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Tales from a Revolution
The Siege: Virginia
Maimed in battle, Nathaniel Wooster wants to recuperate and try to rebuild his life. Returning home to his mother's cottage in the quiet port community of York-Town seems like a good place to find some peace and quiet. He's slowly finding his way in a life forever changed when the British arrive in force, and he has to draw on everything in him just to keep himself and those he cares about alive.
The Siege is the Virginia volume in the Tales From a Revolution series, in which each standalone novel explores how the American War of Independence unfolds across a different colony. If you've ever wondered what the final major battle of the Revolution looked like from the inside, you'll find a front-row seat in the pages of The Siege .
Buy The Siege today, and witness the American Revolution from behind enemy lines!
The Siege is the Virginia volume in the Tales From a Revolution series, in which each standalone novel explores how the American War of Independence unfolds across a different colony. If you've ever wondered what the final major battle of the Revolution looked like from the inside, you'll find a front-row seat in the pages of The Siege .
Buy The Siege today, and witness the American Revolution from behind enemy lines!
212 pages, Paperback
First published October 19, 2020
18 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Lars D.H. Hedbor
25 books59 followersWhat made the American Colonists turn their back on their King, and fight for independence? How were they different from us–and how were their hopes and fears familiar to our own hearts?
These are the sorts of questions that I think are important to ask in examining the American Revolution, and in the pages of my novels, I suggest some possible answers.
I am an amateur historian, linguist, cuckoo clock restorer, brewer, fiddler, astronomer and baker. Professionally, I am a technologist, marketer, writer and father of six.
My love of history drives me to share the excitement of understanding the events of long ago, and how those events touch us still today.
These are the sorts of questions that I think are important to ask in examining the American Revolution, and in the pages of my novels, I suggest some possible answers.
I am an amateur historian, linguist, cuckoo clock restorer, brewer, fiddler, astronomer and baker. Professionally, I am a technologist, marketer, writer and father of six.
My love of history drives me to share the excitement of understanding the events of long ago, and how those events touch us still today.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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October 25, 2025Want to know more about the Tales from a Revolution series? Check out this series interview with Lars D.H. Hedbor: https://historicalfictionreader.blogs...
March 8, 2021
When I first started The Siege, I had two questions. First, I wondered how Lars Hedbor would make a story about a siege interesting. After all, what is there to say about a siege of a city that would keep a reader’s interest for more than a few pages? A city is occupied by an invading army, there is hardship, it goes on day after day after day, nothing changes from one day to the next other than more hardship. A siege could go on for a long time but it was difficult to see how a book could do the same.
I needn’t have worried. It’s all in the details, and Hedbor knows how to manage the details.
My second question was more to myself. Wait, I said … there was a siege at Yorktown? What I remember about Yorktown from my high school U.S. history is that the Americans won and it ended the war. That was the key message.
There was, indeed, a siege, one that should be a key part of the Yorktown story. When Americans think of the battle of Yorktown we still think about how the American army won against the British. Yay for the Americans, right? Maybe the French get a mention here and there, and maybe if you dig a little you’ll find out that the battle took more than a day. But we don’t talk about the siege. You don’t hear in the popular version of the Yorktown story about the ordinary townspeople who had to deal with the British in their city and in their homes. You don’t hear about what it means to be living in an occupied town. Do you have access to food? What about firewood to heat your home or do your cooking? What about the physical dangers involved in being overrun by an army that needs food and shelter and you’re in the way? What about the destruction by the occupying army of the homes of the people who had fled as the army marched in?
In reality, the battle of Yorktown included a siege of about three weeks. Hedbor walks us through how that must have felt by having us live with several ordinary people who stayed behind as others fled. He brings his characters to life with little details, filling in their backstories. They’re not just a few random people living in the town who he brings in just to have characters. They may be fictional -- but they become real in the telling of the story.
Real people in war don’t have the information we all have two hundred years later, or even the information Americans would have had within a few months after the battle. We’re with Nathaniel, our central character, as he sees some ships coming in. He wonders whose ships they are…are they more resources for the British, or do the Americans have ships he doesn’t know about? They’re French ships -- but people living their lives in town wouldn’t know that. Another detail is shown when Nathaniel briefly meets a man who is scouting the area in preparation for the eventual battle. The man speaks English with an accent, Nathaniel notes, and he wonders where the man is from and how did a foreigner so young become a general in the American army? Anyone who knows American history will immediately recognize, even before he is named in the story, that this is the Marquis de Lafayette. But Nathaniel wouldn’t know that, or have any way of knowing the how and why of French assistance.
This is what Hedbor gives us in his revolutionary war books. The Siege and other books in his Tales From A Revolution series aren’t analytical histories discussing military strategy. You can find that elsewhere. You won’t read much about the laws or policies being implemented by either the Continental Congress or the British government, except to the extent that those laws and policies affected someone’s life. These are not the topics that ordinary people thought about in the midst of war. Hedbor gives us the daily lives of those people, and it provides a whole new perspective on what it must have meant to be there.
I needn’t have worried. It’s all in the details, and Hedbor knows how to manage the details.
