Wilderness Empire: A Narrative

Winning of America #2

by Allan W. Eckert

A comprehensive and factual portrayal of the struggles of both French and English to acquire the allegiance and support of the Indians in a war for territorial dominance

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction, Historical, American, Westerns, 18th Century

653 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Allan W. Eckert was an American historian, historical novelist, and naturalist.

Eckert was born in Buffalo, New York, and raised in the Chicago, Illinois area, but had been a long-time resident of Bellefontaine, Ohio, near where he attended college. As a young man, he hitch-hiked around the United States, living off the land and learning about wildlife. He began writing about nature and American history at the age of thirteen, eventually becoming an author of numerous books for children and adults. His children's novel, Incident at Hawk's Hill, was a runner-up for the Newbery Medal in 1972. One of his novels tells how the great auk went extinct.

In addition to his novels, he also wrote several unproduced screenplays and more than 225 Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom television shows for which he received an Emmy Award.

In a 1999 poll conducted by the Ohioana Library Association, jointly with Toni Morrison, Allan W. Eckert was voted "Favorite Ohio Writer of All Time."

Eckert died in his sleep on July 7, 2011, in Corona, California, at the age of 80.

Reviews

['Aussie Rick' · Rating 5 out of 5]

Allan Eckert's story or 'narrative account' as he calls it of the eighteenth century struggle between France and England along the current day border of the United States and Canada is hard to put down once started. The book covers the fighting between these two nations and their attempts to get the numerous Indian tribes in the region to ally themselves with one or the other European power, to the final detriment of the Indians.

I must admit that at first I was unsure if I would like this style of history but after reading the author's note I had a better understanding of what the author was attempting and how he used his sources to help produce the narrative. At one stage, early into the book, I did find the story bogged down but then the author's descriptive talent and the narrative pulled me back into the story and from that point on it fairly run away with me.

I found it hard to put the book down and I was really caught up in the characters, English, Colonial, French and Indian. This is a great and sweeping narrative of those hard and frightening times and the author does not paint a pretty picture when it comes to the manner of warfare practiced by the Indians and Europeans at that time and in that place.

I really enjoyed the story of William Johnson, a man previously unknown to me in American history. I also loved the account of the Marquis de Montcalm. In this alone I was happy to pay the price for this book. I really felt I had a much better understanding of this French soldier and his role in American Colonial history.

The author provides the reader with the true story of what happened at Fort William Henry and his accounts of the corruption of the French colonial system was an eye opener for me. I really enjoyed his descriptions of the people involved from both sides of the war and the accounts of the Indians and their practices, egged on by their European masters was at time quite horrific.

If you enjoyed the movie "Last of the Mohican's" then I am sure you will love this epic book of the same period. In over 600 pages of engrossing and interesting narrative this book will take you back to those times and you can spend a few days lost in the history of the Wilderness Empire.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilderness Empire is the second volume of Allan Eckert's Winning of America Series. (Don't you just love that name? It's like something out of Team America: "America...f**k yeah!").

Like the first volume and subsequent volumes, Wilderness Empire is a hybrid of fact and fiction. That is, the story is told as a narrative, but is based solidly on the historical record. Dialogue is reconstructed from letters, journals, diaries, and seances (just kidding). As in his other works, this creates some of the worst, most stilted, tin-eared dialogue you will ever find.

Other than this made-up dialogue (and it seems made up, most likely by the computerized voice that answers my calls to the cable company), Eckert swears everything else is true. Now, I don't dispute his belief that he's grounded firmly in primary sources; the problem is, Eckert seems a lot like the reporter at the end of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Some of the stories he relates are absolutely credulous. Perhaps they're true, but they go against a lot of what we know about human nature, human ability, etc. A lot of the frontiersmen and soldiers and warriors in Eckert's volume bear an uncanny resemblance to Steve Seagal roundhouse kicking his way through the USS Missouri.

