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My search revealed that Professor Anderson had been involved in a PBS series, "The War That Made America". I found the DVD at one of the branch libraries. The dramatic documentary tells the story of the French and Indian War (1754-1763), which began in the wilderness of the Pennsylvania frontier and spread throughout the colonies, into Canada, and ultimately around the world. It has 4 episodes plus some short extra interviews with a bunch of historians.
I just finished the DVD and have started to read the companion book (same title) by Fred Anderson. It looks like it is something of an abridged version of "The Crucible of War." 288 pages seems doable compared to 912.
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Links:
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2014/04/good-friday-in-rome.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_and_Indian_War
http://www.wqed.org/tv/specials/the-war-that-made-america/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Wahoo
Written Sunday 4 May 2014