Reviews:
“It is thankfully a work of genius ... History has until now had it that Indians were pawns or pieces moved about and wielded by various colonial empires. McDonnell shows us — with painstaking research and incredible insight — that the Odawa and allied Great Lakes tribes dictated the terms of trade, forced the colonists into unadvantageous alliances and created their own empire that still remains.”
“McDonnell explains that Euro-Americans have always been unable to understand what went on at Mackinac, or Michilimackinac, where Lakes Huron and Michigan come together. ”
“McDonnell deploys impeccable research skills to challenge the ‘middle grounds’ historical interpretation of Native American-European encounters...starting with a compelling account of the politics and culture of the region…and including a fascinating reexamination of the political, military, and economic details of the Seven Years’ War, as well as a stunning final chapter on the American Revolution and the meaning of (in)dependence, McDonnell admirably expands readers’ understanding of ‘Indian country on its own terms.’”
“This revisionist history makes a compelling case for the overwhelming power of the Anishinaabeg tribes of the Great Lakes region throughout the Colonial period.”
“As a political force in the region, the Anishinaabeg’s influence was critical in forging allegiances during the Seven Years’ War, ultimately reshaping imperial politics in the Americas. McDonnell skillfully captures the history of the group from the 17th century through the early 19th century, restoring the nation’s legacy and filling in a vital historical link in the timeline of the Americas….Engrossing and authoritative, McDonnell’s rich history is academic in nature but welcoming to lay readers.”
“The research and analysis are stirring….instead of chronicling a simple Revolutionary War story that culminated a unified new nation, McDonnell’s book attempts, as have others recently, to complicate the way we understand both our country’s birth and its forebears (and, not coincidentally, its current inhabitants). We can only hope that someday our children’s children will learn about Fort Michilimackinac alongside the Old North Church.”
“This book is a strong addition to the growing body of early American scholarship that centers on Native peoples in the interior of the continent, revealing new aspects of community and imperial relationships. ... Highly recommended.”
“Meticulously researched, McDonnell’s scholarly yet compelling history will be a valuable addition to American history and Native American collections”
“Utilizing an impressive array of primary and ethnographic sources, the author documents from their perspective how the Anishinaabeg…exerted their power locally [and] helped ignite the French and Indian War. McDonnell makes a compelling case that the natives were not victims of European colonization but instead used their military and economic prowess to control and dictate how the world around them evolved.”
“McDonnell’s angle of vision provides a fresh — and important — perspective on the history of colonial America. ... Like all fine works of history, “Masters of Empire” will force readers to think hard, this time about how much influence and power Indians had in colonial America — and about when and why they lost it.”
“...shows how the Odawa both controlled their own destinies in the face of colonialism and influenced events as iconic as the American Revolution.”
“Masters of Empire is a masterful work ... McDonnell casts the European empires as dependents of the Odawa and other Indigenous nations in the pays d’en haut.”
“Masters of Empire is a masterful work....It is original in focus and narrative, and something that every student of Indigenous-Settlers relations and Early America must take note of.”
“McDonnell’s Masters of Empire is a meticulously researched book that will stimulate debate in university classrooms here and in America.”
“McDonnell skillfully demonstrates how much Great Lakes tribes, especially the Anishinaabeg…played the English and French against each other….A powerful look at the Great Lakes during the dawn of the Europeans.”
“Throughout this very readable history, McDonnell makes a strong case for the power and skill of the Odawa and Ojibwe in shaping their future and the future of the American continent. It is a native-driven history that fills a void in the formative years of the republic and a re-interpretation of the role of Natives in influencing American history.”
“Although he draws on familiar sources, McDonnell has nonetheless produced a work that is fresh, engaging, and provocative. His book is groundbreaking in that Native Americans are not just actors in a world changing to the beat of colonial drums, as is often the case in Native American History. His Odawa are actually prime movers in American history and their actions "often changed the course of North American events" (327).”
— Christophe Boucher, College of Charleston, American Studies, vol. 55, no. 2 (2016): 96-97
“McDonnell argues that “the history of the Odawas at Michilimackinac revealed just how much the Anishinaabeg of the Great Lakes had shaped early America” (7). Over the course of more than 300 pages he takes what appears familiar and forces readers to reconsider the historical actors and processes that shaped those events. That characteristic alone makes Masters of Empire a worthwhile read.”
— John P. Bowes, Eastern Kentucky University, The Annals of Iowa, vol. 75, no. 3 (2016): 260-262
“McDonnell's attention to intersecting indigenous and imperial worlds in the Upper Great Lakes (focusing on the Anishinaabe Odawa at Michili-mackinac Island) asked us to shift from a conventional east-to-west visual orientation toward one where in all directions "numerous and long-standing rivalries and relationships" (13) with other Native nations took daily precedence over the geopolitics of European empires.”
