French and Indian Wars

by Francis Russell

In the colonization of North America, Great Britain, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Sweden each sought a share. By the eighteenth century, only Great Britain and France remained as rivals for the heart of the continent. Three times, beginning in 1690, warfare arose between New France and New England. Settlements were destroyed, and armies clashed, yet nothing was settled. Each country regarded the Ohio Valley as its own. A small skirmish in 1754 touched off a war that spread to Europe, then to Africa, Asia, and even to islands in the Atlantic and Pacific. The fate of North America hung in the balance. This conflict, the Great War for the Empire, may well be called the first of the world wars. Here, award-winning historian Francis Russell brings to life the vast panorama that formed the background for this struggle in which the English redcoats fought side by side with American colonists against French soldiers and their Indian allies.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Canada, War, Military Fiction, Military History

83 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 21, 2015

About the author

Francis Russell was an American author specializing in American history and historical figures.

Reviews

[Dan Lutts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great introduction for anyone who isn't familiar with the French and Indian Wars.

[Patrick Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent historical account of the New World side of the interminable wars that plagued Europe through the 18th century.
Russell avoids reciting a string of dates and instead presents the major events in sequence and frames their importance in the context of the period.
If there’s a primary criticism it’s with the rather tone-deaf not-quite-white-supremacism-but-not-too-far-off “terminology”. Such gems as “with her dusky children” may have been de rigeur in the 1930s are somewhat difficult to stomach now.

[Hannah Alane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains a lot of good information! The writing style kept me engaged and was filled with many colorful pictures. I’m sure reading this without having to study it for a grade made the reading process more enjoyable. 😂😂

[aili · Rating 2 out of 5]

summer reading - clear and concise history of the 70-year conflict in North America
Learned a bunch of warfare lingo and vocab

[Nat Kidder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now Americans like to say
Howdy and not bonjour
It all had come this way
From the French and Indian Wars

Solid, if somewhat stilted, narrative of the duel between Britain and France for control of what is now the US and Canada. Russell largely ignores the overall factors, such as population, that led to the ultimate British victory, in favor of personal tales of soldiers, commanders and even civilians. Mainly for military history buffs.

[Vicki Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief overview of the French and Indian Wars from a colonial perspective written in 1962. Indians are referred to as "dusky" and "savage." If you're looking for a balanced perspective this is not it.

[Steve Charlson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great children's book

4th through 7th graders will find this book delightfully close to worthwhile. An adroit wordsmith could find better ways to damn with faint praise.

[Persephone Abbott · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title says it all, or doesn't it? Half tear jerker half battlefield.

[William Razavi · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some good aspects of this book. (That’s a sentence full of foreboding.)
First, it has great illustrations as is de rigeur for this American Heritage series and a few good maps to go with them.
Second, look more carefully at the title and you’ll see that it has a unique approach to what is usually studied as separate colonial wars in North America with the last one being treated as a singular subject with a time range from 1754-1763.
This book treats that last war as an episode in a 70 year long struggle between France and Britain for control of North America.
There is as much here about the early episodes as there is about the more well known French & Indian War/Seven Years’ War.
Alright. So that’s the good part.
Now for the bad. The narrative basically ends with the French defeat at Quebec in 1759 with a quick denouement about the fall of Montreal the following year and then a rumination about the end of French ambitions in North America and the rise and fall of the British relationship with the American colonies in the aftermath of the war.
This series of books had a standardized page count which is the only reason I can understand omitting a closer narrative about the conclusion of the war itself and subsequent events leading up to the 1763 treaty and then maybe a longer chapter on the aftermath and consequences.
But that’s not the really bad part.
This series is old. The language and ideas can often be dated.
There’s a lot of latent racism that shows up in this series.
But this book’s attitude towards Native Americans/First Nations/indigenous people is racist and terrible even for 1962. Yeah, that’s right. I’m going there. You can’t excuse this one as a “product of its time” because it’s not just language here but an ideology that even in its own time was not unchallenged.
This is not about the word “dusky” being thrown around.
It’s about the constant references to the savagery of native people reinforced with a consistent rhetoric of pairing them with the phrases like “scalp hungry” and essentialism that moves beyond condescension into a bigotry that is unique in this series.
Every chapter I finished made we want to run to Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee to get the taste of the language of this book out of my head.
I would love to read a book that covers in more depth the same ground and treats the conflict here in a comprehensive way. This is definitely not that book.

