White Savage

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.



Fintan O'Toole was born in Dublin in 1958. He has been a columnist and critic with the Irish Times since 1988, was drama critic of the Daily News in New York from 1997 until 2001, and is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books. His books include A Traitor's Kiss: The Life of Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Shakespeare is Hard, but so is Life.



White Savage: William Johnson and the Invention of America by Fintan O'Toole 'Tells the astonishing story of Sir William Johnson . . . Hero, adventurer, servant of the crown, Irishman, lover - Johnson was all of these.' (Stella Tillyard)