REVIEWS OF
DANGEROUS DIFFERENCES
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The book is set in Colonial North Carolina and Virginia. It is the tale of a young Saponi Indian, son of a
chief, who, instead of becoming a traditional warrior, makes a perilous trek to the College of William and
Mary at the Virginia governor’s invitation. There he will learn English and become a “go-between,” an
interpreter. On his trek to Williamsburg he meets and is smitten by a beautiful young Indian maiden from
another tribe but must leave her and journey on.
While he struggles with the strange world of the English, she is captured and traded to another tribe in the
wilds of the Blue Ridge Mountains. “Dangerous Differences” goes on to describe his hazardous role in
peacemaking between white settlers and Indians, and his quest to reunite with the lovely young woman.
Advance reviewers have praised Laird’s novel.
From the Virginia Gazette, Robert Shultis' Review:
"DANGEROUS DIFFERENCES"
The Perfect Title for a Great Novel
For many history buffs, myself included, history can come alive, almost on a person-to-person basis,
when we read a well-written, well-researched historical novel. Think, for example, of some of the Shaara's
novels of the Civil War and World War II. Or try Erich Maria Remarque's classic, "All Quiet on the Western
Front". There are, of course, many others.
Now, a Williamsburg resident, Mac Laird, has written a marvelous novel, describing a period, and the
people involved, about which many of us know little or nothing. The apt title of his work is: "Dangerous
Differences". Mr. Laird brings to life the personal agonies, frustrations, tragedies and a few triumphs of
people living during a critical period in American history.
The book describes, largely through the activities of its fictional characters, the years around 1700,
mostly in the area in and around what was then the Virginia Colony. Williamsburg citizens, of course,
appear prominently in the book, but so, too, do those inhabitants of the western edges of the Virginia
Colony. Those were the natives who lived in what the author refers to as "the Eastern Woodlands". Here
is where the title of Laird's book comes in. . . the different cultures, philosophies and ways of living, not
only between the English colonists and the Native Americans, but also among the Colonists themselves,
and among the many different Indian tribes that inhabited the area. It was not an easy life for anyone. It was
"DANGEROUS"!
Members of a dozen or more Indian tribes lived in those "Woodlands". Each tribe was a separate
entity, all with different objectives, beliefs, hates and loves that the author describes in fascinating detail.
The characters involved in the story range from the tribal chiefs, to the "head warriors", to the women of the
tribe on down to the youngsters. Reading this novel has taught me more of the lives of the "Indians" of that
period and that area, than I've learned from any other source.
Also important to the story, and to our understanding of the era, are the efforts of the part of some of
the colonists and some of the Indians to understand each other better, to work together, to satisfy each
other's needs and to avoid or minimize the brutal struggles between the two groups that occurred all too
frequently. Here is where a leading fictional character in the book plays an important role. Kadomico, a
teen-age son of Chief Custoga, of the Saponi Tribe, is selected with two other young men to attend a
special program at the College of William and Mary in response to an invitation from Governor Nicholson
and his associates. The objective of the program is to develop better communication links between the
English Settlers and the Native Americans, by exposing key Native young men to some of the ideas and
philosophy of their new neighbors, the English settlers. A significant portion of the novel covers
Kadomico's experiences in this situation in fascinating detail. Kadomico became a different person, but
not necessarily the way either the English or his own family wanted him and his two colleagues to become.
Reading about these adventures and many more should keep the reader enthralled right up to the end
of the book. And, the reader (this reader for one) will probably have learned more about life among the
Indian tribes than he ever knew before. "Dangerous Differences" is a beautifully-written history about those
early struggles in Virginia, something I have not read in such vivid detail anyplace else. I extend my
appreciation and thanks to Mr. Laird for writing such an engaging, well-researched and informative story. I
recommend it highly.
Robert L. Shultis
July 18, 2010
MORE REVIEWS
Dr. John Conlee, professor of English at William and Mary and author of King Arthur young-adult novels,
said, “A terrific book. Vivid writing of outdoor and wilderness scenes. A pleasure to read.”
Katherine Fournier, a Williamsburg author, wrote, “This is a beautiful story that tells us so much about the
tragedy of the dangerous differences and the inability of either side to cope. A passionate, lyrical, searing
story of the American heritage.”
Sally Stiles, author, poet and creative writing instructor, writes "An exciting story, beautifully told. Laird's
historically accurate novel offers the reader an opportunity to fully engage in the poignant struggles
between the pre-revolutionary colonists and the native Americans who they so brutally displaced.
Kadomico is as enchanting and charismatic a character as you will find in historical fiction."
Aleck Loker, retired physicist, author, and lecturer on colonial and pre-colonial life in Virginia, writes,
"Wonderful descriptions of life among the Indian tribes, the wilderness, and Indian/settler conflicts."
Dr. Alastair Connell, physician, author, teacher, and lecturer, wrote, "...this [Laird's] novel is quite
beautiful….a love story there with such dignity yet with such constrained desire…order and sense of
respect for cultural norms that has been largely lost on our frenetic society.... it makes a refreshing
reading."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mac Laird left his life on a small farm in the Louisiana Kitsatchi National Forest and joined the Navy in
1944. He served in Asiatic Pacific and Philippine war zones as a radioman in the amphibious forces. After
a career in telecommunications with the U.S. Navy, taking a degree in business from University of
Maryland and doing graduate work in business management at George Mason in Washington, D.C., Mac
Laird found his niche in America’s Eastern Woodlands and began to build with the natural materials from
the land in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. In time, he started writing about that land and the people. His
first book, "Quail High Above the Shenandoah” (2007) gives a vivid account of building with logs. His
second, “Dangerous Differences” leads the reader through the wonders of the mountains, rivers, and
forests of Virginia and North Carolina and introduces the troubling differences between the frontier Indians
and settlers of the new world.