Frontier War for Amer Independ [Hardcover]

William R. Nester (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0811700771 | ISBN-13: 978-0811700771 | Publication Date: February 1, 2004

Although the American Revolution is commonly associated with specific locations such as the heights above Boston or the frozen Delaware River, important events took place in the wooded, mountainous lands of the frontier. The vicious war on the frontier significantly altered the course of the Revolution and involved regular troops, volunteers, and Indians who clashed in large-scale campaigns and bloody fights for land, home, and family.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An impressive synthetic narrative. -- Journal of American History, June 2005

About the Author

William Nester is a professor of government and politics at St. John's University in Jamaica, New York. The author of numerous previous books, including a three-volume series on the French and Indian Wars, he is also a living history reenactor, specializing in the Early American period.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 423 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books (February 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811700771
• ISBN-13: 978-0811700771
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,315,765 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Nester is a professor in the Department of Government and Politics at St. John's University in New York City. He is the author of twenty-seven books on various aspects of international relations or military history.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Same Old Drivel, June 12, 2004

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Frontier War for Amer Independ (Hardcover)

William Nester's The Frontier War for American Independence is both dry as dust and ridiculously condescending. The subject matter provides ample fodder for compelling story-telling, but Nester merely serves up a boring recitation of treaties and casualty totals. Being told that Indians raided a village and killed 5 and wounded 3 hardly fires the imagination. Nor does it capture the facts of life on the ground during this dangerous time. Nester breathes no life into his subject.

Perhaps worse is the author's attitude toward Indians. We are told in the first chapter of the book that "Unlike whites, Indians saw strength in genetic and racial diversity rather than uniformity." You see, Indians were into diversity before diversity was cool. You get the picture. All of Nester's discussions of Indians are prefaced by comparisons to Europeans and Americans, always to the Indians' benefit. They are at least no worse. "Like Europeans, Indians were capable of committing the most vicious of crimes..." But these "crimes" are rarely described in any detail or are excused or even passed off as admirable. The taking of captives for life is proof of the Indians` commitment to diversity, for example. The fact that women and children captives would often refuse to be repatriated is evidence of the superiority of Indian culture. And on and on, ad nauseum.

Read Allan Eckert's Dark and Bloody River instead of this hopelessly dry and insulting work.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars You need a camel to get through this one!, April 3, 2005

By 

Theo Logos (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frontier War for Amer Independ (Hardcover)

`The Frontier War for American Independence' is a barren desert of a book with nary an oasis of refreshment between its covers. The subject matter is both important and potentially fascinating, but Mr. Nester has no sense of its inherent drama, and cannot weave an interesting tale even from this, the most promising of material. He approaches it with all the skill of a high school phys-ed teacher who is expected to teach a history class on the side. There is some useful information on the subject here for the reader intrepid enough to brave the daunting Sahara of Mr. Nester's prose, (thus two stars rather than one) but it is not a journey that I recommend that you undertake.

Theo Logos