Mr. Nelson has taken an episode that occupies no more than a few paragraphs in other histories of the Revolution and, with convincing research and vivid narrative style, turned it into an important, marvelously readable book.”
–Thomas Fleming, author of The Perils of Peace: America’s Struggle to Survive after Yorktown

“A gripping and fascinating book about the daring and heroic mariners who helped George Washington change the course of history and create a nation. Nelson wonderfully brings to life a largely forgotten but critically important piece of America’s past.”
–Eric Jay Dolin, author of Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America

“The political machinations are as exciting as the blood-stirring ship actions in this meticulously researched story of the shadowy beginnings of American might on the seas.”
–John Druett, author of Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World