Conquered into Liberty - by Eliot A Cohen (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"A brilliant history of our least-known wars on our most-ignored frontier--our northern border with Canada" (Los Angeles Times).

Redirecting our attention from the Civil War to the real conflict that consolidated the United States, Cohen describes how five groups-- the British, French, Americans, Canadians, and Indians--fought over the key to the North American continent: the corridor running from Albany to Montreal, known to Native Americans as the "Great Warpath." He explores how a distinctly American approach to war developed along these 200 miles, reintroducing characters we thought we knew--an admirable Benedict Arnold, a traitorous Ethan Allen, and a devious George Washington. A gripping read grounded in serious scholarship, Conquered into Liberty will enchant readers for decades to come.

Review Quotes

""Conquered into Liberty" is a powerful and ingenious history--a story of prolonged, tribal war set within ideological conflict and superpower competition; of intense battles of regulars, militias, indigenous forces, and proxies including savage terror, kidnapping, and worse; and of coalition operations where strategic aims often did not match resources allocated and actual war requirements were not understood in distant capitals. Cohen's account at once explains an important period of American history and puts today's wars in proper context."

--LTG (Retired) Jim Dubik, Senior Fellow, the Institute for the Study of War and former Commanding General of Multi-National Security and Transition Command and NATO Training Mission, Iraq 2007-2008

"Eliot Cohen has written a brilliant account of a little known, but important, period in our country's history. It is a riveting work that masterfully describes how pre-Revolutionary War events shaped our nation's approach to war. It is a must read for all Americans."

--General Anthony C. Zinni USMC (Ret.)

"Eliot Cohen is the David McCullough of the American frontier. He has written a fascinating history of heroes, rogues and rugged individualists who almost united Canada and America. Cohen captivates the reader by recounting the battles and dissecting the 'what if's?' of history that determined the courses both of America and Canada. A rich, page-turning tale of war and survival, of ambition and empire, of men who sought adventure and refused defeat."

--Bing West, bestselling author of "The Village, The Strongest Tribe "and "The Wrong War"

"Eliot Cohen's "Conquered into Liberty" provides an illuminating account of America's early struggles in the northeast border region from one of our nation's foremost experts on military affairs. Insightful and penetrating in its analysis, this is not just a remarkable work of history; it traces the roots of the institutions and culture that continue to shape America's armed forces in our own time."

--Condoleezza Rice, Professor of Political Economy, Stanford University and Sixty-Sixth Secretary of State of the United States

"There has been no dearth of books that have analyzed America's wars, primarily from a military and political viewpoint. Yet Eliot Cohen has mined an unexplored third vein of influence, stemming from its pre-colonial and frontier past, which still echo today. "Conquered Into Liberty "is an insightful and creative new exploration of the distinctively American approach to warfare."

--Henry A. Kissinger

"A brilliant history of our least-known wars on our most-ignored frontier -- our northern border with Canada."

-Doyle McManus

"A fine, thoughtful treatment of a period of American history that rarely receives much attention."--"Seattle Times

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"Conquered into Liberty" is a labor of love. Yet Cohen brings to this project far more than a history buff's enthusiasm. He has spent lifetime writing about military affairs, and the results of his research and reflection are evident on every page of a narrative that does not hesitate to invoke modern comparisons to put the struggles of the past into perspective. ["Conquered into Liberty"] will serve to acquaint a new generation with some of the lesser-known battles that did so much to shape the early Republic." --Max Boot, ""Commentary Magazine ""

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""Conquered Into Liberty" is beautiful narrative history: The author is a poetic and evocative storyteller. But the book is also valuable for the lessons it imparts and the heritage it conveys. The experience along the Great Warpath has seeped into the American character and helped prepare subsequent warriors to appreciate Washington's famous declaration: 'If you wish for peace, prepare for war.' The Great Warpath's legacy helps our soldiers know that one of the obligations of citizenship is to understand the character of war." -Josiah Bunting, "The Washington Post"

"Broad in scope and gripping in its narrative, "Conquered into Liberty"is as informative as it is captivating." --"""ARMY Magazine"

"Mr. Cohen has thus produced the opposite of a dry-as-dust academic tome, and it is full of surprises. . . . As "Conquered Into Liberty" memorably shows, one territory of the country knew little peace for more than a century." "--Wall Street Journal"

""Conquered Into Liberty "provides an innovative approach to the telling of military history that helps the reader better understand the present. [The book] has a valued place in the library of anyone who wishes to understand the development of the United States and its approach to war."

- "New York Journal of Books"

"A delightful-to-read piece of American history."

--"Kirkus Reviews

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"Cohen, among America's leading defense analysts and military historians combines his skills in this comprehensively researched, well-written analysis of the international conflict that more than any other shaped the U.S. way of war. . . . Even issues of contemporary concern, the problems of conventional forces facing irregular opponents and the belief that an adversary can be 'conquered into liberty, ' were first confronted in these battles, as Cohen demonstrates in this original and illuminating study."

--"Publishers Weekly

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"Impressive. . . "Conquered into Liberty" excels in its demonstration of the ways in which important components of the American military tradition emerged. . . The stories that Cohen recounts are valuable not only instrumentally--as keys to the origins of the American way of war--but also intrinsically. Simply put, the book contains much interesting . . . history that is likely to be unfamiliar to most readers. . . "Conquered into Liberty" deserves a wide readership that should certainly include anyone interested in American history or military history." --"""The Weekly Standard"

About the Author

Eliot A. Cohen is a political scientist, a professor at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the Johns Hopkins University, and the founding director of the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies. From 2007 to 2009 he was Counselor of the Department of State, serving as Secretary Condoleezza Rice's senior advisor on strategic issues. Follow him on X @EliotACohen.