Episode 1: "The Spark in the Forest"

Alex Calder traces the origins of the French and Indian War from the collision of British and French imperial ambitions in the Ohio Valley to the disastrous early years of the conflict. The episode follows young George Washington's fateful diplomatic mission that escalated into the war's first skirmish at Jumonville Glen, General Braddock's catastrophic defeat near Fort Duquesne, and the complex web of Native American alliances that shaped frontier warfare. With British forces suffering repeated embarrassments and French-allied Native nations controlling much of the frontier, the episode concludes as William Pitt takes control of the British war effort and implements the strategy that would begin to turn the tide.