The trials and tribulations of a Canadian business titan during a fascinating period in 19th-century Quebec.

A Mind at Sea is an intimate window into a vanished time when Canada was among the world's great maritime countries. Between 1856 and 1877, Henry Fry was the Lloyd's agent for the St. Lawrence River, east of Montreal. The harbour coves below his home in Quebec were crammed with immense rafts of cut wood, the river's shoreline sprawled with yards where giant square-rigged ships - many owned by Fry - were built.

As the president of Canada's Dominion Board...