Osprey Publications latest in the Elite series is Raiders from New France which covers North American Forest Warfare in the 17^th and 18^th century. At the time, warfare was a formal affair with men in lines advancing other men’s lines or the like. This area of North America at the time was wilderness, Indians and stand alone forts so a new type of warfare was developed and that is the focus of this book along with the people and weapons that fought in those wars.

The book is broken into well thought out chapters and include:

• Introduction
• The Beginnings- Champlain, Frontenac and La Barre- 1608-85
• Raid Warfare-
  • Frontenac’s Return, 1690
  • Anglo American Attacks on New France- 1690-1701
  • Queen Anne’s War- 1702-13
  • The Fox Wars- 1712-37
• The Final Decades- 1740s-50s
• Men, Equipment and Methods
• Select Bibliography
• Index

I like the fact things are sequential so as you read, the history unfolds and develops as it really did during the time. It also helps that the book is lavishly illustrated with maps, painting and drawings showing each step or group.

The primary focus of the book is raid warfare. Raid warfare is defined as planning and executing smaller attacks on specific targets and not following the warfare of the days. The first of these was the French attack on Fort Hayes led by Captain de Troyes. To get to the fort required a travel distance of 750 miles. This was captured and then part of the force traveled another 124 miles to take Fort Rupert. This too was captured.

This format is followed between wars and skirmishes for the book until final resolution in the 1750’s with the French-Indian Wars France granting all of Canada to Britain in 1763.

With each of these chapters, there are full color plates of many of the participants showing their dress. I included several pictures of these as they are wonderful reference for modelers.

The section on Men and Weapons is extremely interesting showing the rifles and knives of the time but also the tomahawks. He methods of transportation such as canoes is featured, snow shoes and many other pertinent items and methods used during the time. All is very well illustrated with period pictures and modern drawings.

In summary, this era of time was a great change in warfare methods and a time of colonization and this book covers all with great illustration. Recommended to modelers and history fans everywhere.

My thanks to Osprey books for the opportunity to read and review the book.