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Drums
1925. This is novelist James Boyd's first book. Drums, set in Edenton, North Carolina, has been called the best novel written about the American Revolution. The author notes that in this book the main facts of history have been followed except in two cases: the Bonhomme Richard did not sail from Brest but from Lorient; the incident of the vagabond in Chapter XXXV did not occur at Brooks's Club but at another club in London.
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First published January 1, 1928
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July 31, 2012
I had never heard of James Boyd or his 1925 novel Drums until listening to historian David McCullough's speech, The Course of Human Events, wherein McCullough cited Drums as a historical novel he'd read as a child and helped inspire him to become a historian. That was enough for me to give it a look myself.
Drums starts out set in North Carolina and features Johnny Fraser as the main character. Johnny is the son of a well-to-do Scottish immigrant with expectations of becoming a gentleman and dreams of adventure. The story begins when Johnny is a boy, and depicts his growth into a young man during the time of the American Revolution.
While I was expecting the protagonist of a novel about the Revolutionary war to sign up for the Continental Army the moment shots are fired at Lexington, this turns out not to be the case in Drums. Instead, what we see is Johnny's struggle to determine the right course of action, torn between loyalty to the King and pride in his country. Meanwhile, we also get to see how Johnny's family, friends, and neighbors respond to the choice before them between loyalty and patriotism
This conflict is actually the central struggle of the drama. While there is action and we do eventually get to see some of the war, the focus is definitely on the civilian side of things, and the look at how civilians lived, and how they fared and the choices they had to make is very interesting.
Since a large portion of the book is set in Revolutionary North Carolina, slavery is very present. Boyd doesn't shy away from the ugliness of the situation. It's presented much as it must have been, and as a simple fact that none question. While I certainly didn't enjoy reading those parts, per se, I appreciated Boyd's willingness to depict things honestly. There's no overt condemnation of slavery or the treatment of African-Americans, but in this case, showing things as they were and how even our protagonist doesn't give it a thought can in itself be powerful.
One aspect that was a pleasant surprise was a historical connection between Drums and Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel, Kidnapped. Kidnapped is set in Scotland of the 1750's, and given that Johnny's father is a Scottish immigrant, some of the major historical events of that time affect each novel. I'll say no more to avoid spoiling either book.
I read an edition of Drums illustrated by N.C. Wyeth. Wyeth is a favorite of mine, having illustrated many young men's adventure stories of the era. His work here is again excellent. Wyeth contributes nine full color, full page illustration, as well as a small black and white drawing at the opening of each of the 47 chapters.
Overall, I would have liked a novel about the Revolutionary War to have a bit more action, but Drums does an excellent job of depicting the rest of the Revolution, which often gets less attention, and the action it does include is quite good. If you're a fan of the American Revolution or historical fiction, Drums will probably appeal to you.
Drums starts out set in North Carolina and features Johnny Fraser as the main character. Johnny is the son of a well-to-do Scottish immigrant with expectations of becoming a gentleman and dreams of adventure. The story begins when Johnny is a boy, and depicts his growth into a young man during the time of the American Revolution.
While I was expecting the protagonist of a novel about the Revolutionary war to sign up for the Continental Army the moment shots are fired at Lexington, this turns out not to be the case in Drums. Instead, what we see is Johnny's struggle to determine the right course of action, torn between loyalty to the King and pride in his country. Meanwhile, we also get to see how Johnny's family, friends, and neighbors respond to the choice before them between loyalty and patriotism
This conflict is actually the central struggle of the drama. While there is action and we do eventually get to see some of the war, the focus is definitely on the civilian side of things, and the look at how civilians lived, and how they fared and the choices they had to make is very interesting.
Since a large portion of the book is set in Revolutionary North Carolina, slavery is very present. Boyd doesn't shy away from the ugliness of the situation. It's presented much as it must have been, and as a simple fact that none question. While I certainly didn't enjoy reading those parts, per se, I appreciated Boyd's willingness to depict things honestly. There's no overt condemnation of slavery or the treatment of African-Americans, but in this case, showing things as they were and how even our protagonist doesn't give it a thought can in itself be powerful.
One aspect that was a pleasant surprise was a historical connection between Drums and Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel, Kidnapped. Kidnapped is set in Scotland of the 1750's, and given that Johnny's father is a Scottish immigrant, some of the major historical events of that time affect each novel. I'll say no more to avoid spoiling either book.
I read an edition of Drums illustrated by N.C. Wyeth. Wyeth is a favorite of mine, having illustrated many young men's adventure stories of the era. His work here is again excellent. Wyeth contributes nine full color, full page illustration, as well as a small black and white drawing at the opening of each of the 47 chapters.
