Award-winning author and scholar James Laxer will discuss his latest book, Tecumseh and Brock: The War of 1812, Sunday as part of Luminato at the Library.

Laxer, who teaches in York’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, will  talk about the effect of the War of 1812 on the Native struggle for nationhood, as well as the battle between the British Empire and the United States over Upper and Lower Canada. He’ll also discuss the friendship of Shawnee chieftain Tecumseh and empire defender Major-General Sir Isaac Brock.

The talk will take place June 17 at 2pm at the Toronto Public Library’s Bloor/Gladstone Branch, 1101 Bloor St. W. in Toronto. Everyone is welcome to attend this free Luminato at the Library event.

In Tecumseh and Brock (House of Anansi), Laxer takes a fresh and compelling view of this decisive war by bringing to life two major contests – the native peoples’ Endless War to establish nationhood and sovereignty on their traditional territories and the American campaign to settle its grievances with Britain through the conquest of Canada.

It is the dawn of the 19th century and the British Empire is engaged in a titanic war with Napoleonic France for global supremacy. The American Republic is quickly expanding its territory along the western frontier, while native peoples struggle to protect their lands from the relentless wave of new settlers.

At the heart of this story is the unlikely friendship and political alliance of Tecumseh, the charismatic leader of the native confederacy, and Brock, defender and protector of the British Crown. Together, these two towering figures secured what would become the nation of Canada.

Laxer has written several books, including Stalking the Elephant: My Discovery of America and The Border: Canada, the U.S. and Dispatches from the Forty-ninth Parallel. He regularly appears on television discussions of issues of the day and was the host and co-author of Reckoning, a prize-winning series of films on the global economy produced by the National Film Board of Canada.

Republished courtesy of YFile– York University’s daily e-bulletin.