'Our insulted coasts': London newspapers and the invasion scare of 1781

At the end of August 1781, the combined fleets of France and Spain appeared in the mouth of the English Channel. Stormy weather and sickness soon forced them to retire to their home ports of Brest and Cadiz, and so this brief invasion threat attracts little more than passing reference in most studies of eighteenth-century Britain. This article examines the reporting of this crisis in London newspapers, which provides evidence of public interest in the navy and anxiety about the security of Britain.