Having read the book, I wish to critique it because I found it quite unique. As I see it,it has three major parts: first, it deals with the background of Rene Goupil, a seventeenth century French surgeon. It takes us to France and on an exploration of French culture in that time which was so reminiscent of my many trips to France,it comes to life reminding me of "A Year in Provence" by Peter Mayle,only without the food concentration. As the first part continues,it takes us to Quebec where Goupil went as a missionary surgeon to help the new world settlement of the Jesuits among the native American Indians. There too, because of my many trips to Quebec, I could really appreciate that the city and name places were also related to the present.The author's sketches are so helpful to catch the story and of course, they are like his writing style because it is the same person doing both. This is something helpful to getting the overall view. What I call the second part of the story,is the capture and the torture of Goupil.While reading this portion, I was wishing it wasn't there because it made me feel very sad. However,when I got to the third part, I realized it was necessary to build to the crescendo of the author's conclusion which I found very poignant. That is,it is not just the Iriquois who tortured but all of our previous generations in written history and even we are doing this today. The book is unique in its artistic beauty and very entertaining. It is both thought provocative and a cultural work of art.

This book gives a new perspective on John Sutter. He has been remembered as a benevolent oasis to people of the Donner Party and the William Manly expedition. But this gives us an overview on how he acquired the resources that enabled him to build his fort and be so helpful to immigrants. It takes us to Hawaii where Sutter spent five months in Honolulu from 1838 to 1839. There he made business connections, particularily creditors. When he worked a complicated chain of borrowing from one to pay the other, he was utilizing the connections he had made during his stay in Honolulu, a world trading center. It turned out to be a house of cards for him when one of his creditors suddenly decided to declare himself insolvent and to cash in his chips so to speak. Two other creditors bailed Sutter out because of his potential as a trading partner and an influential foothold in the rich and promising Sacramento valley. I also enjoyed the brief historical account of Hawaii that the author gives. As a child I was facinated to read about King Kamehamea and Queen Lili'uokalani. Kamehamea seemed like a mythical figure like a character from Homer's Odyssey. Now I have a reference that renders me a great perspective on the history of these facinating Islands in a brief but broad spectrum approach. This book is really a must for people interested in the 19th century western hemisphere and our roots therein. ,