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White Savage : Sir William Johnson and the Invention of America - Hardcover

 
9780571218400: White Savage : Sir William Johnson and the Invention of America
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William Johnson began life as a poor Irish Catholic peasant. After converting to Protestantism, he emigrated to America, where he became the leading fur trader in the British colony and one of its richest men. He also 'went native,' marrying an Indian woman and adopting the religion of her tribe, the Iroquois. When war broke out between the French and English - what we now know as the Seven Years War, the first world war in history - Johnson held the fate of the British Empire in his hands. If the Indians fought with the French, the British were doomed. He ensured that the Indians remained neutral or sided with the British. But he also made them promises - only to see all his assurances broken by his fellow whites and by the imperial authorities in London...

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From the Back Cover:
William Johnson was scarcely more than a boy when he left Ireland and his Gaelic, Roman Catholic family to become a Protestant in the service of Britain's North American empire. In New York by 1738, Johnson moved to the frontiers along the Mohawk River, where he established himself as a fur trader and eventually became a landowner with vast estates. Serving as principal British intermediary with the Iroquois Confederacy, he commanded British, colonial, and Iroquois forces that defeated the French in the battle of Lake George in 1755, and he created the first groups of "rangers," who fought like American Indians and led the way to the Patriots' victories in the Revolution.

As Fintan O'Toole's superbly researched, colorfully dramatic narrative makes clear, the key to Johnson's signal effectiveness was the style in which he lived as a "white savage." Johnson had two wives, one European, one Mohawk; became fluent in Mohawk; and pioneered the use of American Indians as active partners in the making of a new America. O'Toole's masterful use of the extraordinary documents written by Irish, Dutch, German, French, and American Indian participants in Johnson's drama enlivens the account of this heroic figure's legendary career. It also suggests why Johnson's early multiculturalism unraveled, and why the contradictions of his enterprise created a historical dead end.

"O'Toole brings together great man history and real analytical rigor; this book should be a winner with academics and history hobbyists alike." -- Publishers Weekly

"A fascinating account." -- Booklist

"A biography that will enlighten specialists, especially those curious about the Irish roots of Johnson's comfort with split allegiances." -- New York Times

About the Author:
Fintan O'Toole is one of the most influential and interesting writers Ireland has produced in the past ten years. He has written several volumes of essays, a widely acclaimed book on Shakespeare (he is also a gifted theatre critic) and a life of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Traitor's Kiss.

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  • PublisherFaber & Faber
  • Publication date2005
  • ISBN 10 0571218407
  • ISBN 13 9780571218400
  • BindingHardcover
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages320
  • Rating

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9781438427584: White Savage: William Johnson and the Invention of America (Excelsior Editions)

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Published by Faber & Faber (2005)
ISBN 10: 0571218407 ISBN 13: 9780571218400
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