Anyway, onto the book. Wilderness Empire takes place during the French and Indian War, and follows that conflict mostly through the eyes of William Johnson and his Iroquois allies. Johnson was an Irishman who came to America to manage an estate owned by his uncle. From this somewhat humble beginning, Johnson rose through the ranks of British officialdom, eventually becoming superintendent of Indian affairs. In that position, he became especially close to the Mohawk tribe of the Iroquois nation. The Mohawk made him an honorary sachem and gave him the name Warraghiyagey. This leads to many scenes of Johnson dancing and giving long, florid, coma-inducing speeches.

Fortunately, Johnson's loquaciousness is interspersed with the great, underrated drama that is the French and Indian War. Other than Johnson, you meet luminaries and fighters such as Edward Braddock, Robert Rogers, George Washington, James Wolffe, and the Marquis de Montcalm. There are bloody battles and massacres galore, from the slaughter of British troops following the fall of Fort William Henry (memorably depicted in the page and screen versions of The Last of the Mohicans) to the final clash of empires on the Plains of Abraham, outside Quebec. In between are lesser known fights, such as Washington's tragi-comedic failure at Fort Necessity and the doomed English assault on Fort Carillon.

Eckert excels at the action, and this is where the concept of narrative history reaches its potential. It places you in the thick of the fighting, as warriors and frontiersmen scramble for advantage among the rocks and trees. For instance, there is this skirmish, which occurred on a scout of the famed Rogers' Rangers:

They streamed up a narrow valley between ridges closing in from both sides and by two o'clock in the afternoon had almost reached the end of it when there was a sudden burst of gunfire to their left. Lieutenant Kennedy and a private named Gardner fell dead and three others were wounded...Even as the attacking Indians, Canadians and a few French regulars continued their firing from ambush, Rogers struggled back to his feet, ordered the prisoners killed and the rangers themselves to scatter...A glance at the enemy now spilling out of the woods made him sure that the attacking force numbered no less than two hundred fifty men. Private Thomas Brown swung his tomahawk even as Rogers was speaking, burying it in the skull of his prisoner...

The shortcoming of this book is its episodic nature. The narrative is broken up by precise dates, which means that a lot of story is told in flashback (e.g., a section will start on, say, April 27, 1760, and flash back to all events leading up to that day, which haven't been previously covered). Moreover, many sections of this book consist in a character writing a letter, or thinking about writing a letter. These scenes are dramatically flaccid, pedantic, and counterproductive; instead of serving to make history a great story, it makes it insufferably bland. However, just when you've had enough, and are about to quit the French and Indian War to play some video games, Eckert will jump out at you with something unspeakably insane:

From within her distended belly she felt the feeble kick of her unborn child - the first time since yesterday - and she felt a vague stirring of relief...She closed her eyes and, while she did not sleep, she became insensitive to what was happening around her. She was not aware of it when the last of the rum kegs were opened and guzzled to the final drops by the savages...In fact, she was not aware of anything else until there came a sudden fantastic explosion of pain in her stomach and she jerked erect with an inchoate scream. Instantly she was shoved flat on her back by an Ottawa while another, who had shoved his knife deep into her stomach on one side, now ripped it crosswise and opened her clear to the other side. While she thrashed and screamed again and again, he plunged his hand into her and tugged out the fetus and then cut it away from the placental mass...

Suffice it to say, the baby is eaten. I suppose this is one of those things my history teachers failed to impart.

In any event, I keep returning to Eckert, because I know that somewhere within those hundreds of pages of wooden dialogue, staid set pieces, and historical minutiate, there will be a scene of macabre, grand guignol ghoulishness, told in such riveting detail that I will actually think deeply about the author's mental health.

And then I will think about my own mental health.

In the end, I will give us both a clean bill of health. Because it's history, man. It's just history.

[Breck Baumann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slow, yet instructive sequel to his breakout novel, The Frontiersmen. Set during the French and Indian War, Eckert dutifully follows the trails and journals of Sir William Johnson, Commander-in-Chief Montcalm and his aide-de-camp Bougainville, Robert Rogers (with his legendary Rangers), Mary Brant, and others fighting for King and Country in the untamed backwoods of North America. While Eckert’s ability of weaving valuable primary sources into epic historical insight with exceptional prose is impressive, at times the reader will have to slog through a portion of dates and entries that are only just a buildup to a pivotal battle that closes out the already drawn-out chapter.

