The story picks up where the first Treegate series book ended, at the Battle of Bunker’s Hill. Peter and the Maclaren are captured by the British and placed on a prison ship in Boston Harbor.
They escape with the help of Peace of God Manly, a New England sea captain, and the three become part of the crew of a ship carrying gunpowder to the Colonial army in Boston.
The story takes them from Boston to New York to the crossing of the Delaware and back to the mountains of South Carolina.
I originally read this book when I was maybe 12 years old. I've now read it again 33 years later. I had forgotten the part about the McLaren of Spey and it probably didn't mean much to me on the first read, but now that I've been to Scotland and done quite a lot of reading on the same it was quite a bit more significant. On to book #3!
This is a real page-turner - I finished just a few hours after starting.
This book is an immediate continuation of the first, starting at the Battle of Bunker Hill. It concludes just after the surrender of Burgoyne in New York. In between Peter Treegate is a Patriot soldier, a prisoner of war who escapes, as well as the heir to an exiled Scottish clan who could chose a new life apart from the battles of the Revolution. There is plenty of action, and the plot line concerning his Scottish foster father is resolved. Wibberley plays the long game well, and it's very satisfying. We get some sense of the military campaigns in New Jersey, including a meeting between Peter and George Washington just prior to the crossing of the Delaware. As is somewhat typical in stories of this type, there is a bit of exceptional coincidence in having certain important characters run into one another again. It's not egregious here.
The series continues, and I look forward to what will happen next.
Three cheers for historical accuracy and for Scots in America! I came back to re read this after The Outlander misrepresented Scottish Catholics as whoremongering, immoral drunkards. It made me feel a little better that at least there are some accounts left of these larger than life warriors who left their mark so strongly on our culture. I especially like how the author's main character is developed by several influences, making him a true American.
I love this series. I love that is was written in the 1960s. The language is at a much higher level than books written today. The story is so engaging. The characters are interesting. And the author incorporates history of this time period that many of us - at least those my age - never learned. I always recommend them to parents looking for good historical fiction of the Revolutionary War era for their kids.