My second question was more to myself. Wait, I said … there was a siege at Yorktown? What I remember about Yorktown from my high school U.S. history is that the Americans won and it ended the war. That was the key message.
There was, indeed, a siege, one that should be a key part of the Yorktown story. When Americans think of the battle of Yorktown we still think about how the American army won against the British. Yay for the Americans, right? Maybe the French get a mention here and there, and maybe if you dig a little you’ll find out that the battle took more than a day. But we don’t talk about the siege. You don’t hear in the popular version of the Yorktown story about the ordinary townspeople who had to deal with the British in their city and in their homes. You don’t hear about what it means to be living in an occupied town. Do you have access to food? What about firewood to heat your home or do your cooking? What about the physical dangers involved in being overrun by an army that needs food and shelter and you’re in the way? What about the destruction by the occupying army of the homes of the people who had fled as the army marched in?
In reality, the battle of Yorktown included a siege of about three weeks. Hedbor walks us through how that must have felt by having us live with several ordinary people who stayed behind as others fled. He brings his characters to life with little details, filling in their backstories. They’re not just a few random people living in the town who he brings in just to have characters. They may be fictional -- but they become real in the telling of the story.
Real people in war don’t have the information we all have two hundred years later, or even the information Americans would have had within a few months after the battle. We’re with Nathaniel, our central character, as he sees some ships coming in. He wonders whose ships they are…are they more resources for the British, or do the Americans have ships he doesn’t know about? They’re French ships -- but people living their lives in town wouldn’t know that. Another detail is shown when Nathaniel briefly meets a man who is scouting the area in preparation for the eventual battle. The man speaks English with an accent, Nathaniel notes, and he wonders where the man is from and how did a foreigner so young become a general in the American army? Anyone who knows American history will immediately recognize, even before he is named in the story, that this is the Marquis de Lafayette. But Nathaniel wouldn’t know that, or have any way of knowing the how and why of French assistance.
This is what Hedbor gives us in his revolutionary war books. The Siege and other books in his Tales From A Revolution series aren’t analytical histories discussing military strategy. You can find that elsewhere. You won’t read much about the laws or policies being implemented by either the Continental Congress or the British government, except to the extent that those laws and policies affected someone’s life. These are not the topics that ordinary people thought about in the midst of war. Hedbor gives us the daily lives of those people, and it provides a whole new perspective on what it must have meant to be there.
November 2, 2020
THE SIEGE starts right out with an action-packed opening as we join the hero the moment he receives a life-changing injury. The whole book continues from there with the vivid, well-researched details I've come to expect from this series. As usual, the history is folded seamlessly into the story line. Interestingly, the main character isn't in the center of all the action for the majority of the book. However, his situation allows him to witness the events playing out in York Town. This kept me a pace away from the dramatic tension as I rarely felt he was in grave danger, and I think there was a missed opportunity there. Also, the dialogue, perhaps based on the copious journal entries from which much of the research was taken, felt *very* formal for the largely unlearned characters. Granted, commonplace English in the 1700s was more eloquent by default than what we hear today, but sometimes it was just too wordy. That said, Hedbor's writing clarity and flow for the descriptions and action keep getting better. I kept thinking that this combined with a few others from the series would make an amazing period drama series for television. I very much enjoyed the book and will be keeping it in my "Kindle Keeper" reading collection.
Notice: I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way or directed in what I should say. All my thoughts expressed are my honest opinions.
Notice: I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way or directed in what I should say. All my thoughts expressed are my honest opinions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2023
An important story of the Revolutionary War, and the sacrificed ordinary people made for freedom. Excellent writing and thorough research.
March 11, 2025
A very well written novel that gives the reader a real feel for times past. I enjoyed my time with Nathanial and his family, Anna and Mrs. James. People no different than us, caught in season of uncertainty.
April 7, 2021
Thumps up for this novel that brings history to life. But it’s more than history; L.H. sets the characters and scenes in such real-life provoking imagery, you’ll think you’re there.
L.H. keeps with the language and the mores of the time. This is a book for the linguistic connoisseur, for those of us that are fond of the old-English found in history records or novels from authors like Jane Austin.
We think of the war for independence as this big, quick, event. We know the history. We know the famous people. But history happens for everyone, including Nathaniel. And his story shows the struggle for independence not only on the front line, but also in the daily tasks. Nathaniel had to survive. More importantly, he had to find hope.
I found this book grounding and inspiring, especially given what this past year brought us. I can only hope I handled it as gracefully as Nathaniel Wooster.
L.H. keeps with the language and the mores of the time. This is a book for the linguistic connoisseur, for those of us that are fond of the old-English found in history records or novels from authors like Jane Austin.
We think of the war for independence as this big, quick, event. We know the history. We know the famous people. But history happens for everyone, including Nathaniel. And his story shows the struggle for independence not only on the front line, but also in the daily tasks. Nathaniel had to survive. More importantly, he had to find hope.
I found this book grounding and inspiring, especially given what this past year brought us. I can only hope I handled it as gracefully as Nathaniel Wooster.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews