This latest entry in Leckie's ever-expanding series of popular
military histories of the US (Okinawa: The Last Battle of World War
II, 1995, etc.) displays both the author's idiosyncratic research
methods and his tenuous grip on the principles of historiography.
Beginning with a lengthy, superfluous account of the career of
Christopher Columbus, Leckie proceeds by identifying the principal
players and events in the violent pageant of the straggle for
dominion in the New World - especially in Canada, a territory
dismissed by Voltaire as "a few acres of snow." Although Leckie
relates colorful anecdotes about such compelling figures in the
French and Indian Wars as Samuel de Champlain, Count Frontenac,
George Washington, and Marquis Montcalm (he includes some harrowing
and gory accounts of the tortures administered by the American
Indians to unlucky Jesuit missionaries and slow-footed farmers,
some of whom were roasted and eaten), he fails to achieve an
effective narrative balance. He does not appear to have any sort of
principle to guide his choice and arrangement of details. A
sentence that begins with Columbus in Reykjavik ends in 1950 with
the US Navy in the port of Seoul; halfway through a perfunctory
chapter called "Heroines of Both Frontiers," Leckie abruptly drops
his discussion of courageous women and returns to battles and
brutality and Real Men. Some sloppiness in writing and editing
leave stylistic faults such as cliches ("kill two birds with one
stone"), and use of awkward folksy locutions ("not worth a
polliwog's tail"). Finally, there are weird diatribes against the
"starry-eyed American liberals" of today and against Oliver
Cromwell, whom he twice identifies as a "hymn-singing swine."
Leckie is at his best describing weapons and wilderness warfare
(his account of the battle for Quebec on the Plains of Abraham is
swift and vivid), but A Few Acres of Snow is vitiated by its clumsy
prose and odd conception of history. (Kirkus Reviews)
"Leckie is a gifted writer with the ability to explain complicated military matters in layperson’s terms, while sustaining the drama involved in a life-and-death struggle. His portraits of the key players in that struggle . . . are seamlessly interwoven with his exciting narrative." –Booklist"As always, [Leckie] describes the maneuvers, battles, and results in telling detail with a cinematic style, and his portraits . . . are first-rate."–The Dallas Morning News"Leckie’s accounts of battles, important individuals, and the role of Native Americans bring to life the distant drama of the French and Indian Wars."–The Daily Reflector
With his celebrated sense of drama and eye for colorful detail, acclaimed military historian Robert Leckie charts the long, savage conflict between England and France in their quest for supremacy in pre-Revolutionary America. Packed with sharply etched profiles of all the major players–including George Washington, Samuel de Champlain, William Pitt, Edward Braddock, Count Frontenac, James Wolfe, Thomas Gage, and the nobly vanquished Marquis de Montcalm–this panoramic history chronicles the four great colonial wars: the War of the Grand Alliance (King William’s War), the War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne’s War), the War of the Austrian Succession (King George’s War), and the decisive French and Indian War (the Seven Years’ War). Leckie not only provides perspective on exactly how the New World came to be such a fiercely contested prize in Western Civilization, but also shows us exactly why we speak English today instead of French–and reminds us how easily things might have gone the other way.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(2)
