|
|
Article: Fields of Battle: The Wars for North America.
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- September 30, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
THIS book, if presented as a report to the Prussian General Staff, would probably have got its author cashiered. It is chatty, discursive, and it doesn't cover what its subtitle -- The Wars for North America -- says it will. The War of 1812, the Texas war of independence, and the Mexican War do not appear, and of the wars that do -- the French and Indian Wars, the Revolution, the Civil War, and the last Indian wars on the Great Plains -- only the Revolution is discussed comprehensively. What we really have is Thoughts on America, and Some of Its Battles, and many of the thoughts are indirect. To explain the culture of New France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, ...