Stephen Brumwell
A Real Cliffhanger
Death or Victory: The Battle of Quebec and the Birth of Empire
By Dan Snow
HarperPress 538pp £25 order from our bookshop
In 1769, an unemployed British Army captain published two volumes recounting his recent experience of the brutal struggle to destroy French power in North America. Reduced to his officer’s half-pay, John Knox must have been gratified by the favourable reviews that soon emerged in London’s leading literary journals. As the Monthly Review critic noted, the highlight of Knox’s Historical Journal was its coverage of the ‘ever memorable’ siege of Quebec, the zenith of Britain’s annus mirabilis of 1759.
Major-General James Wolfe’s victory on the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec still resonates today, although not in a way that Knox and his book’s reviewers can have envisaged. This February, a planned re-enactment to mark the 250thanniversary of the momentous clash between Wolfe’s army and Quebec’s Franco-Canadian
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
‘Even setting to one side the historically neuralgic relationship with ... Ireland, Britain’s insular periphery has from at least the time of the Romans presented difficulties for authorities wishing to centralise.’
Peter Marshall on Britain's islands.
Peter Marshall - Notes from the Atlantic Archipelago
Peter Marshall: Notes from the Atlantic Archipelago - The Britannias: An Island Quest by Alice Albinia
literaryreview.co.uk
Offer ends soon! Take advantage of our best ever Black Friday offer and get a year's subscription for £29.99.
https://www.mymagazinesub.co.uk/literary-review/promo/blackfriday/
Our best ever Black Friday discount!
Offer ends on Monday.