"Bloody Mohawk"

Bloody Mohawk: The French and Indian War & American Revolution on New York's Frontier (Richard Berleth)

I really enjoyed this book. Berleth's sweeping history of the Mohawk river valley is engrossing - the story picks up where the English have already come and taken over from the Dutch, who are snooty old money at this point, and the people of the long house have an uneasy co-existance with the white settlers, supplying them with pelts in return for manufactured goods. The book follows the sweep of events until at the end, the confederation of the native peoples is ripped apart in the extremely bloody and personal conflict of the Revolutionary War (spoiler alert).
My only word of warning here is that "Bloody Mohawk" really isn't kidding. During the first half of the book it's not too bad, but by the time the Revolutionary War starts, it's a mercy when people are just getting shot point-blank in the face with muskets and not getting scalped while still alive or hung with their own entrails.
If you can deal with the depressing and frankly astonishing amount of blood shed in the second half, you won't want to miss this.

Grade: A