In this little primer about a little-studied conflict, Anderson, a meticulous historian, writes with intelligence and vigor. He has given us a rich, cautionary tale about the unpredictability of war - then no less than today.
— The New York Times
The author of the award-winning, scholarly account of the French and Indian War Crucible of War (2000) offers a scaled-down, popular version of that history in this companion volume to the January 2006 PBS documentary. It is an excellent introduction to a conflict that most Americans know little about, and that Winston Churchill called the first worldwide war. Anderson focuses on the North American theater, the outcome of which he claims "transformed the colonists' world forever" and, in effect, "made America." He shows how the conflict encouraged colonials "to conceive of themselves as equal partners in the [British] empire," a concept that Britain did not share and that led inexorably to postwar strife and revolution. In a departure from earlier accounts, Anderson gives unprecedented coverage to the role of Native Americans in the struggle and demonstrates how the war paved the way for the American government's eventual "destruction or subjugation of native societies." Like the best popular historians, Anderson combines exhaustive research and an accessible prose style in a volume that should help rescue the French and Indian War from historical obscurity. (Dec.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Anderson (history, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder), winner of the Francis Parkman Prize for Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766, here provides an excellent shorter history of that conflict, which has been called "the first world war." His new book will serve as a companion to the forthcoming PBS documentary of the same name, set to debut in January 2006. Intended for a more general audience than Crucible of War, the present volume lacks notes but contains a lengthy bibliographic essay. Anderson's analyses can be both insightful and critical but are always balanced and fair. He emphasizes the roles played by all three warring parties-the French, the British, and the Iroquois Confederacy-rather than simply the two European powers. Overall, this work is an excellent introduction to a complex, dynamic conflict that set the stage for the American Revolution. Recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 8/05.]-Matthew J. Wayman, Pennsylvania State Univ., Abington Coll. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
"Even the most complete victories can sow the seeds of reversal and defeat for victors too dazzled by success to remember that they are, in fact, only human": a smartly written history of the Seven Years' War in America. Anderson (History/Univ. of Colorado; The Dominion of War, Jan. 2005), the world's leading living authority on the conflict better known as the French and Indian War, depicts the clash of three empires: the French, the English and the Iroquois. So long as the Iroquois were able to control the Ohio River Valley and keep English settlers and soldiers from moving about in number there, the French to the north were content to keep out, too. A rebellion of Iroquois subjects created a power vacuum soon filled by those very English; the French crown reacted by establishing forts near what is now Pittsburgh. An officer of Virginia militia, George Washington took a reconnaissance in force to see what was going on and, after a brief firefight, captured a French ensign who informed him that British forces would have to "evacuate the lands of the king of France, or suffer the consequences." No sooner had the French officer spoken than a Mingo ally of Washington's bashed his brains in with a tomahawk, providing Louis XV "all the justification he would ever need to declare war on Great Britain." The 1750s saw a vicious war of massacre and ambush, its symbolic high point fought at Montreal when both the English and French commanders were mortally wounded within minutes of each other. French defeat cleared the way for the English conquest of Canada-but also gave expansion-minded colonists, Washington among them, notions that they could take care of themselves without help from the mothercountry, an idea that soon would be tested. Lucid and swift-moving. With luck, Anderson's book will awaken interest in a critically important period in colonial history that, he laments, is about as familiar now as the Peloponnesian War. Agent: Lisa Adams/Garamond Agency
In 1754 an uneasy balance existed on the North American continent between three great nations: France, the Iroquois Confederacy, and the British Empire. Seven years later, following the French and Indian War, only one superpower remained, England. Simon Vance handles this complex narrative with a stately intelligence, although his British accent belies the preeminence of England in this story. He pronounces the many Native American place names and French-Canadian phrases with ease. Look for a young George Washington, who learns a number of valuable lessons that will serve him well two decades later. This project coincided with a PBS documentary series and the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War. B.P. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
