JEREMIAH MARTIN

A previous Dodd, Mead title--originally scheduled for October 1988 (and reviewed in our August 15, 1988, issue)--is now being published for the first time by St. Martin's. For those who did not see, or do not remember, the earlier Kirkus review, here it is again: ""Another sturdy military reconstruction from Fowler (The Spoils of Eden, 1985; Jason McGee, 1979), this time chronicling the Revolutionary War from the perspective of one Jeremiah Martin, patriot. A stalwart lad who pauses only to consider 'what the hell' before accepting a challenge, Jeremiah glimpses the war from many vantage points and both sides of the Charles River. As a peddler of goods to ragtag militiamen, a sometimes unwilling spy for both sides, a privateer sacking and looting British vessels, and a soldier in Washington's army, Jeremiah sees the American forces evolve into a disciplined brigade. Always in the right place at the right time, he witnesses firsthand the major battles of the war (Lexington, Brandywine, Valley Forge), all of which are authentically rendered in his matter-of-fact accounts. Fowler's allegiance is clear: the British 'lobster-backs' are painted as unrelenting, vicious tyrants, while Jeremiah himself is a virtual modern-day liberal, denouncing slavery and advocating sovereignty for Indians on the frontier. Along the way, Jeremiah sails to London, France, and Barbados, bumps up against historical personages the likes of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, and gets entangled in the mysterious machinations of a Barbadian plantation owner orchestrating the war from afar. A rousing call for freedom the American way.