[John Levasseur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief but informative overview of the French and Indian war

The cast of characters George Washington, Jeffery Amherst, Rogers ' Rangers, James Wolfe, setting New England and New France up and down the Hudson, Connecticut and Ohio rivers, Lake Champlain and Lake George, Niagara, The Saint Lawrence and the Atlantic coast, Ticonderoga, Deerfield, Boston, Maine Fort William , Crown Point. The Ohio river valley the time the eighteenth century. The drama the French and Indian war. An era and story often not given detail and it's due in school studies of American history but consistently referred to in books and history classes. Glad to have finally read an outline of the conflict.

[James Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last gasp of European interference in North America

This is a well researched book and an interesting one. This conflict was seen as merely a backwater in France & England, but it heated the beginning of the coming of age for the New World! If I saw a problem in its content of was the lack of depth addressing t h e involvement of the 1st Nations participation and their hopes & dreams. That aside i recommend it to anyone interested in the period.

[Steven Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lost for the trees

Russell struggles to tell the actual story in this brief history. Instead of focusing on the large and foundational events, Russell gets lost in individual profiles and battlefield details. After reading this book I’m not sure I understand any better the French and Indian War than I did before.

[Paul Antes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A light shown on an almost forgotten but critical part of our history

Well written and informative with carefully selected detail that did not overwhelm the telling of the story with details such the the human heroism and suffering was masked.

[Ed Dodson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Americam Heritage edition does a good job of organizing 70 years of war into a succinct and readable work. I am on sort of a reading binge of books about the Indian wars right now and this work helped mr organize my knowledge of this confusing time.

[Bruce & Deb Monnin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good quick read

Liked it a lot. Not detailed but a nice overview. Always one of my favorite periods of North American history.

[Louis Mascolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good history

Well researched and informative. Good history buff read. Lots of details I didn't know about. Good insights about pre revolution America.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

For something that occured over a 70 year span, I expected something more detailed.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative and concise telling of the French and Indian War.

[Michael K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unbelievable and bloody group of decades within our history. You've heard of the Trail of Tears...This was a fight between the British Colonies, the French and several tribes of Indians who aligned themselves with either the colonists or the French of Canada. The impetus of such bloodiness was over who had the rights to the Ohio Valley. And the once hopeful George Washington who desired to become a regular military man in the British army was faltered with a surrender at Fort Necessity...sorry, spoiler alert! One of those books that highlighted an aspect of our history which we do not get taught in school, which is sad!

[Jay E Beard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great narrative of seven decades of early America

The devil is in the details this book nails down the facts, opening up a better understanding of America and Canadian relationship instigated by the 18th century super powers of Europe.

[Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short history from an American perspective of the series of bloody engagements from 1690 to 1760 between Britain, including the English settlers of New England, and their Indian allies against the French and their Indian allies for control of North America. No references or footnotes.

[Anthony J. Cantele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written

A rather brief history but easy reading. The last few chapters were particularly well done. Good book for the reader with limited historical background.

[Darren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very slanted to the colonial view point

[Margaret Hayter]

A very interesting read. I live on the coast of Maine a five minute walk from the first English fort built in the new territory. The terror of the Indian raids is real to us, since on our property a mother and her young daughter were scalped (while they were alive). This book helped put the rest of the battles in context with what I already knew.

This book added significantly to my knowledge of the time and although there was a lot of blood and guts, I'm glad that I read it.