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Indlæser... Death or Victoryaf Dan Snow
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Bliv medlem af LibraryThing for at finde ud af, om du vil kunne lide denne bog. Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog. This is a very readable - I had difficulty putting it down - story of the campaign to capture Quebec in 1759. I am Canadian, and grew up with a few myths and stories of the campaign and battle that Mr. Snow does a good job of debunking. Above all, the campaign was viciously fought. The Canadians and their First Nations allies waged a petit guerre against the British soldiers, who then retaliated by demolishing what must have been half the habitations in the province. Many civilians died. One of things we moderns forget is that folks is folks. The armies and navies of the 18th Century were comprised of folks, who could be as smart and hard-bitten, or more so, than we can be now. These guys were, for the most part, competent professionals. They did well. The British did better. And this despite the internal politics that are part of the human condition. Highly recommended. ( ) When I was at school in the 1960s Wolfe’s capture of Quebec in 1759 was one of those milestone events in British history that everyone knew. We might not have known much detail beyond the bare facts, but we knew it was a great victory and another step on the way to the British Empire. Of course, all that has changed now as most British schoolchildren know little of their own history other than we were wicked. So, Dan Snow’s book is very timely - it tells many something new and, for us old-timers, sets the record straight. Wolfe’s victory against a much larger army and an almost impregnable location, battling people who knew the land, weather and rivers as natives with a force mainy used to a very different style of battle in Europe was a great achievement. That is only the half of it. Wolfe did not get on well with his staff officers and generaly despised his naval contingent, even though they were his greatest asset and proed themselves time and again during the campaign.Wolfe did have a great relationship with his common soldiers, most of whom worshipped him. I had never appreciated the length and complexity of the campaign and siege at Quebec before the battle and Snow describes this well with an exciting and driving narrative. In this book, if perhaps not in reality, the battle and fall of Quebec are a bit of an anti-climax and the post-battle activity rather rushed. It is as if Snow, like the British, after along and difficult Spring and Summer, sees WInter coming and wants to get to the end as soon as he can. This is a great tale well told with an excellent use of quotation from contemporary sources from both sides. ingen anmeldelser | tilføj en anmeldelse
An epic history of the battle of Quebec, the death of General James Wolfe and the beginnings of Britain's empire in North America. Military history at its best. Perched on top of a tall promontory, surrounded on three sides by the treacherous St Lawrence River, Quebec - in 1759 France's capital city in Canada - forms an almost impregnable natural fortress. That year, with the Seven Years' War raging around the globe, a force of 49 ships and nearly 9,000 men commanded by the irascible General James Wolfe, navigated the river, scaled the cliffs and laid siege to the town in an audacious attempt to expel the French from North America forever. In this magisterial first solus book, tying into the 250th anniversary of the battle, Dan Snow tells the story of this famous campaign which was to have far-reaching consequences for Britain's rise to global hegemony, and the world at large. Snow brilliantly sets the battle within its global context and tells a gripping tale of brutal war quite unlike any fought in Europe, where terrain, weather and native Canadian tribes were as fearsome as any enemy. 'I never served so disagreeable a campaign as this,' grumbled one British commander, 'it is war of the worst shape.' 1759 was, without question, a year in which the decisions of men changed the world forever. Based on original research and told from all perspectives, this is history - military, political, human - on an epic scale. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Indlæser... GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)971.0188History and Geography North America Canada Canada French regime 1497-1763 Struggle with England for supremacyLC-klassificeringVurderingGennemsnit:
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