Dreams of Glory
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- £7.49
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- £7.49
Publisher Description
"The best spy novel written about the American Revolution." - John Gardner
Freezing winds cut across the snowbound landscape. George Washington's rebel troops shiver in their huts, bellies empty, and carrying resentment sharper than their swords. Across the frozen Hudson, the British carouse in the brothels of New York, while their leaders plot to break the deadlock that threatens to bleed the British Empire dry. Thomas Flemings's Revolutionary War masterpiece, Dreams of Glory, takes place in the bitter winter of 1780 in the fifth year of the American War for Independence.
The British conspire to kidnap Washington and bring the war to an end in one bold and daring raid. A tide of espionage ebbs and flows between the opposing armies. Two very different men are sucked into these vicious currents: young, earnest Caleb Chandler and sleek, self-serving Congressman Hugh Stapleton. Despite their mutual dislike, both are destined to follow the same path, which leads to the heart of Flora Kuyper and the grasp of British spymaster Walter Beckford. Caught amidst the dangerous affections of Flora, the machinations of Beckford, and the bitter patriotism of counterpart Benjamin Stallworth, there is no safety for man or woman. This is a world of plot and counterplot, where a night of love can lead to an act of treason and a man's ideals can fashion a noose around his neck.
"Thomas Fleming is one of my favorite writers because he combines powerful storytelling with the skills of a superb historian." - John Jakes
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Entertaining in all of the ways readers have come to expect, the prolific Fleming's (The Officers' Wives; Remember the Morning; etc.) newest historical fiction concerns a British scheme to kidnap George Washington. It's the winter of 1780, and Washington's near-mutinous rebel army is stationed in Morristown, N.J., with the Brits across the Hudson. Both sides engage in "intelligence" work; indeed, it seems everyone in Fleming's large cast of characters is a turncoat. When Caesar Muzzey, a slave owned by Flora Kuyper and secret courier for the Redcoats, turns up dead in the American camp, Congressman Hugh Stapleton and Chaplain Caleb Chandler become enmeshed in espionage. Caleb wants justice for the dead slave and begins snooping around; Hugh is uninterested until he meets Flora, a beautiful seductress in the pay of the Brits. Even the meek Yankee chaplain falls in love, though he is coerced by his American superiors into lying to Flora and working with her boss, English spymaster and prospective Washington-kidnapper Walter Beckford, thus becoming an unlikely double agent. A literally explosive twist at the end shows exactly where each character's true loyalties lie. Readers will have no trouble overlooking some inflated writing in favor of the resourceful plot and well-drawn historical figures. It's been two years since Fleming has produced a straightforward historical novel (in the interim, he has authored Hours of Gladness, a contemporary thriller, and Duel, a popular history of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr), and his fans will cheer his return to the genre.
