David McCullough - 1776
Though I cannot claim to have not experienced such suspense in reading of historical events, this thrilling account of our nation's founding year banished all such previous memories. ... Me Patriot mobs took to the streets to hunt down Loyalists. Those they seized were beaten, tarred and feathered, burned with candles, or made “to ride the rail,” the cruel punishment whereby a man was forced to straddle a sharp fence rail held on the shoulders of two men, with other men on either side taking a grip on his legs to keep him straight, and thus the victim was paraded through the streets. (after news of plot to assassinate General G. Washington) The next day came another surprise move when Lord Howe sent a selected officer from the Eagle, Lieutenant Philip Brown, across the bay to New York under a flag of truce carrying a letter addressed to "George Washington, Esq." Brown was met by Joseph Reed, who on Washington's orders had hurried to the wate...