Fortunately, subchapters and breaks are littered throughout in the form of journal entries and specific dates of the mid-eighteenth century, which help to switch from both French and English perspectives in a smooth and orderly transition. Eckert’s depictions of battles and raids are ruthless, and for the most part truly horrifying for those held captive, not holding back from the gruesome atrocities (specifically genital mutilation and cannibalism) that Native allies of the French brought upon English prisoners—including women and children. On a brighter note, his character studies are beyond entertaining and imaginative, such as his apt assessment of Jeffrey Amherst:

On the whole, this ugly individual was an able commander who had risen through the ranks from private in the commissariat to one of the most accomplished military men in the British Empire. His hair was a stringy, rust-colored tangle which he normally kept hidden beneath his heavily powdered wig. Penetrating gray eyes stared out from over a great eagle-beak nose and a large, distracting wart protruded from the skin of his face just to the left of his moist and perpetually pouting lips.

He was thoroughly British Army, however, and detested anything that did not conform to the patterns of that body. He had little more than ill-hidden condescension for provincials, either men or officers, and was repelled by quasi-military leaders, such as Sir William Johnson. In his book, there was no such being as a “heaven-sent general.” More than anything else in America, however, he utterly loathed Indians, terming them “a pack of lazy, rum-drinking people, and little good.”

Like the Seven Years War in North America, the book closes out at the tail-end of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, with the English eventually gaining control of the vast uncharted North American wilderness. Wilderness Empire lacks the fun and reliable page-turning escapades of Eckert's first novel of the series, and its safe to say that this is one of those situations where it's probably best to stop here—with 4 books to go in Winning of America—while the memories are still worthy.

[Kurt · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the fall of 1996 I found a copy of this book in my local library and decided to give it a try. Upon initial inspection it seemed to encompass much of what I enjoy reading about -- history, conflicts, Native Americans, the westward expansion of America, etc.

It turned out to be one of the most memorable books of my lifetime. I learned so much fascinating history of which I had previously been oblivious. Now, 22 years later, I am reading it again and enjoying it as much as, and maybe more than, the first time.

[Nate]

No way in hell am I finishing this anytime soon, nor am I mentally prepared for another 800 pages of savage frontier warfare/massacre. I'll come back when I'm in a morbid mood.

[Bob Mayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eckert's books are classics of the early frontier, when the Appalachians were the largest barrier and a journey down the Ohio was fraught with danger.

This is narrative nonfiction based on real people and good research. We can't know exactly what people said, and sometimes the writing is a bit stiff, but these stories of the early frontier paint a riveting picture of life during that time period.

Highly recommended.

[Brian Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eckert has an amazing grasp of the period, and amazingly engaging and immersive writing style, and the historical figures he presents to the reader come alive as if one were with Washington and gist on the trail through the Alleghenies, or at the council fire of Onondaga with William Johnson. The crowning moment for "immersiveness" comes at the Battle of the Monongahela, Braddock's Defeat near modern-day Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, where every moment of the battle, ever shot fired, every order given, ever valiant death or cowardly retreat is made a part of the reader's own life. The reader becomes a soldier on the brutal July day.

One of the major drawbacks historically speaking is Eckert's total and complete silence on affairs in Europe. Yes he does mention the European background of certain characters in depth, like Montcalm and his aide-de-campe, Bougaineville. The point being that for someone who is reading this book thinking to get an introduction to the Seven Year's War will not be getting a very good understanding of what exactly the European background for the conflict was. On th flip side of that, the details of the American wilderness conflict we now know as the French and Indian War are plenty and in some cases may seem overwhelming causing some pf the characters who appear less frequently to become forgotten when they are off-stage.

All in all this work is a must for the historian's bookshelf, the history lover's bookshelf and for the Americana aficionado. The tales, stories, and battles of Early Wilderness America are presented in first-rate fashion and the tale of the last great colonial conflict and one of the definitive turning points of history is brought to vivid life. Clear, beautiful, brutal, and epic.

