Description
Book SynopsisIn 1758 Peter Williamson, dressed as an Indian, peddled a tale in Scotland about being kidnapped as a young boy, sold into slavery and servitude, captured by Indians, and made a prisoner of war. Separating fact from fiction, Timothy Shannon illuminates the curiosity about America among working-class people on the margins of empire.
Trade ReviewThe compelling story of one man’s remarkable experiences both as a victim of imperial cruelty and as a beneficiary of imperial opportunities, Shannon’s book nicely illustrates the paradoxes of empire for Britons of the eighteenth century. This is a valuable contribution to the history of the British Atlantic world and the experience of empire by people on both sides of the Atlantic. -- Brian Cowan, McGill University
Born in poverty, thrust into servitude, and set adrift in the Atlantic, Peter Williamson seemed destined for a short and anonymous life. Against all odds, he achieved modest fame and prosperity and lived to a ripe old age. In this extraordinary book, Shannon painstakingly separates fact from fiction as he reconstructs a life both exemplary and exceptional and illuminates the contours of the eighteenth-century British Atlantic world. -- Eric Hinderaker, author of
Boston’s MassacreIn a feat of historical detection, Shannon has brilliantly reconstructed the life of Peter Williamson, a Scotsman who achieved fame on both sides of the Atlantic for his misadventures and self-promotion. The result is a profound work that has much to tell us about identity and empire during the eighteenth-century. -- Frank Cogliano, University of Edinburgh
In this masterpiece of historical sleuthing, Shannon reconstructs Peter Williamson’s astounding odyssey throughout the eighteenth-century Atlantic World—a moving and humane portrait of an ordinary person who lived an extraordinary life. -- David Preston, author of
Braddock’s DefeatPeter Williamson was an ordinary man who told extraordinary tales—some of them truthful—about his adventures in the eighteenth-century British Empire. Shannon masterfully sorts out the transatlantic tangle of class and race, performance and retribution, that created this fascinating character.
Indian Captive, Indian King is must reading for those who want to understand the era. -- Daniel K. Richter, author of
Before the Revolution: America’s Ancient PastsWilliamson is a compelling character, but what makes this book so valuable is Shannon’s painstaking, careful analysis as he attempts to separate fact from fiction…This is one of those rare books that will be enjoyed by and serve a variety of readers, including those interested in the British Empire and Atlantic world history. -- J. Rankin * Choice *