“This well-researched and beautifully written account is much needed and well overdue. … Masters of Empire will force historians, particularly those of the American Revolution, to rethink an Atlantic-centered approach. … According to McDonnell, “viewed from Indian country, Native Americans helped set into motion the chain of events that would lead to the Declaration of Independence” (pp. 272–73). Moreover, he contends that the eventual outcome of the war was also the product of indigenous decision making. Masters of Empire is a thought-provoking and important work. One hopes that future histories of the Americas will include such nuanced and native-centered approaches.”
— James Joseph Buss, Salisbury University, Journal of American History, vol. 103, no. 3 (2016): 742
“Michael A. McDonnell's Masters of Empire offers a new model of North American history that exhaustively pursues the continentally significant networks that formed around one native group - the Anishinaabe Odawa of Michilimackinac. Though it focuses on a tribe and place that may be unfamiliar to some readers, McDonnell's book offers an utterly new way of looking at the most familiar events of imperial history, suggesting just how little European agents, explorers, and ethnographers really did know about the world they wanted to control.”
— Jeffrey Glover, Loyola University Chicago, Early American Literature, vol. 52, no. 1 (2017): 177-266
“There is much to ponder, and perhaps critique, in this impressive book. … Rather than being weaknesses, however, these stand as reminders that we have much more to learn about the history of the colonial and early national Old Northwest.”
“Masters of Empire establishes European weakness as a foundation for the equally important story of the complex, Native-centered networks of alliance and rivalry that defined politics in the pays d’en haut. … Masters of Empire tells a powerful story of Odawa “strength and expansion in the midst of empire” that will serve as a model for future work by early Americanists (15).”
— Jacob F. Lee, Pennsylvania State University, Ethnohistory, vol. 64, no. 4 (2017): 535-536
“McDonnell does assume that the readers of Masters of Empires will possess a considerable knowledge of North American colonial history. The book's engagingly written style, however, lends itself toward a wide readership beyond academic audiences. By tracing Odawa Anishinaabe history over the longue durée, McDonnell captures the important meanings of Native peoples' actions, rather than just their words or the Europeans' interpretation of their words.”
— Patrick Lozar, University of Washington, American Indian Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 4 (2017): 398-401
“In his new, richly researched, and elegantly written book, Michael McDonnell synthesizes and provocatively extends this recent scholarship with enviable concision and clarity. His book is tour de force of historical scholarship and will likely be the standard work on the topic for some considerable time to come.”
“Masters of Empire provides—via a thoroughly accessible read for students, scholars, and the general public— an important reinterpretation of colonial authority and Anishinaabe political agency during this period.”
“McDonnell masterfully guides his readers through a complex series of diplomatic maneuvers and military engagements in a clear, cohesive style. The way Masters of Empire weaves the Aninshinaabeg into the fabric of American history is both groundbreaking and credible, and it should serve as a model for educators and writers looking to reconceptualize Eurocentric narratives.”
“A wonderfully researched microhistory of the Michilimackinac area from the mid-17th to the early 19th century….In addition to revealing Michilimackinac as the main nexus of western trade, Masters of Empire’s most enduring contribution is likely to be McDonnell’s rendering of the French and Indian War and Pontiac’s Rebellion as a series of Anglo-Indian Wars in which the Odawa were at the centre of a pan-Indian effort to roll back English advances and restore an older equilibrium.”
— Adam Nadeau, Borealia: A Group Blog on Early Canadian History, June 26, 2016
“Instructors seeking monographs that reflect current historiography in this field will find Masters of Empire a useful book for students who already have an understanding of the basic chronology of colonial events. … By shifting his primary perspective from Europeans to Indians, McDonnell not only engages with contemporary historiographical issues but also helps point the way to a new standard colonial narrative that hopefully avoids both European triumphalism and Indian declension while helping bring into view the far more complicated and compelling histories of the many varied regions that comprise North America.“
“They were, McDonnell says, "at the center of a powerful network that expanded over the colonial period. They and their kin dominated the Lakes in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and were able to manipulate relations with newcomers, including Europeans, to their advantage" (17). … The Anishnaabeg, in short, were "masters" of empire along the Great Lakes.”
