A radical reinterpretation of early American history from a native point of view.
Michael A. McDonnell is an associate professor of history at the University of Sydney. He is the author of The Politics of War: Race, Class, and Conflict in Revolutionary Virginia, winner of the 2008 New South Wales Premier's History Prize, and coeditor of Remembering the Revolution: Memory, History, and Nation-Making from Independence to the Civil War. His work was included in the Best American History Essays 2008 and he won the Lester Cappon Prize for the best article published in the William and Mary Quarterly in 2006. He has received numerous research scholarships and grants in the United States and Australia and has served as a distinguished lecturer for the Organization of American Historians. He lives in Sydney, Australia.
"Masters of Empire is a master class in how to do history right. If
anyone is at all interested in knowing how to 'help' Indian people,
they would do no better than following McDonnell's example: trying
(and succeeding) in seeing our history and our actions as
representative of smart, savvy, thinking actors in our own lives.
This is an astounding book." --David Treuer, The Los Angeles Times
"[Masters of Empire] makes a compelling case for the overwhelming
power of the Anishinaabeg tribes of the Great Lakes region
throughout the Colonial period." --The New Yorker "A fresh--and
important--perspective on the history of colonial America . . .
Like all fine works of history, Masters of Empire will force
readers to think hard, this time about how much influence and power
Indians had in colonial America -- and about when and why they lost
it." --Glen Altschuler, Minneapolis Star-Tribune "In Masters of
Empire, historian Michael McDonnell describes a long-running
history of contact, conflict, and collaboration among native
peoples, English settlers, and French traders that took place in
the region controlled by native peoples known collectively as the
Anishinaabeg.. . . the research and analysis are stirring on their
own. Instead of chronicling a simple Revolutionary War story that
culminated a unified new nation, McDonnell's book attempts . . . to
complicate the way we understand both our country's birth and its
forebears (and, not coincidentally, its current inhabitants). We
can only hope that someday our children's children will learn about
Fort Michilimackinac alongside the Old North Church." --Kate
Tuttle, The Boston Globe "Meticulously researched, McDonnell's
scholarly yet compelling history will be a valuable addition to
American history and Native American collections." --Deborah
Donovan, Booklist "McDonnell . . . deploys impeccable research
skills to challenge the 'middle grounds' historical interpretation
of Native American-European encounters . . . With a fascinating
reexamination of the political, military, and economic details of
the war, as well as a stunning final chapter on the American
Revolution and the meaning of (in)dependence, McDonnell admirably
expands readers' understanding of 'Indian country on its own
terms.'" --Publishers Weekly "McDonnell skillfully captures the
history of the [Anishinaabeg] from the seventeenth century through
the early nineteenth century, restoring the nation's legacy and
filling in a vital historical link in the timeline of the
Americas." --Kirkus Reviews "McDonnell makes a compelling case that
the [Anishinaabeg] were not victims of European colonization but
instead used their military and economic prowess to control and
dictate how the world around them evolved." --John R. Burch,
Library Journal "In clear and compelling prose, Michael A.
McDonnell renders a complicated world accessible, a marginalized
region central, and a neglected history essential. Rethinking
pivotal events from indigenous centers like Michilimackinac rather
than from colonial capitals like Boston or Williamsburg, Masters of
Empire provides an important perspective for a richer understanding
of early American history." --Collin G. Calloway, John Kimball Jr.
1943 Professor of History, Dartmouth College "In recent years
scholars have begun to argue that the center of America's
historical gravity should shift from the East Coast to the heart of
the continent. Michael A. McDonnell's Masters of Empire makes an
important contribution to that reorientation. Piecing together the
story of the Anishinaabeg in general and the Odawa of
Michilimackinac in particular, McDonnell offers a new perch from
which to view the course of human events during the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, thereby making a powerful case for
Michilimackinac's joining Boston, Philadelphia, and other
better-known capitals vital to understanding America's past."
--James H. Merrell, Lucy Maynard Salmon Professor of History,
Vassar College "This is a sweeping and majestic analysis of the
colonial Great Lakes, which places the Odawa people at the heart of
a new understanding about how the French and later the British were
thwarted in their attempts to shape and control this region."
--Susan Sleeper-Smith, Professor of History, Michigan State
University "With elegant prose and a keen eye for detail, Michael
A. McDonnell brings to life the dynamic world of Great Lakes
Indians in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This is
native-centered history at its best, revealing how the Odawa and
their neighbors not only controlled their own destinies in the face
of colonialism but also shaped the fabric of American life for many
generations. A powerful story expertly told." --Brett Rushforth,
author of Bonds of Alliance: Indigenous and Atlantic Slaveries in
New France
"Insightful and evocative, Masters of Empire compels us to rethink
colonial America by restoring native peoples to the center of the
story. Along vast waterways in the heart of a continent, natives
controlled the intrusive but weak officials and traders of distant
empires. Michael A. McDonnell brilliantly recovers and deftly
narrates a tale of resourceful persistence by the Anishinaabeg."
--Alan Taylor, author of The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens,
British Subjects, Irish Rebels, and Indian Allies "With lively
prose and page-turning action, Michael A. McDonnell introduces
readers to a whole new world. Everyone interested in American
history should read this magisterial tale of how the Odawa lived
through and shaped the history of North America and the early
modern world." --Kathleen DuVal, Professor of History, University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill "Michael A. McDonnell shows that for
much longer than anyone has dared to imagine, Great Lakes Indians
stood firm as the masters of their own destiny--and powerfully
influenced events as iconic as the American Revolution." --Woody
Holton, author of Abigail Adams "In this tour de force, Michael A.
McDonnell brilliantly shows how the Anishinaabeg of the Upper Great
Lakes played a crucial role in the run-up to the American
Revolution. This 'native-driven' history will send historians
scurrying to revise their interpretation of imperial and native
rivalries in the mid-continent west of the Appalachians." --Gary
Nash, Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles
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