Montcalm and Wolfe (1884)

Montcalm and Wolfe was published in 1880, midway between the French and Indian War and today. Parkman conveys an immediacy of the events with a strong, clear narrative. There are heroes (Montcalm and Wolfe, Rogers Rangers and Pitt) and villains (the corrupt civil administration of Canada, particularly Vaudreuil and Bigot, and Pitt’s rival Newcastle) and “Indians” are portrayed as merciless savages. Although Parkman’s approach to history is dated, this is a book well worth reading.

I was struck by the portrait of Pitt, a strong war leader, seen as a war monger by his opponents. He sounds a lot like Churchill who almost certainly would have read this book as a young man. Parkman writes about “the gathering storm” around Pitt and I wonder whether this was the inspiration for the title of Churchill’s first volume of his WWII history.

The French and Indian War was part of the first true World War (Seven Years War) and set the stage for the American Revolution which followed less than a generation later. The removal of France as a force in North America made the colonies much less dependent upon England for military protection. The colonies learned the importance of military co-operation and developed the leaders (e.g., Washington) of the Revolution. England “won” the French and Indian War but the seeds were sown for American independence. ( )