The French and Indian War: A Complete Chronology, by Bud Hannings

Jefferson,NC: McFarland, 2011. Pp. vi, 338 344. Illus., maps, appends., biblio., index. $125.00. ISBN:0786449063.

Independant historian Hannings ( Every Day of the Civil War: A Chronological Encyclopedia , Forts of the United States: A Historical Dictionary, etc.), gives us perhaps the most comprehensive chronological reference to the Seven Years’ War in North America.

Hannings very correctly begins his treatment in 1754. well before the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) in Europe, and continues until 1766, after the European war had ended.  Moreover, he often extends his commentary and observations into the nineteenth century.  The treatment of events in North America is naturally very detailed, literally day-by-day in many cases, but the book adequately deals with events in other theatres – Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, the high seas – to provide context and fit events in the American theatre into the wider geo-politcal framework.  The work is thus a comprehensive reference to the events of the war, and its fallout, giving us a valuable look at some of the people and events that would be of importance in the American Revolution. 

The nature of a chronology at times causes the work to be somewhat redundant, the book lacks sufficient maps, and there are also occasional errors (e.g., British warships are referred to as “theHMS” rather than merely “HMS”), but this is an invaluable handbook for any student of the French and Indian War, and the American Revolution, given the great many people who took part in both, as well as in the origins of American military institutions.

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