Review
This book is a bargain. The Forgotten History of America packs a great deal of interesting material into its nearly 300 pages (about half of which are graphics). O'Brien presents the accounts of 18 conflicts that were influential in American history, over the course of about 250 years. Most amateur history buffs will find plenty of new material.The writing is far from dry, but unfortunately it's clumsy in many places. I wish the text would have had more (or better) editing.A recurring theme in this book is the stark difference in philosophy between the trading French and the conquering British. While the French treated the native Americans as trading partners, the British treated them as people to be subjugated. And, in many cases, as vermin to be eradicated. The author doesn't set out to portray this; that's just the way it was. And not just in North America. Ask the Irish about that. Or the Scots. Then there's India....Chapter One covers the first conflict, which runs from 1528 to 1536. Chapter Eighteen covers the eighteenth conflict, which occurs in 1763. O'Brien relates each of these accounts in rich detail, making you feel as if you were there. We typically see what drives each faction, why a given conflict occurred, and what happened during the conflict. Sometimes, we see what the aftermath was.In some cases, there is only one side to the story. To present both sides where no records exist for one, the author would have to write fiction instead of non-fiction. Unfortunately, there is no getting around that.The book doesn't contain any superhero stories. Nobody is larger than life. Instead, we find realistic accounts of humans failing and succeeding in struggles that eventually contributed to the emergence of Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the smaller Caribbean nations. All but two of the conflicts take place in modern-day Canada and the United States.In an era in which history keeps repeating itself due to the failure of most Americans to learn their own history, this book is a welcome addition to the body of literature. Where it seems to be especially valuable is the author selected critical conflicts that weave a pattern. He presents them in chronological order, and the reader can observe several trends and threads through this chronology. Because he does this, there's no need to "tie it all together" with a fluff piece final chapter that isn't presenting actual history. Readers who aren't paying attention, however, could miss these trends and threads.Something that really stands out in this book is the reader cannot discern O'Brien's personal views. There is nothing of the author in this book, or if there is I can't see it. "Nothing of the author" is a quality standard non-fiction writers are supposed to adhere to.But lately, that standard is simply dismissed outright. Since about the year 2000, it seems 8 out of 10 "nonfiction" books are authored by New York Times devotees (the disinformed) who can't overcome a compulsion to insert irrelevant and derogatory comments about GW Bush. Regardless of the topic, and regardless of the inaccuracy of the comments. O'Brien didn't do that. I'm no fan of GW Bush, but I don't need to read anti-Bush propaganda in every book I pick up.Nor did O'Brien take the view that the "white man" was all bad or the "Indians" were all bad. His writing wasn't judgmental. His was a balanced account, to the extent possible from sources that exist. And he didn't misappropriate the work to propagate an irrelevant personal political viewpoint. This is how an author should behave when writing any work, unless that work is specifically chartered as a personal political piece. If other authors would follow this example, there would be more book readers (newspaper editors, take note).The reader has to understand that this isn't a complete history. Nor is each --Minconnection dot com
It is nice to see a book that covers what American history text books usually gloss over. We don't hear much between the discovery of North America until the American Revolution, at best we get Pilgrims, Jamestown, and then the Boston Tea Party. This book points out that there was a lot going on during these years and a lot of it was of international significance and also pretty bloody. The book is a collection of historic events, mostly involving wars between the different colonizing nations or between colonists and Amerindians. Also, the stories are mostly pretty bloody. The one half exception to the war stories is the story of Anne Hutchinson who defied her role in church and society but in the end she is also killed in an massacre. Each event is covered as a encapsulated story with little or no attempt to link them together in a narrative. The events basically run in chronological order, however a couple overlap in a disconcerting manner. In the end I was wishing there was at least a simple timeline so I could keep the stories straight and understand the chronological relationships between the events. The physical construction of the book is very good, with nice heavy paper. I like the vintage design, the type font and lay out echoes colonial book design. And it is richly illustrated with woodcuts and reproductions of etchings and paintings. All in all, I really enjoyed the book. It was very readable, but it left me feeling like it was a bunch of anecdotes more than a history book. It also left me with a very brutal vision of life in Colonial times, which may be pretty close to the truth. --Bryan Newman
The book notes the central purpose as (Page 8): This book takes a look back at that 'before time' on its own terms, capturing important clashes in early American history that have been left behind in the popular imagination; Each conflict is described in a brief essay of 10-15 pages. And we begin early on! The first essay in the book looks at an expedition by a small Spanish force landing near what is now Tampa Bay in 1528. Their harrowing expedition, the death of so many of the troops, and the survival of a small number who trekked westward. Quite a starter chapter! Another chapter focuses on Native Americans warring with each other. The fifth chapter examines the expedition of the Iroquois against the Erie (also referred to as "Cat Nation") who had raided Iroquois villages. The Five Nations sent a contingent of 1200 warriors against the Erie, who outnumbered them significantly. The Erie had constructed a bastion for defense. Nonetheless, when the sanguinary assault by the Iroquois began, even though outnumbered, they took the Erie position and avenged the original violence against them perpetrated by the Erie. A better known story appears in Chapter 15, George Washington's failed expedition against the French in 1754. His troops defeated a small French contingent, whereupon Native American allies killed most of the French who had surrendered. A stain on Washington's honor. And, shortly thereafter, Washington had to surrender his ragtag troops to the French at Fort Necessity. Chapter 16 explores another story, Montcalm's improbable defeat of the vastly superior forces of British General Abercromby, as he defended Fort Carillon (or Ticonderoga). This, after he had defeated English forces twice already. The story of how his small forces whipped the British is a fascinating little nugget. There are other vignettes as well, such as the threatened destruction of South Carolina, New England's wars against Native Americans, Rogers' Rangers foray against a distant Native American village, and the like. Some of these episodes are pretty well known; others are not. The reader interested in wars and conflicts before the Revolution would find this an intriguing se of vignettes. It would have been nice to have a concluding chapter that "pulls things together." Nonetheless, an interesting read. --Stephen Petersen
Product Description
The rich and fertile subject of American history usually starts with the Declaration of Independence. However, select events in the 150 years between the landing of the Mayflower and 1776 changed the course of history and had profound and lasting effects on the path the country took. These stories put America s early history in perspective and help the reader understand in new, fresh ways the emergence of the American nation. For example, few people realise that the first permanent settlement on American soil was not Jamestown or Plymouth, but the Spanish town of St. Augustine in Florida. Or that an atrocity committed by George Washington in the Pennsylvania woods in 1754 set off a world war between England and France. Or that the successful siege of a Canadian fort by an untrained group of New Englanders was a key step leading to the American Revolution.
See all Product Description
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Amazon Home
