White Savage: William Johnson and the Invention of America

Fintan O'Toole

A dramatic, exciting and tragic book about the Irish fur trapper who held the fate of America and the British Empire in his hands.

William Johnson began life as a poor Irish Catholic peasant. After converting to Protestantism, he emigrated to America where he became the leading fur trader in the British colony and one of its richest men. He also 'went native', marrying an Indian woman and adopting the religion of her tribe, the Iroquois. When war broke out between the French and English, Johnson held the fate of the British Empire in his hands. If the Indians fought with the French, the British were doomed.

A fascinating historical biography of this adventurous man, whose reinvention in the New World made him the first modern American.