The French and Indian War and the Struggle for North America, 1754-1763 is the subtitle. On May 28, 1754, a group of militia and Indians led bya twenty-two-year-old major names George Washington surprised a camp of sleeping French soldiers near present-day Pittsburgh. The brief but deadly exchange of fire that ensued lit the match that, in Horace Walpole's memorable phrase, would "set the world on fire." The resulting French and Indian War in North America escalated into a global conflict fought across Europe, Africa, and the East and West Indies. Before it ended, nearly one million men had died.

Empires at War captures the sweeping panorama of this first "world war," especially focusing on the engagements in North America, many of them epic struggles in the wilderness between British and French armies and their Indian allies.

William M. Fowler Jr.
ISBN 0-8027-7737-6
Soft cover