The definitive account of a pivotal episode in colonial American history On February 29; 1704; a party of French and Indian raiders descended on the Massachusetts village of Deerfield; killing fifty residents and capturing more than a hundred others. In this masterful work of history; Evan Haefeli and Kevin Sweeney reexamine the Deerfield attack and place it within a framework stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. Drawing on previously untapped sources; they show how the assault grew out of the aspirations of New England family farmers; the ambitions of Canadian colonists; the calculations of French officials; the fears of Abenaki warriors; and the grief of Mohawk women as they all struggled to survive the ongoing confrontation of empires and cultures. Haefeli and Sweeney reconstruct events from multiple points of view; through the stories of a variety of individuals involved. These stories begin in the Native; French; and English communities of the colonial Northeast; then converge in the February 29 raid; as a force of more than two hundred Frenchmen; Abenakis; Hurons; Kahnawake Mohawks; Pennacooks; and Iroquois of the Mountain overran the northwesternmost village of the New England frontier. Although the inhabitants put up more of a fight than earlier accounts of the so-called Deerfield Massacre have suggested; the attackers took 112 men; women; and children captive. The book follows the raiders and their prisoners on the harsh three-hundred-mile trek back to Canada and into French and Native communities. Along the way the authors examine how captives and captors negotiated cultural boundaries and responded to the claims of competing faiths and empires—all against a backdrop of continuing warfare. By giving equal weight to all participants; Haefeli and Sweeney range across the fields of social; political; literary; religious; and military history; and reveal connections between cultures and histories usually seen as separate.
#1098370 in Books Naval Institute Press 1995-11Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 .84 x 6.26 x 9.28l; #File Name: 1557502463216 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Should have read this one first!!By Alexander CohenHaving read a few other books on this subject earlier; I regret not reading this one first! Evanhoe has a very readable and matter of fact tone. He presents the history of Army Special Operations during the war from its initial inception to the last missions of the war.Particularly riveting are his; almost fiction like; descriptions of some of the actual missions - makes the reader feel like he or she is right there on a cold North Korean mountaintop fighting the Chinese.This book and "Operation Broken Reed;" are my two favorite books on the Korean war. I highly recommend both of them.5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Eighth Army Special Operations in the Korean WarBy Andrew HarrellThis book; along with its companion in the series; "Raiders on the China Coast" gives a lot of information about the history of the U.S. Army Special Forces in the Far East during the 1950's. Much of why we ended up so heavily involved in Vietnam can be better understand with the light of this information. The U.S. by the time of the Vietnam War occured had a long history of covertly fighting Communism in the Far East. In this book Mr. Evanhoe modestly says little about himself; but gives many details of the heroic behind the lines operations and sacrifices of these Korean; U.S.; and British special forces personnel. He explains how personnel were selected; trained; and supportedly logistically... of the sacrifices and the costs that occured when they were actually conducted. He gives accounts of where the operations were based and how the locations for these bases were chosen. This is possible because Mr. Evanhoe is writing from the perspective from someone on at a high level on the Allied Joint Staff who was planning and supervising these operations. Even today; the U.S. military is still involved in the Korean Theater of Operations. This book gives useful information for someone to develop an informed perspective to make better foreign policy decisions there. Hopefully; the quality of the committment of those serving in the future for us in this part of the world and representing our interests there will measure up to the glorious legacy of the people in this book.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. It moves a little slow but the author has done ...By David YIt moves a little slow but the author has done his research. I knew someone who served in special ops in the Korean War and wanted to know a little about what went on. I was only a few years old when this was being fought. The US was not prepared for this war. The book is worth reading.
