Heart-thumping at times, this book vividly describes the battle of Seattle and what led to it occurring. The sections where Bill Tidd is in the forest with the feeling of being hunted are eerie and well imagined, but it the Indian Charlie Salitat who is the greatest hero here. He also injects much needed humour into the book with his playful ways and he is the one you honour at the end. This is worth reading just to learn about him.

There are some unforgettable minor characters and scenes too - my favourites being the knitting nun, the horse Prophet, the horse race, the canoe ride and any scene with Charlie. Noclas too was a solid comfortable character.

It must be said that I was about a third of the way in (the horse race) before I really started to like this.

I found the casual racism displayed by more the one character bafflingly contradictory but probably realistic for the time.

I also assumed that Americans reading this would probably know something of the events already and the historical figures mentioned were familiar to them. Not sharing this knowledge there were a lot of names for me to process at the start but it well worth keeping on reading.

This is written so that teenagers and even those younger can read it. There are violent and potentially frightening sections but they are not as gruesome as they could be. This is a clean story.

The narrative did jump forward in time a couple of times which I found disconcerting.

There is a faith element to this story and a Catholic and Protestant discussion of faith leads to a radical reassessment of received wisdom for one of the participants.

Overall this book gives a strong sense of the time with exciting scenes and brave people doing courageous acts.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book for my honest review.

I must say, Douglas Bond writes a gripping story! He has a way of making history come to life. I found The Battle of Seattle quite fascinating and hard to put down. I had no idea that there was a war like the one described here in the Pacific Northwest.
William, or Bill, Tidd was a young man who lived alone with his little sister Junebug in a cabin his father had built; there was some tragedy three years before the story begins which deprived them of their parents. Bill is determined that nothing will happen to his little sister. He can't understand his neighbor, Noclas, an old Negro trapper who loves to read and quote his Bible, and he can't understand why Junebug would want to listen to Noclas sing something like Psalm 23 to her as she is going to sleep—what a morbid song, talking about the “valley of the shadow of death!” He has a close friend, Charlie, an Indian boy who often seems just like white people but just as often acts Indian.
Tensions are heating up between the Indians in the area and the white people, but sure it was just the warlike Indians from farther away who were the problem—the locals were all peaceable. Or were they? Bill is talked into joining the local militia, and becomes an express rider for his group of 20 men. When they are ambushed, and then Charlie shows up, what will Bill do? Can he trust his friend?
I found this book fascinating and awful at the same time. It was fascinating because it told the story of a part of American history that I had never heard of before. I had no idea that there were problems between Indians and white settlers in the Pacific Northwest. It was awful because it was about a war. As always happens in war, there were atrocities committed by both sides. Douglas Bond describes just enough to convey the horrors that Bill Tidd saw, but it was pretty bad at times.
I received a free ecopy of this book from NetGalley and chose to write a review.
WARNING: Dang or danged is used in chapter 21, twice in one paragraph in chapter 24, in chapter 35, and twice in chapter 41. Chapters 23 through 43 are about the war, with shooting, fires and death mentioned or described frequently.

This is a fine Christian historical adventure. It’s geared toward young people, but I enjoyed it very much as well. Bond does a good job of inserting his character into historical events, and still leaving the events believable.
I really liked the theological conflict of this story. It was very well done. This is a very nicely balanced book. The religions and action sides of the story are very nicely balanced. Neither intrudes obnoxiously on the other. They occur with very natural timing and in very natural discussions. I love how Bond set his characters to argue the value of human philosophy, specifically Emerson’s, and the value of Biblical teachings. As situations arise each character must draw strength or comfort from their chosen philosophy. I really appreciated Sister Marguerite’s character and conversion. It was very nicely handled.
The only negatives I have about this book are the loose ends. I get the loose end about Charlie Salitat. I appreciate the historical accuracy in that. But why the loose end about His father? What did he do? Why so secretive about it? I made a rather wild guess, but why not just say it straight out? Did or didn’t William finally trust Christ?
I received a free ARC from NetGalley and P & R Publishing. No review was necessary, but it was my pleasure to write it.