FIW- introductory book(s)?

[Sondergaard]

I’ve been perusing the beautiful Blue Moon FIW figures and I’m looking for a decent introduction to the period before I throw caution to the wind and buy the lot. Is there a concise volume covering the military aspects and some of the campaigns? I assume Osprey does one but I don’t know where to start.

Thanks

Not in the face!

[Henry Hyde]

See if you can pick up a copy of the now long OOP “The Plains of Abraham” by Brian Connell, published 1960. eBay or Abebooks or Google Books somesuch may have it. A cracking little read, fired me up about the theatre like nothing else ever has.

Editor, Battlegames
http://battlegames.co.uk
Battlegames on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/battlegames
Author, The Wargaming Compendium
http://amzn.to/leWoNO

[James (olicana) Roach]

I only have a few books on the FIW (not my period), but the best two I have (both still in print) are Crucible of War – The Seven Years’ War and the Fate of Empire in British North America 1754 – 1766 by Fred Anderson. This is a pretty comprehensive one volume history that covers the war in an 800+ page paperback. It is a solid history and it was, from memory, well reviewed. The other is a big boys Osprey – indeed it is published by Osprey and seems to contain a fare few Osprey plates from their other books – it is called Empires Collide – The French Indian War 1754 – 63. Again it is in paperback (270+ pages) and covers the war in what I can only call a ‘toilet reading’ way. It isn’t comprehensive, but like all Ospreys it is an easy way in with lots of short, sharp well illustrated chapters – I liked it.

My whoring and daubing:
http://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/

[Sondergaard]

The Plains of Abraham (82p- cool!) and Empires Collide ordered. Crucible of War can wait to see if my interest is sufficiently piqued.

Thanks guys

Not in the face!

[Alan Gruber]

” Crucible of War” by Fred Anderson is well worth a read…

[Sondergaard]

I’m well into Plains of Abraham at the minute but skipped through the first chapter of Empires Collide which brought something to my attention.
In PoA it states Washington ambushed a French force that was about to ambush him, thus firing the first shots of the FiW and, by extension, the SYW. However, in EC, it states that Washington attacked the French unprovoked.
Do we know which of these is true? I suppose they both could be, technically, but there’s a world of difference between turning the tables on a dastardly frog scheme and murdering members of a peaceful French party who were undoubtedly on an excursion to gather wild flowers or something equally innocuous.
I will stress again that I have only dipped in to Empires Collide so the whole thing may be explained later.

Not in the face!

[Author]

Posts