- Mass Market Paperback: 528 pages
- Publisher: Pocket (April 1 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0671003879
- ISBN-13: 978-0671003876
- Product Dimensions: 17 x 10.4 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 249 g
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,322,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Library Journal
"Nobody knows war like Harold Coyle, and nobody writes it better," says Stephen Coonts, and the proof is that his books have sold ten million copies. Here he takes on the French and Indian War.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Coyle, a writer of military fiction, sets his ninth novel in the 1750s. British forces led by General Edward Braddock and aided by American colonial militias are battling the French and Indians (mainly the Algonquin and Caughnawaga tribes). Coyle presents a sweeping cast of characters. There's Ian McPherson, a Scot fighting in the Virginia Regiment led by a young Major George Washington; Megan O'Reilly, a "saucy Irish lass" whom McPherson eventually marries; Ensign Anton de Chevalier, a French-Canadian artillery officer who reads Voltaire and Rousseau; and Gingego and Toolah, Caughnawaga braves who have some pretty vicious moves with their tomahawks. This novel has just about everything that prompts less-than-sophisticated readers to buy it--love, war, bravery, and violence. And Coyle ties up everything neatly in the end; the good guys are the winners, the bad guys the losers. Best-selling author Coyle probably has another best-seller here. George Cohen
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
History does indeed tend to repeat itself.,
By Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Savage Wilderness (Hardcover)
This is my introduction to Harold W. Coyle's writing because of my earlier readings of the colonial life in America. The Prologue and Chapter 1 could have been omitted, as they were at an earlier time and not American in any way. It would have been better to start with Chapter 2 as the background info could have been incorporated into the intros.He admits that his assistant did all the detailed research for this volume. Why, then does he take credit for the entire book?I can't see much documented or which needs to be so. I kept wondering what had been research and what from his imagination. There was a discrepancy at the very beginning in his rendition of the Native American who was converted to Christianity. Is it true that they regard any person not Indian as 'white'? That's strange, to say the least. We endured such savage blood-thirsty cruelty in this account of a useless war. But, most of them are -- as they occur. It is the consequences some years on down the road which make them neccesary at that time. I was most frustrated with this writer's use of prepositions at the end of long, rambling sentences. Maybe he knows what he has in mind, but it gets lost along the way.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Savage Reading,
By Robert Bottos "Rebel Rob aka Avid Fan" (Coquitlam, British Columbia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Savage Wilderness (Audio Cassette)
Once again this Harold Coyle starts with lots of promise but quickly fades into mediocrity. There are too many characters and all the various plot lines suffer accordingly. We are given glimpses of the French Indian War but that is all. With 125 pages to go and 3 more years of war the author suddenly drops two characters and their plot lines and races through the remaining acts of the war to conquer New France. The fight on the Plains of Abraham before the gates of Quebec is a mere after thought. The campaigns against Louisbourg are totally overlooked. We get to read about the after effects of raiding parties but we don't get to see any raids. At one point the author describes a scene of canabalism performed on captive white settlers by a character who up to this point had been anything but a "savage". In my opinion, while the novel covers a historical period I believe it is a bad representation of both the British and Native Indians. At one point the author has two characters postulating a future revolt in the America's against the British. While the roots of America's revolution can indeed be found in the French Indian War, the feeling of resentment did not come to the fore till after the conclusion of the war when Britain set about making the colonies pay for their defence. This novel had great potential but is sadly lacking in the end result.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.5 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews) 13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining but incomplete,
By Doug Vaughn - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Savage Wilderness (Mass Market Paperback)
While I enjoyed this book much more than Coyle's Civil War books - perhaps because I knew less of this history so was not as critical - I still feel that he is not totally comfortable with historical fiction. Apart from some obvious anachronisms, what seems most strained in this book is Coyle's effort to present fully rounded and believable native American characters. Unfortunately, as drawn, these characters have the stilted 'noble redman' quality that American Indians are frequently stereotyped with - even the 'bad' ones. Still, Coyle's story is entertaining and his characters are, for the most part, engaging. I would have preferred more follow through - a more clear rounding out of the story so that one had some sense of what had happened to all the main characters. It seemed like a lot was left unresolved (so there can be a sequel?). In any event, as Coyle continues down the path of historical fiction, each book seems to be better than the one before. 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
What about the Savages?,
By Daniel R. Marcelain - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Savage Wilderness (Mass Market Paperback)
This was an interesting book, as it told the story of several men during the French and Indian War. A British officer,a French officer, a Scot who fought as an enlisted British soldier and a Caughnawaga native. The story was well told and historically accurate and each character blossomed during the story, especially the native. But as I finished the book each was the fate of his own destiny, except the native. He completely vanished from the ending. I was very disappointed due to the fact that most of the beginning of the book focused so much on him. Even with that fact it is a fine book to enjoy.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An American history buff's unexpected find,
By Robert F. Jakubowicz - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Savage Wilderness (Hardcover)
American history books devote little space and attention to the Frech and Indian war. Coyle's panoramic backdrop for relating the story of this war along the colonial frontier from Lake George, NY to Ft. Dusquene (the eventual site of Pittsburg, PA) captures the historic essence of this, the last of the great colonial wars. Coyle deftly intertwines the exploits of four main characters - a French army officer, a colonial soldier of the Virginia militia, an Indian ally of the French, and a British army officer - to show: the basic French motive to simply lay claim to all of the unsettled areas of North America; the inept effort by ill-equipped and ill-trained colonial militia to oust the French and their Indian allies from their western frontier; the major role of the Indians in inflicting the worst rout ever experienced by a white force in the new world; and the ill-suited battle tactics of the regular English army in the dense forests of the frontier. Only the French decision not to continue
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