Peter Williamson, French and Indian Cruelty: A Modern Critical Edition

This book is the first scholarly edition of the most popular Native American captivity narrative published in eighteenth-century Britain. In this fully annotated modern version, Timothy J. Shannon re-acquaints modern readers with the narrative and its Scottish protagonist. He tells the story of Peter Williamson, a native of Aberdeen, who claimed he was kidnapped into indentured servitude in North America, lived as a captive among Native Americans there, and then fought as a soldier in the Seven Years' War until he was taken prisoner by the French. After returning to Britain, Williamson peddled his tale while wearing Native American dress, and he eventually settled in Edinburgh.