This book details the events that led up to General Sullivan's scorched-Earth campaign against the Tribes of the Six Nations. The first 6 chapters deal with a "White" perspective and does not shy from Native American atrocities committed against European settlers on their land. However, the second half of the book puts these events in perspective and details the equally atrocious events carried out against Native Americans.

The scorched-Earth campaigns led against the Native Americans is remeniscent of tactics used by ancient armies in southwest Asia. Both points of view are given, but without a doubt the book makes clear who was in the wrong from day one. The title should be a give-away to this fact.

The book assumes the reader has a fairly good knowledge of the American Revolutionary War. There are some points in the book where the author makes mention of some individual or incident indirectly related to a current situation assuming the reader is aware of the name or event being referred to and can see the irony or paradox in the current situation in light of the reference made. For readers with strong knowledge in American history, these nuggets will prove most interesting and thoughtful, but to others they will pass without provoking much thought... although they may intrigue the reader to learn more.

To the lay reader, fine details in the book will read ad nauseum, but to most they are priceless. These are the only reasons I give the book 4 rather than 5 stars. The author does not hold back when describing some of the gruesome details of battles between two armies, but rest assured that he does attempt to lighten the load by using phrases such as, "...dispatched him with a blow from his tomahawk."...

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the wrongs done towards the Iroquois by narrow-minded, racist, land-stealing settlers.

"Seeds of Empire" is an account of the war for control of the New York frontier and particularly of General John Sullivan's campaign against the Iroquois during the Revolutionary War.

The book gives an excellent overview of the history of the conflict with the Indians in the upstate New York region during the war and gives a particularly good account of St. Leger's expedition against Fort Stanwix and the bloody action at Oriskany in 1777.

In 1779, George Washington, trying to cope with the British on the East Coast, was desperate to find a solution to the "Indian Problem" that had been plauging the frontier settlements in the western country of New York and Pennsylvania. Washtington realized that the best way to deal with marauding British-allied Iroquois Indians was to attack and destory their villages, crops, and supply bases. Thus, he ordered Gen. John Sullivan with a large force of troops, supported by a smaller expedition under the command of Col. Daniel Brodhead further west from Fort Pitt, to march north into Indian territory in western New York. Washinton's orders were very specific that "the immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements." Sullivan managed to engage the Indians in battle and drive them away, laying waste to many villages and fields full of crops ready to be harvested. As a result of this example of devastating total war, the Iroquois were reduced to poverty and starvation and effectively taken out of the war. Washington's orders were fulfilled, but at a high price to the Indians. There has been much controversy regarding Sullivan and Washinton's action during this campaign as it was essentially seen as a war of extermination. There are many arguments for and against Washington's decision to subjuagate the Indians with such brutal tactics, but the historical truth is nonetheless that the once-proud and powerful Iroquois League was smashed and would never recover.

This book is an excellent history of these important events that are too often ignored by many popular and scholarly histories of the Revolutionary War. It is often forgotten that the War was fought not only on the great battlefields of the East, but on the frontier, where some of the bloodiest fighting of the war took place.