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God's frontiersmen: The Scots-Irish epic
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August 17, 2020
The subject matter drew me to this book. I was born and brought up in Belfast and am one of the 'Scots Irish' grouping described in the book.
Fitzpatrick is a good writer who describes events and people in an engaging and interesting way - not easily achieved in this type of work.
The book starts in the Scottish lowlands and 'Borders' and describes the movement to Ulster of a significant number of Calvinist immigrants to colonise the North of Ireland becoming 'Scots-Irish'. It then describes the movements and influence of this group in many areas of the world - USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He describes the 'Frontiersman' nature of the group and how they continued to colonise at the dangerous fringes of the world. Their achievements he maintains, justifiably, were disproportionate to their numbers particularly in the US and Canada. They played major roles as fighters in the War of Independence and in the drafting of the Declaration, no fewer than 10 American presidents came from Scots Irish stock as did several of their 'folk heroes' - Davey Crocket, Kit Carson, Andrew Jackson - Ulysses S grant and Stonewall Jackson were two of several generals in the Civil War.
The sections on Canada and Australia/New Zealand are not as detailed but still hold the reader.
All in all a really enjoyable book that analyses the positive impact of the Scots-Irish well but also does not shirk from highlighting their many shortcomings where appropriate.
Fitzpatrick is a good writer who describes events and people in an engaging and interesting way - not easily achieved in this type of work.
The book starts in the Scottish lowlands and 'Borders' and describes the movement to Ulster of a significant number of Calvinist immigrants to colonise the North of Ireland becoming 'Scots-Irish'. It then describes the movements and influence of this group in many areas of the world - USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He describes the 'Frontiersman' nature of the group and how they continued to colonise at the dangerous fringes of the world. Their achievements he maintains, justifiably, were disproportionate to their numbers particularly in the US and Canada. They played major roles as fighters in the War of Independence and in the drafting of the Declaration, no fewer than 10 American presidents came from Scots Irish stock as did several of their 'folk heroes' - Davey Crocket, Kit Carson, Andrew Jackson - Ulysses S grant and Stonewall Jackson were two of several generals in the Civil War.
The sections on Canada and Australia/New Zealand are not as detailed but still hold the reader.
All in all a really enjoyable book that analyses the positive impact of the Scots-Irish well but also does not shirk from highlighting their many shortcomings where appropriate.
Displaying 1 of 1 review