Rating: 
Summary: Encompassing history of pre-revolutionary America
Review: Fred Anderson's new book on the French and Indian War (The Seven Year's War) provided a wealth of information concerning this under documented period of pre-revolutionary time.This book answered many questions I have always had concerning the American Revolution, specifically with Great Britian's taxation policies, American Indian relations and most importantly, predecessor events that lead to the Revolutionary War. Anderson clearly cuts to the chase on key events such as Fort William Henry and Quebec, offering analysis from both a participant and historical viewpoint. I found this unique and informative. A "must read" for any serious students of the American Revolution.
Rating:
Summary: Best book on the Seven Years War available
Review: This book is amazing. Anderson uses a large amount of sources for his argument and he writes very well. Through 700 pages Anderson never loses sight of his stated objective, which is to write about the Seven Years War as a separate event and not the small skirmish leading to the American Revolution that many of us think...a good book...
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Story, not often told
Review: Anderson focuses on the war before the revolutionary war--a war we were not told about in our history classes in school, but which we may vaguely recall as the French Indian War. The strength of this book is that it describes not only the war itself, but places it in the larger world context. Anderson's thesis, which he documents very well, is that this was really the "first world war" in history. It is only because of our peculiarly american-centric perspective that we ignore it in the country. In fact, this earlier war was much more important to the world at large. In addition, even from our own parochial perspective, the earlier war really did determine (or at least strongly influenced) the outcome of the revolutionary war a decade or so later. My criticism is with the writing. While much of the book sizzled, at times it became plodding, slogging through yet another campaign which went no where, had no participants we'd heard of, and decided nothing--of course, such was the war. But does the book have to mirror the reality quite so well? All in all, though, the inforamtion vastly outweighs my concerns about the writing. Highly recommended reading for anyone who wants to understand how we got where we are today.
Rating:
Summary: The Best History Written on the Pre-Revolutionary Period
Review: Fred Anderson's book, "Crucible of War" is a wonderfully written and comprehensive work about pre-revolutionary America. In its great depth and majestic sweep it ties together the politics within Britain, the warfare on the Continent, the struggle with the French in North American, the problems the American colonists had vis-a-vis the British, and the importance of the Ohio Country and the Indians livng there. Anderson is deeply learned, writes with great detail and balance, and with a clarity of vision. He provides us with deep insight into the social, political, and cultural confrontations, not only between these groups, but among themselves. He also gives us an understanding of the geographic dimensions of the struggle and how these affected the outcome. All in all, this is a grand synthesis in the classic tradition. Anderson's thesis is that the war's progression "set in motion the forces that created a hollow British empire" with problems that could not be solved by decisions made in London. Understanding this makes our understanding of the origins of the American Revolution more complete. This book is a must read for anyone seriously interested in pre-revolutionary America.
Rating:
Summary: Good read, innovative view
Review: Fascinating book and I liked the approach of not viewing the F&I War through the lens of the Revolution.
Rating:
Summary: Review in Strategic Review by Murray and Sinnreigh
Review: Williamson Murray and Richard Hart Sinnreich in Fall 2000 issue of Strategic Review write "Every once in a while there appears an historical work of enormous merit and scope - one that forsakes the narrow perspectives of too many contemporary historians and casts in high relief what good history really should be." The point of their review is "crucible": the seven years' war and its political and strategic aftermath changed the history of the world everywhere in all aspects. This is a must read for any student of history.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written history of a "hazy backdrop"
Review: Don't know that much about the French and Indian War? You're not alone. As the author notes, the French and Indian War, or as it was known globally, the Seven Years War "figures in most Americans' consciousness of the past as a kind of hazy backdrop to the Revolution." However, this book brings that "hazy backdrop" to life.
There were so many things I learned, that I couldn't mention them all. For example the colonies were hardly a compact unit fighting along with their parent country-the British-against the French. Not only was there great animosity between the Colonials and the British Regulars, but there was also a lot of competition amongst the Colonies themselve regarding land disputes and raising and funding of troops. I also learned that Indians fought on both sides. While the majority fought on the side of the French at the beginning of the war, many of them supported the British once they found that the French could no longer protect their interests.
