A Dictionary of People, Places, and Ships has more than 1,400 biographies of people mentioned by General Jeffery Amherst in his journals or identified by Robert J. Andrews in his notes. Included are entries for military and naval personnel, aboriginal leaders and warriors, and civilians. Where possible, a commission history is included for each officer of the French Forces, the Royal Navy, provincial officers, and regulars of the British Army. There is an extensive section about various types of commissions, ranks, units, regiments, and appointments. National origins of British army officers are discussed along with roles played by women of the army. Andrews identifies and analyzes units of “The American Army” that fought Great Britain’s war against the French during the Seven Years’ War in North America. Entries for sites that are named in Amherst’s journals contain descriptions or brief histories for each place. It also describes ships that are mentioned in the journals, including vessels that took part in the Louisbourg operation in 1758, Men of War employed at New York, and British and French vessels on the Great Lakes.

Robert J. Andrews (1937–2013) was a teacher and administrator in Ontario public schools for thirty-four years. Over the next twenty years, he and his wife, with Amherst’s journals in hand, traveled to every place in North America that Amherst mentioned. In addition, they visited numerous archives in seeking out all of Amherst’s correspondence from 1757 through 1763, which Andrews cross-referenced to journal entries. He used this information to compile the most comprehensive study of Amherst’s role in the Seven Years’ War to date.