European and Native American Warfare 1675-1815

1998's "European and Native American Warfare 1675-1815" is a scholarly rebuke to popular mythology about the American frontier. Author Armstrong Starkey compares and contrasts styles of warfare within the context of a clash of European and Native American cultures, as experienced in the Northeast portion of North America. His results help explain the pacing of Westward American settlement. Starkey begins with an account of a French and Indian raid on an Anglo-American fort in upstate New York in 1756. The vignette is well-chosen to illustrate the contrasting styles of warfare that Starkey will explore in his book: the "skulking" forest warfare practiced by the Indians and by some French and Canadians, against a traditional European style of rigid military formations most often employed by the English and Americans. Starkey traces the conflict between the Indians of the Northeast and their English, French, and American opponents from King Philip's War in 1675 to the Battle of the Thames in 1813. His narrative identifies some consistent themes: the inability of the Indians to turn tactical mastery into strategic results, and the slow tactical learning curve that inhibited European exploitation of their strategic advantages in numbers and resources. Starkey does not shy away from the differences in cultures that led to atrocities by both Native Americans and Europeans. His account also explores the lack of political unity that denied the Indians a united front against what amounted to a European invasion. His text is sometimes repetitive, which may confuse the reader with respect to chronology. At roughly 170 pages, the book cannot explore in detail a long and complicated history, which is subject to continuing revision. However,"European and Native American Warfare" is very highly recommended as a robust introduction to the topic.

I purchased this book for my military history class, and 3 years after I have graduated, it's still on my shelf for an interesting read. It's not your latest fiction thriller by any means, but it is well written and the subject matter is fascinating.