During the spring of 1775, tensions and tempers boiled over and armed conflict erupted between the American colonists and the military forces of their mother country, England. As 1776 looms on the horizon, General George Washington, commander of the American forces, finds himself in a stalemate. He has 6,000 British soldiers throttled in the city of Boston and yearns to pick a fight. His plan, along with Congress, is to force the British Parliament to address the complaints and demands of the colonists. The Crown and Parliament would do so, but not in the fashion that he and his fellow patriots expected. 1776 would prove to be a tumultuous and monumental year for the young United States. King George III has now viciously turned against the colonists and solicited the assistance of auxiliary troops from Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Hanau and other German principalities. Diplomacy has produced no results at reconciliation and a war for independence emerges as their only option. In July, Congress declares the colonies independent and generates a list of grievances for all the world to read. Armed conflict would escalate throughout the summer resulting in a string of battlefield successes for the British. Defeat, disease and desertion would continue to decimate Washington's army, prospects for independence and the spirits of the young nation. As the year nears its end, so too does Washington's army and the revolution for which they are fighting. Christian Maier, still providing assistance to the British army in Canada, must confront professional and domestic hardships to survive the winter and return to his home in Pennsylvania. Tammany Maier must endure the continuing military and medical hardships in Canada before returning to General Washington to help keep the revolution alive. George Washington must learn from his army's many failures, overcome the lack of support of his trusted compatriots and somehow cobble together a formula that will allow the revolution to continue beyond year's end.

Following the Battle of Bunker Hill in early July of 1775, George Washington takes command of the seventeen thousand men who lay siege to the city of Boston, where General Thomas Gage and his four thousand regular army troops valiantly hold out. Parliament and representatives of Great Britain no longer listen to the complaints and requests of the colonials and decline to negotiate the issues. Like his fellow members of Congress, Washington is committed to an early end of the conflict. Washington determines that, by improving the negotiating position of the American colonists, Great Britain will accede to the demands of Congress. Many in the province of Canada are similarly oppressed and disenfranchised by Parliament. With the approval of Congress, Washington devises a plan to expel the British army from the forts at Montreal and Quebec and align with Canada, making Canada the fourteenth American colony. As the Northern army proceeds up the Hudson Valley to attack Montreal, Washington appoints Colonel Benedict Arnold to lead a secret mission of 1,200 men through the wilderness of Maine to attack the undermanned and vulnerable fortress at Quebec. Dr. Tamanend Maier, now on General Washingtons administrative staff, works with Benedict Arnold to plan the expedition and will accompany him to Quebec. His brother, Dr. Christian Maier, is now in Boston. He remains loyal to his king and serves as a volunteer surgeon in the beleaguered British army. General Gage is informed of the secret expedition to Quebec and sends Christian to Quebec with the information necessary to save the fortress city.

Historians have long considered the Battle of Monmouth one of the most complicated engagements of the American Revolution. Fought on Sunday, June 28, 1778, Monmouth was critical to the success of the Revolution. It also marked a decisive turning point in the military career of George Washington. Without the victory at Monmouth Courthouse, Washington's critics might well have marshaled the political strength to replace him as the American commander-in-chief. Authors Mark Edward Lender and Garry Wheeler Stone argue that in political terms, the Battle of Monmouth constituted a pivotal moment in the War for Independence. Viewing the political and military aspects of the campaign as inextricably entwined, this book offers a fresh perspective on Washington’s role in it. Drawing on a wide range of historical sources—many never before used, including archaeological evidence—Lender and Stone disentangle the true story of Monmouth and provide the most complete and accurate account of the battle, including both American and British perspectives. In the course of their account it becomes evident that criticism of Washington’s performance in command was considerably broader and deeper than previously acknowledged. In light of long-standing practical and ideological questions about his vision for the Continental Army and his ability to win the war, the outcome at Monmouth—a hard-fought tactical draw—was politically insufficient for Washington. Lender and Stone show how the general’s partisans, determined that the battle for public opinion would be won in his favor, engineered a propaganda victory for their chief that involved the spectacular court-martial of Major General Charles Lee, the second-ranking officer of the Continental Army. Replete with poignant anecdotes, folkloric incidents, and stories of heroism and combat brutality; filled with behind-the-scenes action and intrigue; and teeming with characters from all walks of life, Fatal Sunday gives us the definitive view of the fateful Battle of Monmouth.

A former Congressman and the author of We Can Overcome presents his case for a conservative Texas. Texas is booming. In recent years, the Lone Star State has experienced some of the most rapid growth in the country, both in its economy and in its population. This is thanks to an influx of businesses relocating to Texas to take advantage of all its benefits. But this increase in population has also brought about a shift in the political dialogue within Texas’s borders. As more people pour into Texas, they bring with them liberal and socialist ideologies as they try to swing the state from red to blue. These plans for changing policies will suffocate the highly successful capitalist state and its residents, and according to Lt. Col. Allen West (Ret.), allowing these liberal ideals to creep into the legislative branch will be the death of Texas. In Hold Texas, Hold the Nation: Victory or Death, West explains how the longstanding conservative capitalist policies within the state’s government have allowed it to flourish over the years, providing hard-to-ignore evidence and allowing his experience in Congress to support his argument. He makes his stand, asserting that Texas must hold fast to its conservative ways and resist succumbing to liberal mindsets, or else cease to prosper, and begin to perish. Texas is a sustaining force for America, truly embodying the founding principles of the nation: those unalienable individual rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In Texas, it’s “Victory or Death.” Praise for Hold Texas, Hold the Nation “A must-read for anyone who bleeds red, white, and blue.” —Brian Kilmeade, cohost, Fox & Friends; host, The Brian Kilmeade Show; New York Times bestselling author

Revolutionary Surgeons offers an integrated picture of surgeons as political and military leaders of the American Revolution. Prominent surgeons participated in political activities that ultimately resulted in the breakaway of the colonies from Britain. Surgeons were members of the Sons of Liberty and other groups opposing Acts imposed on the colonies by Parliament. Similar to other groups in society, surgeons were split in their view of the growing opposition against the English rule of the American colonies and the wish to create an independent nation. Even with different opinions of the revolution, Loyalists and Patriots were often able to get along and live peacefully in the same communities. Surgery underwent dramatic developments during the 1700s. Although anesthesia was still a century in the future, surgeons performed extensive procedures, including laparotomies (opening of the abdomen) for tumors, mastectomies for cancerous growths, amputations of the leg above or below the knee, and cutting for the stone (removal of bladder stones). An increased understanding of human anatomy was one reason why surgeons kept moving the boundaries of what was considered possible. With no anesthesia, patients’ screams from pain and horror were unimaginable. Many patients died from shock on the operating table or from postoperative bleedings and infections. Stories about surgeons as leaders of the American Revolution and about their heroic surgical procedures provide for an exciting read.