Overall, I would have liked a novel about the Revolutionary War to have a bit more action, but Drums does an excellent job of depicting the rest of the Revolution, which often gets less attention, and the action it does include is quite good. If you're a fan of the American Revolution or historical fiction, Drums will probably appeal to you.
August 8, 2013
(Note: I read the 1925 first printing, not the modern edition. I cannot speak for it, either for or against.)
This was very nearly an excellent example of what a three-star book should be.
The American Revolution isn't a time period touched on with great frequency in fiction and Drums, as the story of the backwoods-raised son of a deposed Scottish gentryman and his education on the coast of North Carolina as political tensions rise, does a great deal right. Rather than a tale of adventure in wartime and patriotic fervor, this is a workmanlike bildungsroman where the great conflicts of the Revolution rarely come into play at all, and the real story is about a young man with divided loyalties trying to find his place in life as the world turns upside down. In not flying too closely to major historical events, Boyd is able to create a more believable, and ultimately more worthwhile novel. Not one of the greatest I've ever read, but one I'm certainly not worse off for reading.
But I can't give it three stars, for a few reasons.
As a general first complaint, I feel that the author's opinions shine through overly strong in regards to pretty much every group that isn't white North Carolinians. Consistently low opinions of New Englanders, the French, Virginians, Georgians, South Carolinians, and many others abound. Boyd also leans heavily on stereotype to do the work of fleshing out minor characters. His Dutchmen are jovial, his Germans are precise, his Englishmen are genteel, and his New Englanders are unfriendly and sallow.
And this brings us to the fly in the ointment.
As a novel set in the pre-Revolutionary south, and written in the early 20th century by a white southerner, I expected a fairly racist portrayal of slaves and free blacks. Boyd blasts past any possible semblance of verisimilitude, peppering his novel with what a modern reader would consider offensive racial slurs and stereotypes in much the same way a mediocre chef overseasons soup. Far from offering any criticism by this overusage, Boyd seems to cheerfully accept and even tacitly endorse this world of minstrel show stock characters. I would certainly not recommend that this single fact drive off the interested reader, but it did effect my enjoyment of the book enough that I cannot, in good conscience, give it an average rating.
This was very nearly an excellent example of what a three-star book should be.
The American Revolution isn't a time period touched on with great frequency in fiction and Drums, as the story of the backwoods-raised son of a deposed Scottish gentryman and his education on the coast of North Carolina as political tensions rise, does a great deal right. Rather than a tale of adventure in wartime and patriotic fervor, this is a workmanlike bildungsroman where the great conflicts of the Revolution rarely come into play at all, and the real story is about a young man with divided loyalties trying to find his place in life as the world turns upside down. In not flying too closely to major historical events, Boyd is able to create a more believable, and ultimately more worthwhile novel. Not one of the greatest I've ever read, but one I'm certainly not worse off for reading.
But I can't give it three stars, for a few reasons.
As a general first complaint, I feel that the author's opinions shine through overly strong in regards to pretty much every group that isn't white North Carolinians. Consistently low opinions of New Englanders, the French, Virginians, Georgians, South Carolinians, and many others abound. Boyd also leans heavily on stereotype to do the work of fleshing out minor characters. His Dutchmen are jovial, his Germans are precise, his Englishmen are genteel, and his New Englanders are unfriendly and sallow.
And this brings us to the fly in the ointment.
As a novel set in the pre-Revolutionary south, and written in the early 20th century by a white southerner, I expected a fairly racist portrayal of slaves and free blacks. Boyd blasts past any possible semblance of verisimilitude, peppering his novel with what a modern reader would consider offensive racial slurs and stereotypes in much the same way a mediocre chef overseasons soup. Far from offering any criticism by this overusage, Boyd seems to cheerfully accept and even tacitly endorse this world of minstrel show stock characters. I would certainly not recommend that this single fact drive off the interested reader, but it did effect my enjoyment of the book enough that I cannot, in good conscience, give it an average rating.
April 9, 2019
Taken from Drums by James Boyd (first published, 1925)
The time is about five years before the War for Independence. The place, North Carolina. Thirteen-year-old Johnny has been sent from his backwoods home to Dr. Clapton (a Church of England pastor) in the nearest city to be tutored. He had been homeschooled up to that point. In this passage, Dr. Clapton is determining where Johnny stands academically.
“Now,” he said, “fetch down your school books and we shall see.”
What Dr. Clapton saw by the end of the morning was this: that Johnny wrote a fair hand and spelled within reason, that he read the easier passages in Caesar’s Commentaries passably but with no pretensions to elegance; and that his efforts to write Latin were uniformly deplorable. In the realm of science he could add, subtract, divide and multiply infallibly if given ample time, but of fractions the less said the better.
