slferg's review against another edition
5.0
Quite interesting. The author maintains that the seeds of the Revolution were not planted with the Stamp Act, etc. but during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War). I knew little about the War, but the author covers it from the beginning in America and Europe. Most of the discussion and relation of events in the war was what was happening in America, but he talks about the way the war in Europe was influenced by events in America and how they influenced events in America. The interactions between the British and the Americans set up the expectations that fell apart right before the Stamp Act. It was not a simple reaction, but there was a depression at the time after the war with all the soldiers returning and money being tight because of the spending during the war leaving Britain and America both in debt. The British also required the Americans to pay debt only in silver - silver not being so plentiful in America, merchants had difficulty meeting their obligations. This and quite a few other things prepared America for the explosion. It was interesting to see the setup for it all.
njmatt04's review against another edition
4.0
Not the easiest book to get through. The author has one of the best understandings of his subject matter in any book I've ever read. This is good because you know you're getting an authoritative account. It's bad because the book can sometimes feel bogged down by minutia. Either way, it was worth getting through and provides a fantastic account of this period in history.
jwest87's review against another edition
5.0
This took me longer than I had anticipated. It is a history book of epic proportions. Mr. Anderson wonderfully shows the gradual maturation of the colonists as the Seven Years War Progresses and inevitably leads up to the American Revolution.
evilcallie's review against another edition
5.0
I started this book six months ago because it was sitting out in the wardroom lounge on my ship, and it took me so long to read not because of the length, but because of how dense it is. It is the most detailed history of the 7 Years' War I've ever seen, and it is a remarkable read. For all that it took me a long time to push through it, I'm glad I read it. This also was the impetus behind my decision to make my theme for 2011 US history, which was an unplanned theme. I tend to find the topic boring, after studying it through my school years.
markk's review
5.0
Though long overshadowed in the traditional historical narrative by the American Revolution, the Seven Years’ War, as Fred Anderson argues, is the most important event in the eighteenth-century North American history. Fought in the untamed wilderness which both France and Britain claimed, the struggle brought an end to the French empire in North America. Yet ironically in doing so, it sowed the seeds for the eventual collapse of Britain’s own empire in the Americas by expanding it beyond a manageable size and creating pressures that ultimately led the thirteen colonies to rebel. This war and its legacy is the subject of this superb book, one that offers a complex and inter-layered narrative of the origins, conduct, and consequences of this often-ignored conflict.
Anderson begins by examining the interaction between the British, the French, and the Iroquois in the Ohio Valley. Sandwiched between the two European empire, the Iroquois Confederacy played one off the other successfully for many years. Yet land concessions to the British in the 1740s soon paved the way for growing encroachment of the Ohio Valley by British colonists, prompting the French to assert their own claims to the region. When war erupted in 1754 (as a result of a clash between a French force and a party of Virginians and Indians, one carefully reconstructed and dramatically retold by Anderson), it expanded gradually into a general conflict between Britain and France, with fighting taking place on nearly every continent.
The war is the dominant focus of Anderson’s book, and he supplies a readable and insightful narrative of the course of the war. While his focus is predominantly on the political and military struggles in North America, he also provides an description of the relevant British politics and a summary of the war in Europe. Particularly notable is his coverage of the Native Americans, which he depicts not as opportunistic savages but as canny political operators who saw themselves as free agents involved in a web of relationships with each other as well as with the colonial powers. Though the book bogs down in his subsequent examination of the postwar adjustments to British victory, these chapters make for fascinating reading by demonstrating just how close the link was between the problems posed by Britain’s triumph and the protests that ultimately would lead to rebellion.
By the end of the book, it is hard to deny the merits of Anderson’s argument. Through his expert analysis and deft interweaving of people and events, he succeeds in restoring the Seven Years’ War to the pivotal place it deserves in American history. Clearly written and supplemented with numerous images and maps, it is a masterful study of the war, one unlikely to be surpassed in its breadth of coverage or quality of its analysis. For anyone seeking a history of the war and its legacy for American history, this is the book to read.
Anderson begins by examining the interaction between the British, the French, and the Iroquois in the Ohio Valley. Sandwiched between the two European empire, the Iroquois Confederacy played one off the other successfully for many years. Yet land concessions to the British in the 1740s soon paved the way for growing encroachment of the Ohio Valley by British colonists, prompting the French to assert their own claims to the region. When war erupted in 1754 (as a result of a clash between a French force and a party of Virginians and Indians, one carefully reconstructed and dramatically retold by Anderson), it expanded gradually into a general conflict between Britain and France, with fighting taking place on nearly every continent.
The war is the dominant focus of Anderson’s book, and he supplies a readable and insightful narrative of the course of the war. While his focus is predominantly on the political and military struggles in North America, he also provides an description of the relevant British politics and a summary of the war in Europe. Particularly notable is his coverage of the Native Americans, which he depicts not as opportunistic savages but as canny political operators who saw themselves as free agents involved in a web of relationships with each other as well as with the colonial powers. Though the book bogs down in his subsequent examination of the postwar adjustments to British victory, these chapters make for fascinating reading by demonstrating just how close the link was between the problems posed by Britain’s triumph and the protests that ultimately would lead to rebellion.
By the end of the book, it is hard to deny the merits of Anderson’s argument. Through his expert analysis and deft interweaving of people and events, he succeeds in restoring the Seven Years’ War to the pivotal place it deserves in American history. Clearly written and supplemented with numerous images and maps, it is a masterful study of the war, one unlikely to be surpassed in its breadth of coverage or quality of its analysis. For anyone seeking a history of the war and its legacy for American history, this is the book to read.
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