Update: It should be made clear that Eckert does sometimes twist and reform history to suite his narrative purpose. For example, he puts a speech given in the 1790s by an Iroquois chief into the mouth of another chief at a council roughly 50 years previously. The Albany council, I believe.

[Blake Baehner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Allen Eckert is the kind of man that I would have loved to go camping with. Reading any of his books, hell reading a single page of any of his books is enough to know that he would have had enough stories to tell long into the night. I’m sure I would listen, wondering whether the stories were true but nonetheless being heartily entertained.

That’s the tone he strikes in most of his books. Eckert was a prolific writer but his most well known works were his books on the American Frontier, specifically his Winning of America series. This is one of those book series that I have always been drawn to but have never felt that I’ve had sufficient time to tackle. Well as often happens with unemployment, I have had plenty of time to fill so I decided to pick up one of his books. The cheapest one I could find on ebay was Wilderness Empire .

Wilderness Empire , though second in the series is the first to occur chronologically, cover the great contest between the French and English for control of North America, beginning with the relatively minor King George’s War and climaxing with the titanic struggle that was the French and Indian War. Although The Frontiersman is the first in the series, it falls much later in the chronology of the series; my guess is that Eckert decided only later to make a series out of his premise but I digress.

Now, one thing I’ve never been able to decipher is whether these books are meant to be taken as fact or fiction. I’ve seen a lot of people call these books “novels” which isn’t a term applied to non-fiction yet Eckert asserts that the stories in his books are unembellished truth and the inclusion of chapter notes, appendices on Indian tribes, and sources seem to support that fact. Some of the claims made in the series have been, with improved scholarship, shown to be incorrect, though Eckert can’t really be blamed for this. His grave sin, in terms of historical writing, is his invented dialogue and some invented scenes, which he claims to have drawn either word for word or from exact sentiments found in historical documents. For example, even though there are no concrete known details about Pontiac’s life, Eckert still treats the reader to an incredibly vivid scene describing both

This is the thing you are going to have to accept if you want to enjoy these books. Honestly, I never found the dialogue that bad and there actually aren’t that many scenes of back and forth discussions. I did actually learn a lot from reading this book though I made sure to double check many of the “facts.” In doing so I found a few odd errors. Eckert describes the role of Little Turtle, a Miami warrior and later a central player in the Northwest Indian War, during the Raid on Pickawillany. He asserts that Little Turtle took over the tribe after their chief was killed by the raiders. This would have been difficult, however, as Little Turtle was born the same year as the raid. Truthfully, I don’t know how an error like that occurs.

The book also suffers from some slow parts and poor pacing. Every time Eckert had a page of italicized text from a letter, my eyes just glazed over. There are entire scenes of someone sitting down to write a letter, getting anxious writing a letter, getting angry writing a letter, etc. Some of these letters go on for pages in a row. He’s penchant for quoting letters and diaries in their entirety is at its worst during the French sections of the book. It’s beyond exhausting and, in my opinion, stupid considering how good Eckert is at setting a scene. I consider part of the reason he includes these is because they can be drawn exactly from the historical record; but if he is fictionalizing dialogue in some scenes, why not do that instead of including these letters.

There were a lot of parts of this book which could have been condensed and far more succinctly described. The first third of the book can be a slog at times and it takes a while to get going. And there are just so many scenes where the same characters say the same things over and over again. Truthfully, this book could have been like 50 pages shorter. There are also some favorite phrases of Eckert’s that just frustrate me. The repeated use of the term “long moment” is so annoying. Isn’t that a contradiction in terms? Also there is a very large emphasis on William Johnson’s, uhhh, sexual prowess? The stilted dialogue makes these moments unintentionally very funny.

That last bit was a little harsh. I actually enjoyed this book quite a bit. And once it gets going, it gets going. I flew through this fairly hefty volume in a week. Even keeping in mind what I said above, Eckert is just so easy to read. He doesn’t use any overly complex words or sentence structures. While he can be verbose at times, he can also be very economical with his words at others. His ability to describe scenes in almost ghoulish detail never failed to grab my attention.