— Kristofer Ray, Dartmouth College, Ohio Valley History, vol. 18, no. 1 (2018): 81-84
“Masters of Empire is an impressive scholarly accomplishment. McDonnell's analysis of warfare, diplomacy, and Indian coalescence throughout the pays d'en haut reveals just how complex the history of this region was during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This is a landmark book that is sure to prompt new and important historiographical conversations.”
— Gregory D. Smithers, Virginia Commonwealth University, The Historian, vol. 79, no. 4 (2017): 863-864
Advance Praise:
“This is a sweeping and majestic analysis of the colonial Great Lakes, which places the Odawa people at the heart of a new understanding about how the French and later, the British were thwarted in their attempts to shape and control this region.”
“In clear and compelling prose Michael McDonnell renders a complicated world accessible, a marginalized region central, and a neglected history essential. Rethinking pivotal events from indigenous centers like Michilimackinac rather than from colonial capitals like Boston or Williamsburg, Masters of Empire provides an important perspective for a richer understanding of early American history. ”
“Insightful and evocative, Masters of Empire compels us to rethink colonial America by restoring native peoples to the center of the story. Along vast waterways in the heart of a continent, natives controlled the intrusive but weak officials and traders of distant empires. Mike McDonnell brilliantly recovers and deftly narrates a tale of resourceful persistence by the Anishinaabeg.”
“With elegant prose and a keen eye for detail, Michael McDonnell brings to life the dynamic world of Great Lakes Indians in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This is Native-centered history at its best, revealing how the Odawa and their neighbors not only controlled their own destinies in the face of colonialism, but also shaped the fabric of American life for many generations. A powerful story expertly told.”
“In recent years scholars have begun to argue that the center of America’s historical gravity should shift from the East Coast to the heart of the continent. Michael A. McDonnell’s Masters of Empire makes an important contribution to that reorientation. Piecing together the story of the Anishinaabeg in general and the Odawa of Michilimackinac in particular, McDonnell offers a new perch from which to view ‘the course of human events’ during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, thereby making a powerful case for Michilimackinac’s joining Boston, Philadelphia, and other, better-known capitals vital to understanding America’s past.”
“In this tour de force, Michael McDonnell brilliantly shows how the Anishinaabeg of the Upper Great Lakes played a crucial role in the run-up to the American Revolution. This “Native-driven” history will send historians scurrying to revise their interpretation of imperial and Native rivalries in the mid-continent west of the Appalachians.”
“With lively prose and page-turning action, Michael McDonnell introduces readers to a whole new world. Everyone interested in American history should read this magisterial tale of how the Anishinaabe Odawa lived through and shaped the history of North America and the early modern world.”
“Michael A. McDonnell shows that for much longer than anyone has dared to imagine, Great Lakes Indians stood firm as the masters of their own destiny―and powerfully influenced events as iconic as the American Revolution.”
About the Book:
Winner, Robert M. Utley Award, Western Historical Association, 2016
Winner, Michigan State History Award, The Historical Society of Michigan, 2016
Honorable Mention, The Erminie Wheeler-Voeglin Book Award, The American Society for Ethnohistory, 2016
Selected as one of thirty books featured in the Los Angeles Times, “Holiday Book Picks: Nonfiction”
Selected as one of six Best Non-Fiction books by Stuart Rosebrook in Truewest Magazine, “Best of the West, 2016: Western Books”
Featured and excerpted in “Shelf Life,” The American Scholar
Featured at The Page 99 Test
Featured at Writers Read
In Masters of Empire, the historian Michael A. McDonnell reveals the vital role played by the native peoples of the Great Lakes in the history of North America. Though less well known than the Iroquois or Sioux, the Anishinaabeg, who lived across Lakes Michigan and Huron, were equally influential. Masters of Empire charts the story of one group, the Odawa, who settled at the straits between those two lakes, a hub for trade and diplomacy throughout the vast country west of Montreal known as the pays d’en haut.
Highlighting the long-standing rivalries and relationships among the great Indian nations of North America, McDonnell shows how Europeans often played only a minor role in this history, and reminds us that it was native peoples who possessed intricate and far-reaching networks of commerce and kinship. As empire encroached upon their domain, the Anishinaabeg were often the ones doing the exploiting. By dictating terms at trading posts and frontier forts, they played a crucial part in the making of early America.
Through vivid depictions--all from a native perspective--of early skirmishes, the French and Indian War, and the American Revolution, Masters of Empire overturns our assumptions about colonial America. By calling attention to the Great Lakes as a crucible of culture and conflict, McDonnell reimagines the landscape of American history.
For an interview with the author on the podcast Ben Franklin’s World, click here.
For Michael A. McDonnell’s 2019 James Madison Lecture on this subject at the Wisconsin Historical Society, click here.