FIGHTING YANKEE.

By Robert E. Pike '25New York: Abelard-Schuman, 1955. 231 pp.$3.00.

Robert E. Pike '25 has written of colonial New England before, but this is his first book for teen-agers. Fighting Yankee vividly chronicles the life of John Stark from his boyhood in Harrytown (now Manchester), New Hampshire, to the completion of his service as a captain in Rogers Rangers at the end of the French and Indian Wars.

Mr. Pike leaves his hero in the streets of Montreal following its capture by British and American forces under Lord Amherst. As he looks at the men from many colonies who have fought together, he grasps for the first time the concept that they are all Americans, thus foreshadowing Stark's later career as a Revolutionary leader which this book does not cover.

The first half of the volume presents a clearly-written, fast-moving account of those aspects of early colonial life which were most interesting or most impressive to a boy of those days - housewarmings, hunting, salmon runs on the Merrimack, and Indian raids. Stark's capture by Indians and his heroism during that ordeal are given dramatic attention.

The last half of the book is devoted to Stark's early military career as lieutenant and then captain in Rogers Rangers. Personalities of colonial leaders and British generals both appear in sharp focus, while the fighting around Fort William. Henry and Ticonderoga is presented with a detail and clarity calculated to give those seemingly-remote events real meaning.

The typography lends attractiveness and readability to the volume, while excellent illustrations in every chapter by Manning deV. Lee are likely to increase the interest of those who may need graphic presentation to whet an appetite for reading.