New Book on the French and Indian War
Good day,
I'm writing to you from Denver where I am visiting my family. On Friday the 16th, I had lunch with the author of a new book on the French and Indian War, Walter Borneman. Mr. Borneman had donated his book plus lunch for two to a library silent auction, which my father won. That turned into lunch for five (my parents, Mr. Borneman and his wife Marleen, and me).
Anyway, the new book is called The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America (published by HarperCollins in 2006). By Mr. Borneman's own admission, this is a book for the masses, a popular telling of the French and Indian War for people who want a good intro but not extensive detail. My father read it in one weekend, couldn't put it down. I enjoyed reading it very much but have to admit I got bogged down, the way I usually do with such a book, in running to my library to look things up, rather than just reading it for the sake of reading it.
It's very approachable and I recommend it to everyone but especially to our friends and family who are interested in the French and Indian War but don't want to read heavy tomes and/or extensive details. I hope this does not sound derogatory when I say I look at this book as the Cliff Notes version of a vast library of research -- in other words, Mr. Borneman uses the work of other author (Parkman, Anderson, and many more) as his primary source rather than redoing other people's research and he consolidates the highlights of a lot of other books into one easy-to-follow version.
Two features of the book worth mentioning are (1) how Mr. Borneman ties the French and Indian War back to what is going on in Europe with the Seven Years' War, and (2) Mr. Borneman's interest and promotion of naval activities and the importance of the navies of the European countries involved.
Mr. Borneman obviously had to make some decisions of what to include and what not to include. Even at 300+ pages, he made some trade-offs that resulted in many elements of the war being left on the cutting room floor, in a manner of speaking. One reenactor has already noted he left out Fort Bull's capture by the French in 1756 (one of the 250th comemorative reenacting events last year). I was more concerned about his leaving out Washington's involvement with Jumonville (which he doesn't mention) and barely mentioning Fort Necessity during 1754. He explained at lunch that he felt this was covered in other books and he was more interested in Washington's trip in 1753. That was his choice but I personally feel the Jumonville episode is one of the most important in the entire war; for me, the "shot heard 'round the world" was the one in Jumonville Glen (regardless of who fired it) and should not be left out, especially in a book for the masses who are not going to read it in the other sources.
Still, I do recommend the book to one and all. Happy reading!!
YH&OS,
Sarah / Chauncey
I'm writing to you from Denver where I am visiting my family. On Friday the 16th, I had lunch with the author of a new book on the French and Indian War, Walter Borneman. Mr. Borneman had donated his book plus lunch for two to a library silent auction, which my father won. That turned into lunch for five (my parents, Mr. Borneman and his wife Marleen, and me).
Anyway, the new book is called The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America (published by HarperCollins in 2006). By Mr. Borneman's own admission, this is a book for the masses, a popular telling of the French and Indian War for people who want a good intro but not extensive detail. My father read it in one weekend, couldn't put it down. I enjoyed reading it very much but have to admit I got bogged down, the way I usually do with such a book, in running to my library to look things up, rather than just reading it for the sake of reading it.
It's very approachable and I recommend it to everyone but especially to our friends and family who are interested in the French and Indian War but don't want to read heavy tomes and/or extensive details. I hope this does not sound derogatory when I say I look at this book as the Cliff Notes version of a vast library of research -- in other words, Mr. Borneman uses the work of other author (Parkman, Anderson, and many more) as his primary source rather than redoing other people's research and he consolidates the highlights of a lot of other books into one easy-to-follow version.
Two features of the book worth mentioning are (1) how Mr. Borneman ties the French and Indian War back to what is going on in Europe with the Seven Years' War, and (2) Mr. Borneman's interest and promotion of naval activities and the importance of the navies of the European countries involved.
Mr. Borneman obviously had to make some decisions of what to include and what not to include. Even at 300+ pages, he made some trade-offs that resulted in many elements of the war being left on the cutting room floor, in a manner of speaking. One reenactor has already noted he left out Fort Bull's capture by the French in 1756 (one of the 250th comemorative reenacting events last year). I was more concerned about his leaving out Washington's involvement with Jumonville (which he doesn't mention) and barely mentioning Fort Necessity during 1754. He explained at lunch that he felt this was covered in other books and he was more interested in Washington's trip in 1753. That was his choice but I personally feel the Jumonville episode is one of the most important in the entire war; for me, the "shot heard 'round the world" was the one in Jumonville Glen (regardless of who fired it) and should not be left out, especially in a book for the masses who are not going to read it in the other sources.
Still, I do recommend the book to one and all. Happy reading!!
YH&OS,
Sarah / Chauncey
posted by Sarah / Chauncey | 11:30 AM
2 Comments:
This is very helpful. The book is good. Borneman does a good job of "connecting the dots" by telling one thing affects other things, such as how the British capture of a French slave trade port in Africa affects the conflict in America. He makes it clear that this war allowed us to start a revolution with Britain. The British characters in the book are more relevant to Americans today than the French as a result of what the F&I War was all about and what the outcome was. Borneman has a humorous sense of the sardonic and ironic which always enter into real life (such as stupidities of a some general or leader.)
"Bison" Bart Durango
I'd be interested in this type of book... Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee by Dee Brown is one of my all time favorite works of non-fiction!
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