Dan Snow gives a detailed account of the seven year campaign and the Battle of Quebec in 1759. He stresses the important role played by the British Navy in charting the St Lawrence River and organising the amphibious landing.
Click the link above to download the podcast.
10th May 2010 @ 7pm
Dan will be giving a lecture at the Royal Marine Museum on James Wolfe and Quebec. Tickets are £10, £6 for students.
Contact details can be found here to buy tickets.
Edit: According to the AboutMyArea website, Dan’s lecture will be titled “James Wolfe and Quebec:One of Britain’s Greatest Amphibious Assaults”.
From the Guardian:
Historian Dan Snow and his broadcaster father Peter have a joint fascination with politics and the past. But do they also share the same outlook on love? Interviews by Carlene Thomas-Bailey
Father and son enjoying a bike ride in the early 80s.
Dad never made any allowances for anyone. From the age of four he was asking me, “Who do you think should win the next general election?”, just because I happened to be the only person in the room. He always wanted his kids to take part in his life, and share his passions, from a young age.
Dad had a very traditional British upbringing: he never had any physical contact with his dad, he only shook hands with him. But when Dad was bringing my siblings and I up, he was very hands-on. He was not typical of his generation: he didn’t stay out and play golf all the time, he talked to his kids and engaged with them.
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Yesterday, Dan made an appearance on Simon Mayo’s Radio 2 drive-time show.
Download clips from the show:
Part 1
Part 2
Over two centuries ago, Britain and France fought a battle that would change the world. Now largely forgotten, the Battle of Quebec was once a story every schoolchild would have known. At stake was the future of North America and the fate of the British Empire.
Britain used its growing industrial strength and a new scientific approach to fight a campaign unlike any that had gone before. It launched a fleet of 200 ships carrying 20,000 men on a deadly mission through uncharted waters.
Dan Snow, an expert in this period of history having recently written a book about the expedition, sets sail up the magnificent St Lawrence River following the route taken by the British. He heads out into the wilds surrounding Quebec, takes to the air, and trains as an 18th-century infantryman, to get a true idea of what the campaign and battle would have been like for the men involved.
This period in history is best known as the setting for the Hollywood blockbuster Last of the Mohicans. Yet the events of that year, 1759, helped create the modern world and define Britain’s place in history.
Dan Snow (middle) with Lace Wars, the society of 18th century re-enactment.
Presenter Dan Snow studies an image of British ships sailing up to Quebec.
Battle For North America minisite
Tuesday 16 March
9:00pm – 10:00pm
BBC2
Documentary telling the story of the Battle of Quebec, 1759, where at stake was the future of North America and the fate of the British Empire. Britain used its growing industrial strength and a new scientific approach to fight a campaign unlike any that had gone before. It launched a fleet of 200 ships carrying 20,000 men on a deadly mission through uncharted waters. Dan Snow sets sail up the magnificent St Lawrence River following the route taken by the British.
(via Radiotimes.com)
Dan will be appearing at the Daphne du Maurier festival in May. Details can be found here.
He also has series’ on the Norman invasion and the evacuation from Dunkirk in the pipeline.