Quebec: The Story of Three Sieges
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by Stephen Manning
McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal, 2009
220 pp., illus., $34.95 hardcover
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham is one of the defining moments in both Quebec and Canadian history. The story of the siege of Quebec, and the city’s ultimate capture by British troops in 1759, is well-known.
What isn’t as well understood is that this was only one chapter in the story of the battle for the great North American fortress. In Quebec: The Story of Three Sieges, Stephen Manning details the 1759 battle for Quebec, but also the 1760 attempt by French forces to recapture the city, as well as a 1775 attack by Benedict Arnold during the American Revolution.
Manning, an honorary visiting professor of history at the University of Exeter in England, specializes in Victorian military history. While he offers new insights on the battles from his vantage point across the pond, it’s jarring to Canadian ears when he uses American terminology to describe the fight for Quebec — for instance, he constantly refers to the conflict as the “French and Indian War,” rather than the “Seven Year’s War.”
The book nonetheless provides a good starting point for information on the many clashes for the city of Quebec.
— Mark Collin Reid (Read bio)
Mark Collin Reid is the Editor-in-Chief of Canada's History.