DATE: Wednesday, October 15, 1997           TAG: 9710160812

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E4   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Book Review

SOURCE: BY CHILES T.A. LARSON 

                                            LENGTH:   67 lines

DETAILED STORY PROVIDES HISTORY LESSON

THE FRENCH and English have clashed at arms many times. Twice during the 18th century they fought in North America.

``Savage Wilderness'' is a convoluted but compelling novel set during the French and Indian War. The war was waged primarily along the Ohio valley on the western frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania and along the shores of Lake George and Lake Champlain in New York during the 1750 and '60s. It terminated with the climactic British victory on the Plains of Abraham before Quebec.

Having settled in Canada a century earlier, the French began encroaching on lands that England claimed, but Indians from the Northwest territories believed rightfully belonged to them. Because the French cultivated them more readily, many Indian tribes allied themselves loosely with the French standard. The English were supported by their provincial Atlantic colonies.

Harold Coyle, the author of eight previous historic novels, has scripted a swiftly paced story spanning both time and distance. Four major figures frequently come into close, bloody contact with one another.

After serving out his indentured compact with an Alexandria wheelwright, Ian McPherson, a young Scottish Highlander, joins the Virginia Regiment of militia, commanded by 23-year-old Lt. Col. George Washington. McPherson's initial contact with Thomas Shields, a stiffly correct British army captain and a second son of a minor baronet, is at close quarters on the battlefield of Culloden in Scotland. In the ill-fated Braddock campaign to Fort Duquesne, they serve in the same cause but almost clash again before an intervention prevents it.

Anton de Chevalier, illegitimate son of a French nobleman, serving as a lieutenant of French artillery, provides balance to the gory realities of battle through his often sensitive philosophic observations, set down in his journal. Finally there is Toolah, a ruthless Caughnawaga warrior, whose own brother Gingego, baffled by his uncontrollable rage, tells him, ``There will never be enough blood to extinguish the fire that burns in you.''

Women also make appearances in this tale of westward expansion. Early in the narrative, Maggie O'Reilly draws a bead on Ian and follows him to Winchester, his post in what was then the western Virginia frontier. Capt. Shields manages to avoid serious contact with the ladies until meeting Katherine Van der Hoff, the beautiful, calculating daughter of a wealthy Albany, N.Y., merchant.

Anton, near the end of the arduous campaigns, meets Sarah Carter, a Massachusetts woman captured and ransomed by Indians, now residing in a Quebec convent. She falls in love with him.

Coyle's detailed research, particularly in military matters, enables the reader to follow the action without having to second-guess the accuracy. He is an excellent storyteller and is at his best when describing soldiers' thoughts as they experience mortal combat.

For those interested in American history, ``Savage Wilderness'' helps fill in some gaps about a seldom chronicled war that shaped the North America landscape two decades before the colonists declared independence and plunged into revolt against Great Britain. MEMO: Chiles T.A. Larson is a free-lance writer, photojournalist and

history buff who lives in Ivy, Va. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

BOOK REVIEW

``Savage Wilderness''

Author: Harold Coyle

Publisher: Simon & Schuster. 517 pp.

Price: $26

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