Perched on top of a tall promontory, surrounded on three sides by the treacherous St. Lawrence River, Quebec - in 1759 France's capital city in Canada - forms an almost impregnable natural fortress. That year, with the Seven Years War raging around the globe, a force of 49 ships and nearly 9,000 men commanded by the irascible General James Wolfe navigated the river, scaled the cliffs, and laid siege to the town in an audacious attempt to expel the French from North America forever. A History of Canada Series book.