On 13 September 1759, British and French forces fought one of the most decisive battles in history, on the Plains of Abraham outside the Canadian capital, Quebec. The British force decisively routed the French, seizing the city and, ultimately, all of Canada. But the struggle for Quebec was far more than one climactic battle: the campaign involved an immense military and naval operation, an eighteenth-century D-Day. Matthew Ward has researched extensively in archives in Britain and Canada to look at the entire campaign for Quebec, from its inception in Whitehall to its ultimate culmination in Montreal in 1760. He has probed beyond the actions of commanders and generals, to examine the experiences of the campaign for the ordinary soldier and civilian. What emerges is not just a picture of bravery and heroism, but also of a campaign which became increasingly brutal and cruel, both sides resorting to practices such as the routine scalping of enemy dead. It is also a surprising picture of the day-to-day, often mundane, lives of civilians and troops many thousands of miles from home.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0752452207
ISBN13:9780752452203
Release Date:July 2009
Publisher:History Press
Length:288 Pages
Weight:0.70 lbs.
Dimensions:0.8" x 5.0" x 7.8"
Related Subjects
Americas Canada England Europe History Military Modern (16th-21st Centuries) Pre-ConfederationCustomer Reviews
1 rating
Good but not great
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 15 years ago
Ward does a solid job with the operations here, descriptions of the armies, etc. What surprised me is the lack of biographical info on all of the key players. We don't really get to know them that well. Also, his chapter on how Wolfe gets to the point of chosing the location for his landing below the Plains of Abraham, why he did so, and how it came off was very abrupt. Ward gives us so much detail @ the ops up to that point, and then it seems like WHAM!!, Wolfe decides where and when to attack all of a sudden. Ward also seems not to have consulted a recent WMQ article about how the planners used the tides, charts, etc., to make a final decision on where and when to attack the city.
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