Wolfe of Quebec

by Robin Reilly

"In the early hours of 13 September, 1759, Major General James Wolfe ordered his army to scale the Heights of Abraham and prepare to bring the French to battle outside Quebec. Shortly after ten o'clock that morning, Montcalm's men began their advance towards the British. Twice wounded, Wolfe waited until the French were only forty yards away before giving the order to open fire. The ensuing musket volley effectively proclaimed the destruction of France's empire in Canada. Minutes later, wounded once more, this time in the chest, Wolfe was dead. He was 32." "Wolfe of Quebec is the authoritative biography of a legendary soldier who died at the moment of his greatest triumph. Wolfe emerges as a perplexing but attractive conundrum. Slight of physique and suffering from tuberculosis, he seemed ill-prepared to direct a protracted campaign in a harsh continent, and his eccentricity sometimes lent him an air of madness. But his leadership was brilliant and his moral courage unquestionable."--J