The War That Made America

The War That Made America

  • by Fred Anderson
  • Narrated by Simon Vance
  • 7 hrs and 33 mins
  • Unabridged Audiobook
3.94 (353
Ratings.
)

Publisher's Summary

Apart from The Last of the Mohicans, most Americans know little of the French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Years' War, and yet it remains one of the most fascinating periods in our history. In January 2006, PBS will air The War That Made America, a four-part documentary about this epic conflict. Fred Anderson, the award-winning and critically acclaimed historian, has written the official tie-in to this exciting television event.In The War That Made America, Anderson deftly shows how the expansion of the British colonies into French territory in the 1750s and the ongoing Native American struggle for survival would erupt into seven years of bloodshed and unrest spreading from the backwoods of Pennsylvania to the high courts of Europe, eventually overturning the balance of power on two continents and laying the groundwork for the American Revolution. Beautifully illustrated, richly detailed, and utterly compelling, this is the story of how America as we know it today emerged from a series of fractured colonies and warring tribes into a nation ripe for independence, and nobody tells this story better than Fred Anderson.

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What the Critics Say

"Like the best popular historians, Anderson combines exhaustive research and an accessible prose style in a volume that should help rescue the French and Indian War from historical obscurity." (Publishers Weekly)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful

A thorough and absorbing history

This is a thorough and absorbing history of mid-18th century colonial America and the war that laid the foundations of our modern republic. Anderson is an outstanding historian and an expert in the field. This military and political history is a shorter version of the longer, more nuanced study in his "Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766." Nevertheless, this book is a worthy history in itself. Anderson's analysis is balanced and even-handed throughout, and hardly an apologia for any particular side in the war. His research speaks for itself, and the native Americans fare no better than the British and French in the accounts of their mistaken judgments, greed and duplicity. Listeners will have to draw their own conclusions about the allegedly "revisionist" nature of Anderson's treatment of white policy toward native Americans since 1620, but I suggest it is very far from a "blame white America" work. This is a most interesting study of a little-known period in our history and well worth the attention one pays to it.
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- Michael

Quick and solid

Packed plenty of history into a short book. Keep your ears open or you will miss alot. Historically balanced and not over simplified.
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- Peter

Book Details

  • Release Date: 01-25-2006
  • Publisher: Tantor Audio
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