Professor Anderson has written a very readable and entertaining historical prologue to the American Revolution for those who have never understood the origins of the difference between American and British societies in the 18th century and beyond. The different nature of French and British colonial rule and the impact that it had in the daily life of individual colonists of all origins and the native peoples of Eastern North America becomes much clearer as the story unfolds. The fundamental misunderstanding by the mother country of the nature of representative government and respect for the rule of law as viewed by the colonials and the native americans which was at the root of the subsequent revolution, and the historical antipathy of white colonists for native americans becomes much clearer. A must read, not only for students of history but for all those who wish to obtain a better understanding of the differences in the institutions of government which evolved amongst english and french-speaking and native peoples of North America.

This book examines the Seven Years War's place in American and (to a lesser extent) World history. What the book sets out to do is show that the results of the Seven Years War laid the foundation for the American Revolution. Anderson opines that the Seven Years War was revolutionary, because it was the one war in which the power structure in Europe and North America was irrevocably changed.
I found the book fascinating. Anderson's style is very readable, and his characters very real. For me, I found his account of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham very interesting. This is an American book, however. For example, it deals very explicitly with British policies in the thirteen colonies after the war, but only gives a cursory examination of British policies in Quebec.
Anderson is very fair in his subject matter, however. The British are not all bad, and the Americans all good. His examination of the plight of First Nations peoples is very sympathetic.
I enjoyed the book a lot, and I would recommend it highly to anyone interested in pre-Revolutionary American history.