“You must learn to cipher, Johnny. It is unfortunate that gentlemen’s sons should employ their time in the commercial branches, and I should never subscribe to a young man’s going a step beyond fractions and decimals, unless, of course, he were to enter his Majesty’s navy, and even there I consider that the mathematics should be left as far as possible to the lower ranks. But with clerks and stewards what they are nowadays, a gentleman must know fractions if he would protect his affairs.”
“Yes, seh. Dadder said I must learn fractions.”
“I have no doubt. A knowledge of ciphering is commonly demanded by the parents of this Province.” His eye wandered. “I have concluded,” he murmured, “that ciphering is one of the unavoidable disadvantages of a new country. Yes.”…
“…as to Latin exercises; that is more serious. When I was a Colleger at Eton the meanest scholar your age could do his fifty lines a day with never a false quantity.”
People often ask if it is “too late” to start the classical approach with their 11- (or 13 or 15 or 17) year-old. I always respond that it is never too late, but I would like to mention that in some cases it would be very difficult. If you have, say, a 15-year-old who has been fed television and video games for 3-4 hours a day, seldom been read to and reads only lite literature, and generally not been trained how to think or been trained not to think, then homeschooling with the trivium will be a great challenge for you. But, if the student and the parents are motivated and willing to make changes in their lives, then it can be accomplished. A classical education is not just Latin and logic, but a way of life.
The time is about five years before the War for Independence. The place, North Carolina. Thirteen-year-old Johnny has been sent from his backwoods home to Dr. Clapton (a Church of England pastor) in the nearest city to be tutored. He had been homeschooled up to that point. In this passage, Dr. Clapton is determining where Johnny stands academically.
“Now,” he said, “fetch down your school books and we shall see.”
What Dr. Clapton saw by the end of the morning was this: that Johnny wrote a fair hand and spelled within reason, that he read the easier passages in Caesar’s Commentaries passably but with no pretensions to elegance; and that his efforts to write Latin were uniformly deplorable. In the realm of science he could add, subtract, divide and multiply infallibly if given ample time, but of fractions the less said the better.
“You must learn to cipher, Johnny. It is unfortunate that gentlemen’s sons should employ their time in the commercial branches, and I should never subscribe to a young man’s going a step beyond fractions and decimals, unless, of course, he were to enter his Majesty’s navy, and even there I consider that the mathematics should be left as far as possible to the lower ranks. But with clerks and stewards what they are nowadays, a gentleman must know fractions if he would protect his affairs.”
“Yes, seh. Dadder said I must learn fractions.”
“I have no doubt. A knowledge of ciphering is commonly demanded by the parents of this Province.” His eye wandered. “I have concluded,” he murmured, “that ciphering is one of the unavoidable disadvantages of a new country. Yes.”…
“…as to Latin exercises; that is more serious. When I was a Colleger at Eton the meanest scholar your age could do his fifty lines a day with never a false quantity.”
People often ask if it is “too late” to start the classical approach with their 11- (or 13 or 15 or 17) year-old. I always respond that it is never too late, but I would like to mention that in some cases it would be very difficult. If you have, say, a 15-year-old who has been fed television and video games for 3-4 hours a day, seldom been read to and reads only lite literature, and generally not been trained how to think or been trained not to think, then homeschooling with the trivium will be a great challenge for you. But, if the student and the parents are motivated and willing to make changes in their lives, then it can be accomplished. A classical education is not just Latin and logic, but a way of life.
January 31, 2019
I had never heard of this other before so I was interested to read the book because I noticed of the year it was written. It said 1925 and I thought well that’s got to be a different way of approaching a novel. I read a lot of articles on how to write novels these days so I wondered how he would treat the subject of the American Revolution. I really like this book because it emphasizes dialogue but also things that don’t seem to get written about or I don’t think egg Norred is the right word but they don’t get pointed out. For instants I haven’t read a book on the American revolution that deals with a man coming of age during that time. And all of their conflicting emotions especially about going to war and being a gentleman and making yourself to be something especially when the future at that point must have seemed so and predictable. The novel proceeds at a leisurely pace and I like that as well as the subject matter. I think we tend to get in a hurry these days and write our novels with more action base which is good but to me the balance that James Boyd draws or achieve and the link is a good one. I was drawn in fire title and found it a good one. I really liked it.
July 2, 2025
Two book groups I'm in had "a book published in 1925" on this year's reading list.
