Conquered into Liberty: Two Centuries of Battles Along the Great Warpath That Made the American Way of War - Hardcover

Cohen, Eliot A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743249909 ISBN 13: 9780743249904

Publisher: Free Pr, 2011

Synopsis

Americans often think of the Civil War as the conflict that consolidated the United States, including its military values and practices. But there was another, earlier, and more protracted struggle between “North” and “South,” beginning in the 1600s and lasting for more than two centuries, that shaped American geopolitics and military culture. Here, Eliot A. Cohen explains how the American way of war emerged from a lengthy struggle with an unlikely enemy: Canada.

In Conquered into Liberty, Cohen describes how five peoples—the British, French, Americans, Canadians, and Indians—fought over the key to the North American continent: the corridor running from Albany to Montreal dominated by the Champlain valley and known to Native Americans as the “Great Warpath.” He reveals how conflict along these two hundred miles of lake, river, and woodland shaped the country’s military values, practices, and institutions.

Through a vivid narration of a series of fights— woodland skirmishes and massacres, bloody frontal assaults and fleet actions, rear-guard battles and shadowy covert actions—Cohen explores how a distinctively American approach to war developed along the Great Warpath. He weaves together tactics and strategy, battle narratives, and statecraft, introducing readers to such fascinating but little-known figures as Justus Sherwood, loyalist spy; Jeduthan Baldwin, self-taught engineer; and La Corne St. Luc, ruthless partisan leader. And he reintroduces characters we thought we knew—an admirable Benedict Arnold, a traitorous Ethan Allen, and a devious George Washington. A gripping read grounded in serious scholarship, Conquered into Liberty will enchant and inform readers for decades to come.

About this title

Review

"Cohen, among America's leading defense analysts and military historians combines his skills in this comprehensively researched, well-written analysis of the international conflict that more than any other shaped the U.S. way of war. . . . Even issues of contemporary concern, the problems of conventional forces facing irregular opponents and the belief that an adversary can be 'conquered into liberty, ' were first confronted in these battles, as Cohen demonstrates in this original and illuminating study."

--"Publishers Weekly

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"A delightful-to-read piece of American history."

--"Kirkus Reviews

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"Impressive. . . "Conquered into Liberty" excels in its demonstration of the ways in which important components of the American military tradition emerged. . . The stories that Cohen recounts are valuable not only instrumentally--as keys to the origins of the American way of war--but also intrinsically. Simply put, the book contains much interesting . . . history that is likely to be unfamiliar to most readers. . . "Conquered into Liberty" deserves a wide readership that should certainly include anyone interested in American history or military history." --"""The Weekly Standard"

""Conquered Into Liberty "provides an innovative approach to the telling of military history that helps the reader better understand the present. [The book] has a valued place in the library of anyone who wishes to understand the development of the United States and its approach to war."

- "New York Journal of Books"

""Conquered Into Liberty" is beautiful narrative history: The author is a poetic and evocative storyteller. But the book is also valuable for the lessons it imparts and the heritage it conveys. The experience along the Great Warpath has seeped into the American character and helped prepare subsequent warriors to appreciate Washington's famous declaration: 'If you wish for peace, prepare for war.' The Great Warpath's legacy helps our soldiers know that one of the obligations of citizenship is to understand the character of war." -Josiah Bunting, "The Washington Post"

"Mr. Cohen has thus produced the opposite of a dry-as-dust academic tome, and it is full of surprises. . . . As "Conquered Into Liberty" memorably shows, one territory of the country knew little peace for more than a century." "--Wall Street Journal"

"Broad in scope and gripping in its narrative, "Conquered into Liberty"is as informative as it is captivating." --"""ARMY Magazine"

"A brilliant history of our least-known wars on our most-ignored frontier -- our northern border with Canada."

-Doyle McManus

"A fine, thoughtful treatment of a period of American history that rarely receives much attention."--"Seattle Times

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"Conquered into Liberty" is a labor of love. Yet Cohen brings to this project far more than a history buff's enthusiasm. He has spent lifetime writing about military affairs, and the results of his research and reflection are evident on every page of a narrative that does not hesitate to invoke modern comparisons to put the struggles of the past into perspective. ["Conquered into Liberty"] will serve to acquaint a new generation with some of the lesser-known battles that did so much to shape the early Republic." --Max Boot, ""Commentary Magazine ""

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About the Author

Eliot A. Cohen is Robert E. Osgood Professor of Strategic Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the Johns Hopkins University and founding director of the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies. From 2007 to 2009 he was Counselor of the Department of State, serving as Secretary Condoleezza Rice's senior advisor on strategic issues.

Edition details

• Publisher: Free Pr
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0743249909
• ISBN 13: 9780743249904
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 405