!
What held my interest most, however, was the writing and structure. For example, rather than interrupt the the thread of his history by giving a long background on each individual being introduced (something I find very distracting when I read histories) Anderson came up with the ingenious idea of using contemporary portraits of these individuals and summarizing their life stories in the captions. He also includes maps drawn shortly after the battles took place. I found these to be a valuable addition to the information presented. The author also does an excellent job of presenting the war in it's global context--something that was usually overlooked in our high school history classes.
The only part of the book I did not care for was the way the aftermath of the war was treated. Once he gets into Writs of Assistance and The Stamp Act, it starts to read a little more like your standard history text. Though, I'll allow, that it could be the terms themselves that made! me feel like I was back in school. Still, all in all, I would say this was well worth the time it took me to read all seven hundred plus pages.
Rating:
Summary: Very Well Done
Review: Fred Anderson's new book on the French and Indian war is sure to please many people. It is well written and particularly enjoyable to the large audience of well educated non academcs who read military history. The story moves fast and leaves the reader wishing Anderson would write a sequal on the American Revolution. Perhaps he will. The real value of Anderson's book is that it sets up a new framework for understanding the coming of the American Revolution. Instead of describing the revolution as a series ideological disagreements coming out of American political culture, Anderson describes the coming of revolution as a natural outgrowth of the world war that was fought in America from 1754-1763. It is an interesting idea, and one that scholars and readers alike will have to grapple with for years to come. Anyone interested in early America, then, must eventualy deal with this fine new work by Fred Anderson.
Rating:
Summary: SPECTACULAR!
Review: After having read a bit on the era preceding the American Revolution, as well as taking numerous history classes dealing with the subject, I was initially prepared to read a meek, almost apologetic version of the French-Indian War. After all, according to most of my professors, it was but a minor prelude to "the real deal" in 1775. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Prof. Anderson eschewed this viewpoint and sold me on his thesis, one which is so clear in retrospect, but if often hard to see with 20+ years of "1775 - American Revolution" crammed into your head. Prof. Anderson not only explains his thesis, but he supports it cogently and in a manner which is enjoyable to read (unlike many other history books). Having grown up in the Champlain Valley, I found his descriptions of Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga on the money, as well as enlightening ("Oh! So that's what that was...") Many thanks to Prof. Anderson for proving that the American Revolution was just the coup de grace for the British rule of the Colonies; the real groundwork for rebellion and our current government was laid out well before the Minutemen gathered on the Concord green.
Rating:
Summary: History at its best
Review: Educational, informative, and entertaining, Fred Anderson's book on the conflict we Americans call the French and Indian War was truly one of the most insightful works of American history I have ever encountered. He offers a good, multi-faceted approach to the period--political, economic, sociological, and cultural. (Especially good is his analysis of the very different relations which Native Americans enjoyed with the French as opposed to the British, and the implications of this difference for later American history.) But he also clearly sees the important role played by the period's "great men," and offers vivid portrayals of such leaders as Pitt, Washington, Amherst, Wolfe, Montcalm, Forbes, and George II and III. His exploration of the political intrigues occurring in England and their effect on the North American war is especially powerful. I have lived virtually my entire life in the Middle Atlantic region, the cradle of the Seven Years' War--having been born in Pittsburgh, educated in Philadelphia, employed in Albany, and currently residing in central Maryland--but I was never able to fully comprehend the history of this seminal period until reading this superb explanation. Anderson's decision to present the war as an entity separate unto itself--not as the prologue to the American Revolution, the typical treatment of this era in other works of American history, yet a curiously "20/20 hindsight" approach--makes the book all the more enlightening, since the history is presented as it was lived at the time, rather than retrospectively from another era. The author also does an able job of presenting the simultaneous developments in this far-reaching global war in such places as India, the European continent, and the Caribbean. This book is so well-written that I regretted when it ended; I believe it is destined to take its place besides the works of Francis Parkman as a classic history of this period.
| 
