Montcalm and Wolfe
The sixth installment of Parkman’s France and England in North America, published in 1884, is usually named as his finest. It covers the Seven Years War on this continent: Braddock’s destruction on the Monongahela, the fall of Louisbourg, the long approach up the St. Lawrence, and the fifteen minutes on the Plains of Abraham in 1759 that killed both commanders and settled which language North America would argue in. Parkman built it from forty years in the archives and from walking the ground himself. The two title figures carry the design, one a Gascon aristocrat holding a position he knew was lost, the other a sickly, difficult young Englishman with nothing to lose by gambling. Free PDF and EPUB editions are available here.
About the Author
Francis Parkman (1823-1893) was a Boston historian who worked through chronic illness and failing eyesight for most of his life. His seven part France and England in North America took him forty years. He also taught horticulture at Harvard and wrote a respected book about…
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