I'll Storm Hell

by Noel B. Gerson

While tensions grow between the British Crown and its American colonies, precocious tearaway ‘Mad’ Anthony Wayne studies the victories of Hannibal, Caesar and the Duke of Marlborough, in the hope one day leading an army of his own.

Then in 1774, inspired by the call-to-arms of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, he raises a battalion of militiamen; a rag-tag bunch of farmers, but tough Pennsylvanian Patriots nonetheless.

By 1775 the colonies have declared themselves the United States of America, and Anthony Wayne is marching his men to expel the Redcoats and protect a new country’s independence.

Following unprecedented success in the field, he swiftly earns the respect of revolutionary leaders and British generals alike.

But as war drags on, the challenges facing the Americans evolve.

The British army is the best trained in the world.

Devastating bayonet raids are taking their toll on an exhausted, malnourished and under-equipped militia.

Congress vacillates on a course of action, while the morale of Anthony’s men wanes by the day.

Washington knows the capture of Stony Point, a formidable British redoubt, could be the turning point of the war.

Despite the odds, Anthony Wayne believes he can storm it.

Indeed, for independence, he’ll storm hell.

In this inimitable blend of fact and fiction Noel Gerson brings to life not a mad man, but an unjustly overlooked founding father and American hero.

‘Like Wayne, the story has virtually everything — adventure, color, romance’ – Kirkus Review.

Noel Bertram Gerson (1913-1988) was a prolific American author, who wrote 325 books under his own name and under several pseudonyms. He channeled his own wartime experience in military intelligence into many of his novels, as well as writing widely about American history. His titles include ‘Liner’, ‘The Conqueror’s Wife’, ‘The Great Rogue: A Biography of Captain John Smith’ and ‘Daughter of Earth and Water: A Biography of Mary Shelley’.

Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.

Genres: History

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Noel Bertram Gerson (1913-1988) was an American author who wrote 325 books, including several best sellers, among them two screenplay novelizations penned under the pseudonym Samuel Edwards, The Naked Maja, and 55 Days at Peking.

Aside from "Samuel Edwards", which would seem to have been his dedicated by-line for tie-in work, Gerson used the following nine pseudonyms in addition to his own name: Anne Marie Burgess; Michael Burgess; Nicholas Gorham; Paul Lewis; Leon Phillips; Donald Clayton Porter; Dana Fuller Ross; Philip Vail; and Carter A. Vaughan.

Reviews

[Bob Cantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a great deal. Although it is a work of historical fiction there is enough facts to it to think you are reading a biography of Anthony Wayne. I will admit that the beginning starts with a funeral and this seems to be a slow start, but the pace picks up shortly thereafter. The author makes the characters come to life in the pages of this book and you get a sense of the War for independence. The thing that I was interested to see was that politicians even back then seemed to always gum up the conduct of the war by their slow response to crisises. Well worth the read.y

[Greg McElroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent work

I've always dabbled in history and read anything about it I can.
I remember studying about Wayne as a youth. But since then don't think I've heard/read anything about him.
This personal insight was an outstanding work.
Great job

[Pegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found an ancient copy of this at a used book sale. I can't resist older historicals, those written before political correctness infiltrated our history. "Mad Anthony" Wayne was a lot of thing, but politically correct was never one of them. While this was a fictional account of his life, it was well done and worth the read if you like Revolutionary War period books. It jumped around a bit too much to call it riveting, but it is very readable.

[Fred Provoncha · Rating 5 out of 5]

He likely would have been the 2nd US President. Had he lived, American history would have been different..fvp