world of fiction

REBELS, TURN OUT YOUR DEAD by Michael Drinkard

A REVIEW BY RAY SANTO

REBELS, TURN OUT YOUR DEAD chronicles what might be the most important historical event next to 9/11 to ever happen in the history of New York City, an event that is still all too unrecognized, the prison ships harbored here during the Revolutionary War. On these ships more people died than in all the other battles of the war combined! Drinkard not only tells the real story of what happened here but does it in the form of a gripping, lyrical, fast paced and utterly entertaining novel. This should be required reading for anyone interested in history, patriotism or love.

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Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Murder: A Revolutionary War Mystery

A REVIEW BY LYNN HARNETT

Set in British-occupied New Brunswick, New Jersey, in the winter of 1777, Swee’s debut offers a fine, tense portrait of the times and a bustling view of tavern life under siege.

Narrator and heroine Abigail Lawrence has her hands full. British soldiers are billeted throughout the tavern she has managed for her Uncle Samuel (a Patriot) since losing her husband and son to a fever eight years before. Her 15-year-old-daughter is smitten with one of the dashing young officers; one slip of her rebel tongue would lose the tavern to the British; and then she finds a guest’s body in one of the rooms, impaled by a sword.

Pocketing evidence to keep it out of the hands of an imperious British captain, Abigail lands herself in the midst of an intrigue of espionage and treachery. And she still has a tavern to run.

The tavern milieu is exceptionally well done – from clothing, wartime food concerns and the useful organization of the warming kitchen, to the stables, sleeping accommodations, the fine meals and gossipy service, the evening card games and brandy, and the behind-the-scenes work of laundry, kitchen and bill-paying – all of it organic to the setting and plot.

The British and Patriot points-of-view are also subtly done, and the mystery sufficiently baffling. A strong woman who balances on a knife-edge of neutrality, and knows how to pick her battles, Abigail is an appealing, intelligent heroine.

A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier

REVIEW BY MICHAEL J. MAZZA

Joseph Plumb Martin (1760-1850) served as an enlisted soldier in the American Revolutionary War, and published a memoir of his war experiences in 1830. That book, “A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier,” is an amazing document of a pivotal era in United States history.

Martin recalls his experiences in military campaigns from 1776 to 1783. He was an enlisted man who rose to the rank of sergeant, and his memoirs present the war from that perspective, rather than from the viewpoint of generals or political leaders. The suffering of the common troops is vividly detailed. Martin tells of the sleep deprivation, hostile weather conditions, combat death and injury, and lack of clothes. The men suffered from many diseases. But their most constant enemy was probably “the monster Hunger.” Martin describes at length the horrible foods the men had to eat: bread “hard enough to break the teeth of a rat,” carrion beef, and even tree bark.

From a tactical standpoint, Martin’s descriptions of 18th century trench warfare are fascinating. Martin is eventually transferred to the Corps of Miners, and I was especially interested by the descriptions of his corps’ duties: blasting rocks, dismantling enemy fortifications with axes, etc. He gives insights into how the miners’ corps worked together with the infantry.

Martin’s narrative is enlivened by his wit and humor. One of my favorite lines comes after he mentions the village of Maidenhead: “don’t stare, dear reader, I did not name it.”

Martin ends his narrative with a passionate defense of the rights and dignity of veterans. He notes with anger that Revolutionary soldiers were “turned adrift like old worn out horses” after the war. He strikes me as very ahead-of-his time in his concern for veterans.

This book is a remarkable piece of early United States literature. It should be read by current military personnel, veterans’ advocates, students of history, and students of U.S. literature.

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