This was my choice. It is one of the books in my husband's collection of books illustrated by N. C. Wyeth. It's a coming-of-age story set during the American Revolution. Because it was was written in the 1920's both the style and a lot of the vocabulary are dated. Paragraphs are long. Sentences are long and there are a lot of semicolons. The n-word is used frequently and Black people speak in dialect. I don't think it has stood the test of time.
This was my choice. It is one of the books in my husband's collection of books illustrated by N. C. Wyeth. It's a coming-of-age story set during the American Revolution. Because it was was written in the 1920's both the style and a lot of the vocabulary are dated. Paragraphs are long. Sentences are long and there are a lot of semicolons. The n-word is used frequently and Black people speak in dialect. I don't think it has stood the test of time.
June 29, 2020
'm sure in the day it was first released it was a compelling narrative about North Carolina's involvement in the Revolutionary War. However, in today's environment, it fell flat, was hard to read all the various dialects, and didn't really do anything other than make Johnny leave the country to avoid the conflict. I wanted him to be immersed in the battles, and that just didn't happen.
March 31, 2025
This is another of those books that I've had since I was a kid and finally got around to reading. First published in 1925 (same year as Gatsby!), it's an account of one young man's experience in the Revolutionary War. It gives a vivid picture of the time and place (mostly North Carolina), but the plot begins to meander at a certain point.
January 9, 2023
A young adult book? Ha....it is an adult book ..for young and old and those in between as well. Great character development about seeing truth through pomp. Lessens learned apply to today's modern life. Would give this a 10 rating if possible
August 13, 2017
Another reviewer notes that the disdain for everyone who is not a white North Carolinian casts a shadow over the book, with the worst being the profoundly racist view of African-Americans.
June 20, 2019
Not for me
Just plain boring and slow moving. Gave up after plowing through 22% of the book. Not what I expected when I purchased the book
Just plain boring and slow moving. Gave up after plowing through 22% of the book. Not what I expected when I purchased the book
December 10, 2019
The casual racism was too much throughout.
December 21, 2025
a little slow of a story but enjoyed the NC Wyeth paintings.
May 2, 2024
If you want a book about the Revolutionary War written from the view point of people living in North Carolina, this will be a gem. Caution, frequent use of the "n" word. Again, written from life in North Carolina during pre-Revolutionary War and current war time.
May 12, 2016
A coming-of-age story set in the lead-up to and years of the American Revolution. The son of a backwoods North Carolina squire heads to a port town to get his Latin, (some) Greek, mathematics and such from a tutor. He learns how to dress, talk, and entertain himself in a manner befitting his class from the other young gentlemen. Young Johnny Fraser wishes the brewing conflict would go away so he can assume the role of genteel, landed American he is entitled to by his birth. He flees to England. His vanity somewhat gets the better of him, until after a season in London he realizes that all this dandyism is a veneer, coating nothing of real worth. Then it's naval battles and land battles and adventure, as his obsession with English culture gives way to the suppressed American patriotism in his heart.
This 1925 book was an unexpected look into the hearts of those Americans who loved England with its sophistication, yet also loved their colony and fellow Americans. They had friends on both sides, and didn't let a difference of sympathies stop them from assisting a fellow gentleman in need. I expected a passionately patriotic tale of the adventures of the Continental Army, but got something much more interesting.
This 1925 book was an unexpected look into the hearts of those Americans who loved England with its sophistication, yet also loved their colony and fellow Americans. They had friends on both sides, and didn't let a difference of sympathies stop them from assisting a fellow gentleman in need. I expected a passionately patriotic tale of the adventures of the Continental Army, but got something much more interesting.
June 29, 2016
I'm so glad I found this book on goodreads so I could give it a rating. This book plagued my fifth grade reading. I took my AR test over it and did poorly and my teacher wouldn't let me move on from it until I got a better score. Which meant rereading it. Ew.
I now like Revolutionary War fiction and historical accounts but if I were to revisit this book, I bet it would be awful.
I now like Revolutionary War fiction and historical accounts but if I were to revisit this book, I bet it would be awful.
November 15, 2016
This book is one of my favorite books regarding history. It does start out slow but definitely increases in pace later on and has a very good story along the way. I would definitely recommend this book, but being only in 8th grade I can say that it was challenging to understand.
December 18, 2021
A total immersion in Revolutionary War North Carolina. Great settings and authentic dialog. Some offensive period language and sentiments, but not enough to ruin the book for modern readers. Highly recommended, especially for those who know North Carolina.
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April 9, 2009JAR6-Boy
November 20, 2010
read this book during school days. been searching for it ever since. loved it then
March 29, 2015
A very good novel about the Revolutionary War as seen by a young North Carolinian with Scottish heritage. Because we have an ancestor with this background, it was particularly engaging.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews