René Chartrand was born in Montreal and educated in Canada, the United States and the Bahamas. A senior curator with Canada's National Historic Sites for nearly three decades, he is now a freelance writer and historical consultant. He has written numerous articles and books including almost 20 Osprey titles and the first two volumes of Canadian Military Heritage. He lives in Hull, Quebec, with his wife and two sons.

David Rickman lives in the State of Delaware, USA. He is the exhibits coordinator for the state parks system, where his favourite project is helping to restore and furnish an American Civil War-era seacoast fortress. At other times he is a freelance illustrator specialising in historical and ethnographic subjects. His works are in the collections of the National Park Service, Parks Canada and various other museums and historic sites. The son of a US Navy aviator, Mr Rickman has lived in Japan, grew up in California and now lives in Wilmington, Delaware with his wife, Deborah.

From the earliest English settlements the survival of the infant colonies in North America depended upon local militias. Throughout the 17th and early 18th centuries the burden of successive wars with the American Indians, and with the regular troops and militias of Britain's colonial rivals France and Spain, fell mainly upon locally raised volunteers. This first of a fascinating three-part study includes a general introduction and chronology, and chapters on Crown troops in North America; and begins a colony-by-colony review of militias and provincial units. The text is illustrated with rare early images and with eight specially commissioned full colour plates.