Ghoulish is the right word too. There are plenty of scenes in here describing, in grim detail, scalping, beating, gauntlet running, the tearing out of beating hearts, eating of said hearts, shooting of hearts with arrows and musket balls, and in one particularly egregious moment, tearing a baby out of her mother’s womb with a knife and cannibalizing it. The frontier was a horrific place and Eckert seems to occasionally relish in that. It's horrifying but would a campfire story be without those bloody details?

There is enough humanity and excitement to balance out the horror as well. While there is an overarching story here, primarily focused on William Johnson (who is, as is accurately portrayed, a fascinating gentleman, this book is made up of moments, events, and anecdotes. Scenes of a young George Washington trying to survive the frigid wilderness were perhaps my favorite. Eckert does an exceptional job of putting you there. I also love how he lays the seeds for future stories. Pontiac plays a minor role in the story, Washington’s participation in the war is respectably described, and here and there are mentions of Simon Girty and Daniel Boone. I just love little details like that.

I think the thing I find most impressive about this book written all the way back in the 1960s is its even handedness. There are a few things that wouldn’t fly today, namely the repeated use of the term “squaw,” but Eckert very clearly asserts that the white settlers are wrongly stealing the Indians' land. There are many (many) sections where an Indian character will rail against the stealing of their land. The message, thankfully, has stood the test of time. Apart from that, there is a certain complexity on display too. I wouldn’t say their characters are complex per say (in fact, most of them fall into one of three categories: heroic, evil, or laughably stupid. Johnson is deified here, coming off as a near perfect mythical hero) but the factions they come from – French, British, American, and Indian – are not wholly dominated by heroes or villains.

As an aside, definitely get the 2001 editions of these books from the Jesse Stuart Foundation. The cover art is gorgeous and I can’t wait to have all six of these lined up on my shelf.

This book is excellent. It’s not perfect and the veracity can be occasionally suspect but it is damn entertaining. And, in all fairness, The history of the frontier has always been a colorful one with many embellishments. I think if you know what you’re getting yourself into, it's well worth your time. Sometimes it can be fun to just enjoy them. I also cannot recommend highly enough watching the documentary The War That Made America alongside this book; its a perfect companion.

I think I will try to read The Frontiersman next; as a native Kentuckian I think I’m obligated to.

[Tanya Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh man. So good. (I know that's the lamest review ever, but without writing pages and pages of why I liked this book, I say just read it).

[Dee Renee Chesnut · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rate this book with 5 stars for the work that Eckert has done in writing his series, "The Winning of America." He takes historical facts and builds a narrative so that I may understand the people and their choices that explains the French, the English and the Indians from July 23, 1715-July 11, 1774. In addition to the narrative, Eckert provides his Principal Sources, Chapter Notes, List of Indian Characters, and an Index.

The main character is the Irishman William Johnson who came to America for a job as the agent of his uncle and who was adopted into the Mohawk tribe as a full member and a member of the Iroquois League. The setting is the land west of the Hudson River and along the Great Lakes. These lands will become what we know as New York, western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan.

I rate this book V for Violence for Eckert describes what happens to captives taken during raids and battles. He describes the battle injuries which maimed and killed officers and chiefs. It can also have a U rating for Unhealthy for there were many fevers and dysentery. this is not a book to be read while you eat your lunch.

This is an excellent book for adult students of history.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremendous book! My favorite book of the year thus far. I cannot believe that I neglected Allan Eckert for so long. His narrative novels of early America are fantastic! The Wilderness Empire was colonial New France prior to its defeat in the French and Indian War. As the English American colonies were expanding west of the Appalachian Mountains conflict with New France was inevitable. The European and colonial powers lined up with the Native American tribes who were having their own territorial disputes and what many called the very first world war erupted. My favorite character was the doomed but honorable Marquise de Montcalm. He seemed the only decent man involved in this ugly and brutal conflict. While George Washington was shown as brave and resourceful, he was also somewhat vain and ambitious. I cannot wait to get to my next Eckert novel!

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stirring and vivid account of the French and English tug of war to win over to their side the various Indian tribes with whose help they hoped to gain a continent. Although nonfiction and historically accurate it is written in a narrative form giving the telling the flow of a novel.This is the first book chronologically of Eckert's Narratives of America series.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could find the cover art for this edition of the book. I read Eckert's Frontiersman and got hooked on the picture he was painting. I love early American history and this man is well done with facts built into the story.

