New France and New York in the 1690s: an English boy and a French officer, Frontenac's Canada, the Iroquois, and a feud carried across thirty years and two colonies. Parker was Canadian-born, settled in England, sat in Parliament for eighteen years and was knighted; the Canada here is the real one - snowshoes, mission stations, the long war for the fur trade.

Gilbert Parker (1862-1932) was a Canadian-born novelist and politician. He worked as a journalist in Australia before settling in England, where he served as a Member of Parliament from 1900 to 1918. He is known for historical romances set in French Canada, including Pierre and His People, When Valmond Came to Pontiac, and The Battle of the Strong.