A dramatic, exciting and tragic book about the Irish fur trapper who held the fate of America and the British Empire in his hands. William Johnson began life as a poor Irish Catholic peasant. After converting to Protestantism, he emigrated to America where he became the leading fur trader in the British colony and one of its richest men. He also 'went native,' marrying an Indian woman and adopting the religion of her tribe, the Iroquois. When war broke out between the French and English - what we now know as the 7 Years War ...
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A dramatic, exciting and tragic book about the Irish fur trapper who held the fate of America and the British Empire in his hands. William Johnson began life as a poor Irish Catholic peasant. After converting to Protestantism, he emigrated to America where he became the leading fur trader in the British colony and one of its richest men. He also 'went native,' marrying an Indian woman and adopting the religion of her tribe, the Iroquois. When war broke out between the French and English - what we now know as the 7 Years War, the first world war in history - Johnson held the fate of the British Empire in his hands. If the Indians fought with the French, the British were doomed. He ensured that the Indians remained neutral or sided with the British. But he also made them promises - only to see all his assurances broken by his fellow whites and by the imperial authorities in London . . .
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Fine in Fine jacket. Collectible Fine First English Edition Hardcover Fine Dust Jacket Clean 401 pp. Color Plates NOT a library copy NO signatures. Pristine. A Gaelic speaker Lord of upstate New York with his own Medieval like harpist and support of the Six Nation Iroquois Confederacy. He lived at the beginning of America's revolution. Here is his history and biography by a an Irish author. Johnson's story has never been told from his own Celtic perspective. See our Three Geese in Flight Book Scans.
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Fine in Near Very Fine jacket. Book Large, sturdy book, purple covers, gray lettering very fine on spine, 402 pages including a glossy photo section in color. Light brown stain from bookmark near top left. DJ glossy light yellow background, a color-illustration of William Johnson and the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) that accepted him as one of them. DJ has very tiny tear at top front tip, very light crease at top front. DJ and book, both Near Very Fine.
At least one major historian regards this life of one of the major figures in pre-Revolutionary America as mainly fiction because of the author's heavy reliance on Irish folkways. But at times it can be interesting and suggestive.
Sir William Johnson was a complex man who lived successfully among the Iroquois, the British, and the colonists. Previous biographies like Milton Hamilton's are good but a modern one is lacking. This isn't it unless you too are heavily influenced by Irish legends.
It's too intense for a summer read or a beach book and it fails to satisfy the historian; sources are dated especially secondary ones for background.
I'd wait for the forthcoming major study on Johnson.