[Rick Cote · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one ever probably has more insight & knowledge into this period of US History than Allen Eckert. His story telling is unsurpassed. Fascinating read.

[David Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a narrative history of the French and Indian War (and the build-up to it). Written like a novel, it tells of the Iroquois, the British, the French, and the brutal conflicts erupting between them all. Eckert's attention to detail is extensive, he seems to have found every story or anecdote he could from the period, and worked them in. While it's always questionable if narrative history is historical fiction or academic history, you can't deny the amount of research and passion for history that were put into this telling of mid 18th century America. The central character, as mush as there is one, is William Johnson. I got a kick from this as I live not far from Johnstown, named after him, and have toured his mansions. Johnson was an Irish immigrant who became a successful merchant, then was adopted into the Iroquois people and became their agent, helping them deal with the British colonial governments. He also found time for father many, many children...quite the philanderer. He is not the only historical figure, most of the famous names from that time period show up. Braddock, Washington, Robert Rogers, Montcalm, even Ben Franklin shows up for a bit. You get the full perspective of the war, from France's early dominance, to Britain's growing power and numbers. The American Indians are presented realistically too, and the system of bribes/gifts used to gain their favor was explored well. Eckert does not hide the true nature of these powers either. The colonies come off as divided and bickering...so I guess that hasn't changed. The fatal corruption of New France is shown in all its infamy, and the incredibly brutal war practices of the Indian tribes are not withheld.

While very good, the book isn't perfect. You never get a very close feel for these historical characters as individual, like you would in a dedicated novel. Eckert hugs the history close, and there are times it seems like he's having them go through the motions simply because that's what actually happened. Perhaps distance like this is inevitable in this type of work, but it did take something away. Also, I found the find years of the war oddly compressed. The build-up and first few years are examined in great detail, but then the fall of Quebec and collapse of New France seems rushed. I felt there was more there he could've included, even if it added to the book's impressive length. But overall it's a very good historical read, and quite enjoyable.

[Kevin Cain · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with other Eckert material, a well researched story with credible sourcing for historical dramatization. Due to the sourcing from personal diaries, communiques, and especially American Indigenous peoples, I feel more certain that I’ve read a story whose aim is truth. In an environment of cultures of varying beliefs, wants, and empathies that’s no small feat.
Reading historical fiction should always raise the question of whether the author leans, intentionally or not, to draw sympathy toward one or other of the historical groups at odds. Are we led to feel the loser was unfairly bamboozled, or does the narrative portray the winner as justified? My appreciation of Eckert is that he focuses on unvarnished source material, though he does make some logical presumption at times about character motivation.
Sure, the reader can elect to choose the protagonist and antagonist in what they read, but they bring their own bias to the story. Eckert lays before us the facts culled from historical documents gathered that pertain to the actions that were taken by Europeans to make the most of ‘the new world’. Ironic terminology considering the millennia through which indigenous Americans had lived in commune with nature and developed their own civilization that favored the natural world.
A person of a colonialist mindset will read this book as the inevitable culmination of the civilized (their version of civilization) man’s conquest of an untamed land open to them for exploration over peoples without civilization (they refer to them as savages). A person of a humanist bent will read this as the unfortunate story of avarice, arrogance, and presumed privilege of one race of peoples hungry for the unspoiled landscape and endless opportunity of an indigenous race, and the ends to which they will go to justify their greed and destruction of others.
A good book, along with the others in the ‘Winning of America’ series (unfortunate terminology I feel the publisher chose), I encourage you to read it. I ask only that you read it with an open mind and as impartial as a jury member.

[Christopher Humphrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Wilderness Empire: A Narrative" by Allan W. Eckert is Volume II in Eckert's Winning of America Series. If one doubts the grit and determination it took to settle the English Colonies, Canada, and the Northwest Territory, then this book just might convince you otherwise. This narrative spans approximately 60 years from 1715 to approximately 1774. During this time the French and the English were attempting to extend their respective empires into North America, but to do so they needed to recruit the Native Americans that preceded their nascent attempt at colonization.

