Michael G Laramie

Once you get past the rather pretentious title of this book, the subtitle tells you what the meat of this history is about; the cut and thrust of warfare up and down what Laramie calls the "Old Invasion Route." The higher narrative is essentially one of how the French colonial regime adopted raiding warfare as a means of keeping the potential strength of British America off balance and at bay, and which probably worked more successfully in the long run than really should have been allowed to happen.

So despite what would seem to be astute observations on the evolution of the military situation in Upstate New York and a strong writing style, how is it that I really don't trust Laramie's work? For one, Laramie has a bad habit of imagining situations and attributing emotional states to his subjects that I doubt he can document; this is history after all, not historical fiction. Two, despite being issued by what I would normally consider to be a reputable publisher, the footnoting is so weak as to be almost nonexistent. Three, I found some of the source choices to be rather odd; at the very least a book on warfare in Colonial America ought to include the work of Fred Anderson and Francis Jennings in the bibliography.

My admonition would be to use this as a source with caution and to read Fred Anderson first.… (meer)