The Maddest Idea is sprightly in style and accurate in historical sweep and detail. Nelson has no apologies to make by sailing in company with [C. S.] Forester and Patrick O’Brian.
Description
In the late summer of 1775, General George Washington discovers that his cache of gunpowder has dwindled to a mere nine shots per man. A desperate plan is hatched—to send a ship under the command of Captain Isaac Biddlecomb to Bermuda to capture the British powder known to be there. But the plan is a trap, set by a traitor among the patriots, and one from which even Biddlecomb cannot escape. Washington dispatches his aide-de-camp, Major Edward Fitzgerald, to hunt the traitor down, while Biddlecomb must rely on cunning and seamanship to free his men and the ship, and to capture the gunpowder that is the lifeblood of the fight for liberty.
Divided by an ocean but bound by the cause, as well as by their own private fears, Biddlecomb and Fitzgerald must take on a common enemy—the greatest military power on earth.
This is a powerful saga of the American Revolution—a stirring maritime adventure in the epic, true-to-life tradition of Patrick O’Brian.
Reviews
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.
James Nelson is a master of his period and the English language. . . . Authenticity runs throughout the book, carrying total conviction. . . . Nelson writes with the eagerness of a young man sailing his first command.
Nelson’s seagoing experience is evident in his clear, convincing description. . . . The characters are strong and realistic, the plot and action believable and brisk . . . a fine adventure series.