Review: Fantastic Historical Perspective
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 12, 2012
Rarely do I find an historical fiction that is so believable and entertaining at the same time.You could almost smell the stench of the the prisons, and hear the waves lapping at the boat as you read.The story is mesmerizing, and believable.  The history is accurate and appeared well researched and put to good use throughout the book.  In fact, it is difficult to distinguish where the fiction of the story is, as it is so carefully woven through the true parts.This book is not for the squeamish - it is FAR from a romantical view of early America.  This book is the blood, guts, tears, and anguish of the common man fighting for freedom.-----The story begins with Patrick.  The description of the prison left me gasping for air and rubbing my eyes.  Tears filled my eyes as I quickly identified with the horrible injustice that had brought him to this place in his life - thrown into debtor prison before he was even a man, leaving him with the anguish of knowing his family was at the mercy of the powers that be and he was unable to set things right.He is thankful to be going to America - only 4 others in the prison had been healthy enough to make the short walk to town.  Even so, it took all day due to their poor condition.  The boat captain had them fed well, and taught them a sailor trade before selling them as indentured servants once they reached Savannah.Patrick was lucky to be bought by a blacksmith, one of the Free men trying to grasp freedom and liberty under the oppressive rule of the English government.  You come to love Archibald and his family, and find yourself cheering for their success and cringing at the tyranny of the English soldiers.And then there were the secret meetings - glimpses of the heartbeat the birthed the American Revolution.  The thoughts written to challenge the status quo of government and banned as dangerous by governments - these thoughts permeate the chapters, allowing the reader to taste the forbidden lessons and learn right along with him.  Many lessons our American population has forgotten.This is the not the aristocrat world of Jamestown, nor the pious world of the pilgrims.  The is a glimpse into the most wretched and despised of those that arrived - the misfits, pirates, thieves, and slaves.  The land is newly claimed.  The Spanish are still fighting over boundaries, and Indians are still unsure whether the white men are friends or foes.Their is a cliffhanger ending as Patrick is granted the one wish that kept him alive while in prison - to once again come face to face with the man who destroyed his family.--------------------------------------------This is a story that needed to be told - an often dark and disgusting piece of history that is usually glossed over and dismissed.  There is a LOT of history, and once or twice, you get pretty bogged down in the history lessons that Archibald gives to Patrick.  Also, on the Kindle version, the map of the area is very difficult to make out.  I'm curious if it would look better on my PC or an ipad or Kindle Fire, where the map would be much bigger.