The second in a two-volume study of forts in colonial North America, this title offers a detailed look at various types of fortifications built between the times of the earliest British settlements in North America in the late 16th century until the end of the Seven Years War, when France ceded New France to Britain. With photographs of these sites as they are today, specially-commissioned artwork depicting the forts in their original uses and detailed maps, author Rene Chartrand also provides readers a valuable look back at early American colonial life. Altogether, a comprehensive, detailed look into an important aspect of American history, and one that is still visible across the landscape today.
Forts included:
- Roanoke Island: fours forts built by the colonists of North Carolina, 1585-90
- Jamestown: he first permanent settlements built by colonists, starting in 1607
- Early British fortifications in New England, Nova Scotia, and along the coast
- Early Dutch fortifications in what is now New York, Connecticut and New Jersey
- Swedish fortifications in Delaware, 1638-55
- Forts in Newfoundland and the Hudson Bay area, built by the French but ceded to Britain
- Castle William, Boston
- Fort Oswego, Lake Ontario
- Frontier forts along the Ohio River and Lake George
- Fort Pitt and Crown point, built to secure British-American conquests

René Chartrand was born in Montreal and educated in Canada, the United States and the Bahamas. A senior curator with Canada's National Historic Sites for nearly three decades, he is now a freelance writer and historical consultant. He has written numerous articles and books including almost 20 Osprey titles and the first two volumes of ‘Canadian Military Heritage’. Also a student of wines, he currently lives in Hull, Quebec, with his wife and two sons.

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“This volume offers a valuable guide to much of the colonial forts of North America, and is highly recommended.” —Bolling Smith, The Coast Defense Journal
“The book fills a gap in the coverage of Dutch and Swedish forts which are often missed in other books.” —Joe Kaufmann, Site O
“Author Rene Chartrand takes us on a quick, but not hurried, tour of forts built by the British, Dutch and Swedish colonies between the 16th and 18th centuries. The color recreations of select forts of the period are wonderful, as are the contemporary plans drawn and the photograph of the sites as they exist today.” —Tim Kidwell, Model Retailer (March 2011)