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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 355
EAN num: 9781841761916
ISBN number: 1841761915
Label: Osprey Publishing
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 96
Printing Date: July 25, 2001
Publishing house: Osprey Publishing
Release Date: July 25, 2001
Sale Popularity Level: 481316
Studio: Osprey Publishing
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The closest thing to total war before World War One, the Seven Years' War was fought in North America, Europe, the Caribbean and India with major consequences for all parties involved. This fascinating book is the very first to truly review the grand strategies of the combatants and examine the differing styles of warfare used in the many campaigns. These ranged from the large-scale battles and sieges of the European front to the ambush and skirmish tactics used in the forests of North America. Daniel Marston's engaging narrative is supported by official war papers, personal diaries and memoirs, and official reports.
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Rated by buyers 
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All in all, Daniel Marston does a fine job in summarizing this conflict. Most students in America learn about the French & Indian War. Few students realize that this war was really just one theater of operations in the larger Seven Years War. In this book, Marston provides a good overview of this other war. This is no small feat as the war encompassed four major theaters and lasted for nearly a decade.
As with all Osprey books, the chapters are broken down into the familiar sections of background, fighting, chronology, and the various portraits of civilians and soldiers. "The fighting" chapter is very first broken down by year. Within each year, the author further breaks down the fighting by geographic theater, North America, Western Europe, Central Europe, and the Indian subcontinent. Clear geographic maps are located in the early part of the book. As the reader goes through each year, they are taken to three different continents. Remembering where a certain battle took place in relation to a previous engagement can be confusing. By referencing these geographic maps, the reader is able to keep up with the author. Of course, the fact that the reader even needs to keep up with the author is a bit of a negative.
Clear maps that show the disposition and movement of the opposing forces accompany some battles. For example, the maps of the Battle of Minden and the First Battle of the Plains of Abraham are in colour and provide excellent detail. Unfortunately, the author used antique maps to support other battles. The maps of the Battles of Kunersdorf and Zorndorf are practically worthless from an information point of view. They are a nice addition as a form of art but provide no useful data on the battle itself. In some cases, the reader is unable to even see the map's legend.
The chapter on "The World Around War" provides fascinating information on the economic aspects of this conflict. Mr. Marston does an excellent job of illustrating how each country financed its war effort and the ramifications of those decisions. Finally, the author leaves the reader with a few gems in the last chapter. Most people learn that a major cause of the American Revolution was the issue of taxation. Here, the author shows how the seeds of discontent were sown well before taxation became an issue. He briefly mentions the Quebec Act of 1774 which gave certain rights to French Canadians based on their catholic religion. England also gave them administrative rights over the new lands in the Ohio Valley; a move that incensed the thirteen colonies.
Bottom Line: This book is a pretty good summary of what was clearly a world war. Some of the maps are weak and the constant change between theaters of operations can be confusing. Nevertheless, Mr. Marston should be given credit for covering such an expansive war as well as he does. All things considered, the book is well worth the time spent reading it.
Rated by buyers -
The "Essential Histories" series from Osprey could easily be compared to the Cliff Notes series. They'll give you a nice introduction to a topic you are not familiar with, but no real depth. Most volumns are under 100 pages; therefore, don't expect many "man in the trenches" stories.
This is a nice introduction to this war, in particular to someone interested in the wars involving North America. I can't say I found this volumn as interesting as some of the others, but I did learn from it.
Rated by buyers -
The Seven Years' War was a very important period. Marston has done a good job in creating a clear and coherent overall picture, using his very short (91 pages) history book to summarize the war.
Some of the cons of the book are that he hashes through the battles much too quickly, simply stating in a few sentences what happened and so on. He doesn't mention the main players, with the exception of a few of the generals, and leaves over the telling of the battle to be Britain versus France or Prussia versus Austria and so on. So the battles are explained in a very generic form.
The pros, though, outweigh the cons. The beginning chapter and the ending sections are great in that they help to explain some of the more mundane aspects, such as a soldier or nun's point of view from their journals. We see a summary in the end on how much the war cost and what the effect was on that country and its future. Additionally, the middle section (which covers the battles of the war) are broken apart by years, and then within the year it is broken down by either North America, Western Europe, Central Europe and India, which makes for a very concise and organized structure that is easily navigable.
This book did exactly what I wanted, which was to understand the Seven Years' War on more of an international level rather than the typically localized level of the North American continent (a much more deep and detail oriented history of the Seven Years' War could be found at _The Crucible of War_ by Fred Anderson). Although it skimped on the details, I have a springboard to look for further books. I would recommend only if you are looking for a summary of the war, especially in regards to both North America and Europe, otherwise try Anderson's book.
Rated by buyers 
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This book was researched and written with scrupulous care. Any reader can see this from the opening pages. There is a wide variety of interesting images, illustrating important points in the text. The author uses primary sources: there are quotations from accounts written by men who actually served in the various theaters of the Seven Years War. The narrative is rich in historical detail, and the details are all chosen to illustrate issues that the author thinks are most critical in understanding these events. The great mass of information about the war has been synthesized and compacted into clear arguments about how the war was shaped by economic, social, and political pressures, as well as by the different ways that each nation organized their military. The author also shows how the resolution of the war changed some of these structures, affecting events that followed.
Anyone except a professional historian will finish this book with more facts and figures about the Seven Years War than when he or she began. But this is not what I valued most highly about it. I closed this book with a clear sense of the shape of the war, an almost visual image, that tied all this information together. The ability to create so much coherence out of so many global events in such a small number of pages is a rare talent. I would recommend this book to anyone with any interest in learning more about this period.
Rated by buyers -
Daniel Marston's SEVEN YEARS' WAR is a well-researched scholarly account of that conflict. Marston tackles a broad and complicated subject in an comprehensible manner, producing an excellent introduction for any person unfamiliar with the Seven Years' War.
The account is split into several sections, addressing the causes of the conflict, the warring sides, the fighting, and the conclusion of the war. The fighting section deals with all of the various fronts of the war: North America, India, and Europe. Marston highlights the important battles and also focuses on important tactical innovations.
One of the greatest attractions to this book is Marston's in-depth and accurate research. Most books that are readable do not contain this level of scholarly investigation. In particular, on the conflict in North America, better known as the French and Indian Wars in the United States, Marston presents an account firmly backed up by rigorous archival research. Thus, this book represents a very readable yet academic introduction to the Seven Years' War.
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