selected List of Publications

Endgame 1758:The Promise, the Glory, and the Despair of Louisbourg's Last Decade. Cape Breton University Press, 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0-8032-6009-2
     Shortlisted for the Darmouth Book Award for Non-Fiction.
     The Canadian Historical Association awarded the book a Clio prize as the best book on the history of Atlantic Canada published in 2007.

A.J.B Johnston's Endgame 1758:The Promise the Glory and the Despair of Louisbourg's Last Decade, based on exhaustive and meticulous research in French, British and British and French colonial records, successfully places the events leading to the fall of Louisbourg within the mid-18th-century Atlantic world. Johnston uses his well-sustained chess metaphor to carefully reconstruct the movement of opposing fleets, military strategies and engagements that form the central focus of the monograph. At the same time Louisbourg is imagined as a "fortress, seaport, and community." (4) The account of the re-occupation of Louisbourg by the French provides excellent portrayals of the social and commercial life of the town in its last decade and brings its population to life as residents struggled with food shortages and enjoyed pre-Lenten carnivals. Through the use of personal details, such as the exchange of gifts between the British commander Major General Amherst and Madame Drucour, the wife of Louisbourg's governor during the final battle Johnston skillfully engages his readers with his subjects, thereby heightening the poignancy of the final defeat.(237) The text is enriched by evocative first person accounts by a wide variety of participants on both sides of the conflict. Johnston has also made a strong and successful effort to place the aboriginal allies (and enemies) of the French at Louisbourg solidly within the narrative. While offering a wealth of rich detail about the naval and military engagements that led to the final defeat of Louisbourg as well as the social and commercial aspects of life in the fortified town, it is a highly readable book.        -- Canadian Historical Association.

Storied Shores: St. Peter’s, Isle Madame and Chapel Island in the 17th and 18th Centuries. University College of Cape Breton Press, 2004. ISBN 1-897009-3-00-3.

Grand-Pré, Heart of Acadie. Co-authored with W.P. Kerr. Nimbus Publishing, 2004. ISBN: 1-55109-479-7.
Also published by Nimbus as Grand-Pré, Coeur de l’Acadie, translated by Sylvain Filion. ISBN 1-55109-491-6.

Control & Order: The Evolution of French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758. Michigan State University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-87013-570-8.

Tracks Across the Landscape: A Commemorative History of the S&L Railway. UCCB Press, 1995. Co-authored with Brian Campbell. ISBN 0-920336-64-7.

Louisbourg, An 18th-Century Town. Nimbus Publishing, 1991. Co-authored with Kenneth Donovan, Sandy Balcom and Alex Storm. ISBN 0-92105-488-2.

Life and Religion at Louisbourg, 1713-1758. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-773-51525-9
[Previously Religion in Life at Louisbourg, 1713-1758, 1984]. / also published as La religion dans la vie B Louisbourg, 1713-1758. Environment Canada, 1988. ISBN 0-660-92278-9.

Louisbourg: The Phoenix Fortress. Halifax: Nimbus Publishing, 1997 [1990]. Photographs by Chris Reardon. ISBN 0-921-05435-1 / also published in French as Louisbourg, Reflets d’une époque. Traduction par Robert Pichette. Nimbus Publishing, 1997. ISBN 1-551-09210-7.

From the Hearth: Recipes from the World of 18th-Century Louisbourg. University College of Cape Breton Press, 1986. Co-authored
with Hope Dunton. ISBN 0-92033-601-9.

The Summer of 1744, A Portrait of Life in 18th-Century Louisbourg. Parks Canada, 1983. Rev. eds. 1991 and 2002 ISBN 0-660-18786-8.

Defending Halifax: Ordinance, 1825-1906. Parks Canada, 1981. ISBN 0-66010-842-9.

You can send mail to John Johnston
c/o Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia