Wacousta

By John Richardson

Set in the 1760s at the time of Pontiac’s Indian alliance against the British, Wacousta combines elements of revenge tragedy and gothic romance in reconstructing a violent episode in Canadian frontier history. In Major John Richardson’s vivid depiction, Pontiac’s campaign against Fort Detroit is masterminded by the mysterious Wacousta, a Byronic anti-hero whose thirst for vengeance against the fortress commander borders on madness. Turning upon binary oppositions – garrison against wilderness, restraint against passion, mercy against justice – this suspenseful novel creates a world of deception and terror in which motive is ambiguous and the boundary between order and anarchy unclear.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 12, 2014
• ISBN: 9781551997506

John Richardson

John Richardson is based at the Open University, UK.

Reviews for Wacousta

[jruel_3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I read this book relatively long ago, and it was for a college class, ie, I had to. I'll be frank and say I would never have read this otherwise, but it is in no way a bad read. Just a rather banal one. Comparisons with "Last of the Mohicans" could be made, to the latter's advantage, no doubt, but the subject matter is very similar, if such is your cup of tea. In any case, I suppose it's a good historical relation of life in the British/Canadian forts along the border with the United States, and of the Anglo-American wars.

[charlie68_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good rip roaring read, lots of blood, guts and scalps! Not for the faint hearted. Some of the plot points on second inspection might be hard to believe, but fun nonetheless.