In 1711, the newly formed Great Britain launched its first attempt to conquer French North America. The largest military force ever assembled to fight on the continent was dispatched and combined with colonial American units in Boston before proceeding up the St Lawrence River for Quebec. An additional colonial force set out from Albany to march on Montreal - but neither Briton nor colonist reached their respective targets.

Adam Lyons looks at the expedition as a product of the turbulent political environment at the end of Queen Anne's reign and as a symbol of a shift in politics and...