The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War

This is a brief, well written, and sometime humorous account of the "accidental" world war kicked off by George Washington and an argument that this war led to a sense of separation between the British colonies in North America and their rulers in England. Some of the military situations involve so much chance, luck, guile, and subterfuge, that the book reads like a good novel, without sacrificing accuracy or historicity.

A book that's worth the time, if you are interested in the French and Indian Wars, or want to understand the military, social, and continental underpinings of the American Revolutionary War.

All that I previously remembered about the French and Indian War was that it preceded the American Revolution and that it was not a war between the French and Indians. This book is my kind of history. It's concise and readable. It points out the underlying trends and the key turning points. And it puts the outcomes into longer-term historical context. The French and Indian War was just one theater of a global conflict that shaped the world we have today. It was also a war that staged places and players for the Revolution that would follow just a decade later. Most notably, George Washington's future role derived from his experiences and initiative in the early stages of the French and Indian War.

There are positives and negatives with this book. On the plus side, you'd be hard pressed to find a more thorough account of the war in so few pages. While the book is just under 300 pages, the actual text takes up only about 200-225 after you consider the many, many portraits, maps, etc. (another plus, in my opinion).

As for the negatives, I find Dr. Anderson's writing in many spots to be quite dry, bordering on boring. Counterintuitively, there were bits that I found riveting. Anderson can be hard to follow, as he jumps around quite a lot, between dates and locales.

My biggest quibble with this book is the absence of footnotes. When reading a history book, I like to know where information is coming from, so I can check up on it. I find show more it dishonest (for lack of a better word) when historians don't use them.

Informative, and you could certainly do worse, but my reservations about the book prevent me from enthusiastically recommending it. Therefore, it earns a mild recommendation. show less

A very good overview of this seminal time in America, prior to the American Revolutionary War. In this history, we can see nascent American identity and an American sense of national entitlement that would break violently to the surface with the Boston Tea Party.

Professor Anderson's book gives us about as complete a recounting of the French And Indian War as can be accomplished in under 300 pages. In "The War That Made America" he has deftly related the events of this period with sound explanations of the struggles and motivations that brought participants from so many different social and political groups to this conflict. He thoroughly explains what was stake for the parties involved and the consequences for nations and leaders, with particular emphasis on the contributions of George Washington and how the expulsion of the French from North America and the imperial actions of the British crown created the events and climate that brought on the American Revolution.

The most significant show more contribution of this book is how Mr. Anderson has made an understanding of the French And Indian War accessible in a volume aimed at the general reader of history. I highly recommend this book to other general history readers. show less

A.K.A yeah, we didn't just think up the America revolution and start fighting. Read this book if you think a bunch of geezers simply got angry about taxes and then "thought up" the constitution and revolution. Awesome book, the only bad thing was how short it was.

Good Book for the Casual Reader of History

Professor Anderson's book gives us about as complete a recounting of the French And Indian War as can be accomplished in under 300 pages. In "The War That Made America" he has deftly related the events of this period with sound explanations of the struggles and motivations that brought participants from so many different social and political groups to this conflict. He thoroughly explains what was stake for the parties involved and the consequences for nations and leaders, with particular emphasis on the contributions of George Washington and how the expulsion of the French from North America and the imperial actions of the British crown created the events and climate that brought on the show more American Revolution.

The most significant contribution of this book is how Mr. Anderson has made an understanding of the French And Indian War accessible in a volume aimed at the general reader of history. I highly recommend this book to other general history readers. show less