Book Review by Bob Edmonds published on August 3, 2019 in the McCormick Messenger. Mr. Edmonds has long written weekly book reviews for this newspaper, and is noted as both an author and historian. To date he has published fifteen books. He is a past president of the South Carolina Historical Society and a recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest civilian award.
“The American Revolution is usually told as a very Boston-centric story. When Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765, resistance was widespread, but Bostonians led the way in creating the Sons of Liberty. Textbooks often gloss over the next five years, until the story picks back up with “The Boston Massacre” in 1770. Despite the bloodshed, tensions seemed to calm for a while. That is, until Bostonians had a “Tea Party” in 1773. Outright warfare came only about a year-and-a-half later, in the outskirts of Boston, with the famous Battles of Lexington and Concord. By then, April of 1775, the Revolutionary War was underway, a conflict that pitted thirteen united colonies against the British Empire.
American political ideas regarding liberty and self-government did not suddenly emerge full-blown at the moment the colonists declared their independence from Britain. The varied strands of what became the American republic had many roots, reaching far back in time and across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe. Indeed, it was not new ideas but old ones that led the colonists to revolt and form a new nation.
With greed and corruption prevalent on both sides of the Atlantic and the British Treasury nearly depleted by wars fought against France and Spain, Parliament looks to its English colonies in America as a source to regrow revenue.
In the colonies a slowly growing resistance ignites among a populace loyal to the British Crown. With each report of protest, the Ministry imposes more restrictive and punishing laws and taxes. Resistance builds, and the King’s Army is deployed to return order. Protests in America turn to riots leading to bloody incidents, and in 1773 fueled by actions by a corrupt Royal Governor in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, three boatloads of tea are dumped by radical colonials into Boston Harbor.
Terry Wilson wrote, “This historical novel Cursed by Bias Diplomacy, the second of The Don’t Tread on Me Sagas provides a fictional yet historic accurate tale. The British Ministry seeks revenge. Dependent on maritime activity for its livelihood, the Town of Boston’s port is blockaded by an armada of the Royal Navy, and through occupation, the King’s Army creates a garrison town of Boston. The cherished legislative government of the Bay Colony is dissolved, and many loyalists to the Crown grow sympathy to resistance led by the Sons of Liberty. Should negotiation with the Ministry fail, Patriot leadership foresees armed conflict necessary, and they prepare for it. Nearly a year and a half following the Boston Tea Party, elevated resentment, anger and resolve erupts as the shot heard round the world announces war as Englishmen face Englishmen.
“The bulk of historical novels are told using fictional characters, but characters within this work are actual people who lived and experienced the events. Insight establishing thoughts, voice and actions of the characters comes from thousands of written documents providing insight (letters, diary entries, transcripts of speeches, newspaper articles and colonial legislative journals written by or about the characters). Some dialog is molded from entries within these documents, and liberty has been taken, in some instances, to substitute words or phrases to facilitate the contemporary reader’s understanding of the original message. It is my sincere hope that the reader enjoys and finds this work enjoyable and informative as significant and historical events of the 1770s are masked by a costume of fiction.”
Terry Wilson is a writer of sterling quality. He has meticulously researched every character in the story. He has presented a book that is highly readable and interesting that flows wonderfully well. His presentation will long be remembered. Wilson’s book helps readers to understand the revolution – from the beginning.”
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