Eckert is a master at teaching the reader history through the medium of storytelling, and although Eckert is not a master writer, his writing is still effective and memorable. This is a heft volume at over 650 pages, and not once did I wish the story to end. The history, the narrative, the characters, the Nation-states, the cultures, the geography, the grit and determination, keep the reader turning page after page in wonder.

There are 6 volumes in this series and it is my intention to read every single one. Volume 2 primarily centers of the chess match between France and England to settle whatever portions of north America they could grasp while winning the Native Americans to fight on their behalf. The culmination, of course, was The French and Indian War, and in broad brush strokes Eckert tells the tale of the amazing conflagration between the French and English, between the English and Native Americans, and between the French and Native Americans. Eckert also tells the story of Native American against Native American, as each tribe was attempting to preserve a unique culture and certain geography. This was a huge story to tell and Eckert tells it in a workman-enough-like fashion that the reader is left wanting more.

This is a compelling story, and to understand our history, this is a period of time that must be throughly studied to be appreciated. Well, on to Volume III. Happy reading!

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have learned so much about this history of this continent that I didn’t know. The history of the west is written about so much it’s as if the history of the east has little or no importance. When written about, it’s as if the only history worth noting is that if the white man battling for the independence of America. I knew battles with Indians took place, but could not have guessed at the depth of their involvement or their own individual contribution. This series has opened my eyes to a history hidden because of media hype. The beginning of the white mans infiltration of this continent should be taught just as much as the migration west of the descendants who are just as guilty of theft and encroachment of the original peoples who have lost so much.

[Faith Justice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eckert provides us with a sweeping historical epic set during the American colonial period--focusing on the French and Indian Wars. In his own words, he writes "narrative history" which uses techniques usually reserved for fiction: imagined dialog and imputed emotions. He claims the dialog and emotions come from letters, diaries, newspaper articles and other primary sources; many of which are also quoted in his book. Like all good history, Eckert provides chapter notes and an extensive bibliography. Highly recommended for colonial history buffs.

[Bryn D · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic narrative about the events leading up to and during the French & Indian War focusing on the Iroquois confederation and the struggle by the French and English to win their allegiance in upstate NY and PA. Being a local to this region it was especially interesting and engaging. This series tells the story of how America won the struggle to establish its borders and how bloody that struggle was years before the Revolution against England. I’d give it more stars if I could.

[Stephanie Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping tale of the North American continent before independance! It was horriffically violent with plenty of sad and moving moments. And yet again, we see several examples of history's greatest lesson: never trust the government or those with a great deal of power.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and I hope to read the rest of the series. However this should be Book 1 rather than Book 2, as it is the first chronologically. It even ends with a mention of what was to come in The Frontiersmen.

[Ernest Lozano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man's quest through history.

Book gave me an insight into the fate of our Native brothers. I am fascinated by how the story teller can paint a story of the plight of the Indians, and how I judge they were pawns in the empire building, by the French, and English.

[William Drehmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book 2 of a trilogy. See my review of “The Frontiersman”. It took a good amount of time to finish it (610 pages) but it was worth it. I will read some other genre of books for a few months and then take the plunge into book 3 The Conquerors.

[R.A. Moss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eckert was criticized by some for inventing dialog and internal thoughts for real-life historical figures. I admire his creativity and innovation. By vividly bringing the past to life, Eckert inspired many to learn more about our heritage, myself included.

[Mike Glaser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book on the French and Indian War and the role of William Johnson in keeping the Iroquois nation either friendly or neutral in that conflict. An excellent read for those interested in early American history.

[Steve Courson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read. I’m guessing what is being said in Indian council meetings is conjecture. Other dialogue is also made up, but it all fits the facts of the period and makes for an entertaining cross between historical fiction and history. I’d actually read it again, it was that much fun.

[Rob Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a thriller and as a history lesson, this book exceeded my expectations. Times sure were different. What a gruesome period in North American history.

[Pete Iseppi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Over long and somewhat dull.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good history