The Maddest Idea (Revolution at Sea #2)
The second volume of Nelson's Revolution at Sea trilogy improves upon the first,By Force of Arms(1995). Captain Isaac Biddlecomb of Rhode Island is still the protagonist, leading the British on a merry chase as he seeks powder for Washington's revolutionary army. Meanwhile, Major Fitzgerald of Virginia hunts for the traitor who caused Biddlecomb to sail into a trap. The climax of this panel of the triptych requires adding a notable episode to the colonies' siege of Boston, but it will keep the reader absorbed, as, indeed, will the whole book. Nelson still paints his characters with broad strokes, but now his pacing is brisk, and the salt air blows through every chapter. He has also well captured the improvised quality of the American war effort in 1775 and the divided loyalties of colonists who had only just begun to think of themselves as Americans. Nelson now sails honorably with the squadron of naval fiction scribes currently led by Patrick O'Brian.Roland Green