Timothy J. Shannon is Professor of History at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, PA.
The 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 Massacre*
In 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 Defeat*
Peter 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 Pasts*
Williamson 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.
*Choice*
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