Overview

George Washington’s slave Caesar escapes to fight for the British against his former master – in this action-packed historical adventure set against the spectacular background of the American Revolution. In 1773 a new slave arrives at George Washington’s Virginia estate and is given the name Caesar. But the looming war for independence will soon bring a turn of events neither master nor slave could have predicted. Within months they will be fighting on opposite sides: Washington as commander of the Continental Army, Caesar as a soldier in the legendary Loyalist corps made up of former slaves. In this captivating tour de force brimming with spectacular battle scenes and gripping historical detail, Caesar’s perilous rise through the British ranks is deftly interwoven with the story of Washington’s war years, leading to the day when they come face to face again – this time in uniform…

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9780007112715

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'A novel set against the historical backdrop of the American Revolution needs at its heart a plot strong enough to stand up against the weight of history. And in Washington and Caesar that's exactly what you get. Cameron does full justice to the dramatic potential of his scenario, handling the battle scenes with confidence and investing just the right amount of historical authenticty. The result is a work of considerable profundity.' Yorkshire Evening Post

`A novel set against the historical backdrop of the American Revolution needs at its heart a plot strong enough to stand up against the weight of history. And in Washington and Caesar that's exactly what you get. Cameron does full justice to the dramatic potential of his scenario, handling the battle scenes with confidence and investing just the right amount of historical authenticty. The result is a work of considerable profundity.' Yorkshire Evening Post

'A novel set against the historical backdrop of the American Revolution needs at its heart a plot strong enough to stand up against the weight of history. And in Washington and Caesar that's exactly what you get. Cameron does full justice to the dramatic potential of his scenario, handling the battle scenes with confidence and investing just the right amount of historical authenticty. The result is a work of considerable profundity.' Yorkshire Evening Post

An epic populated by the likes of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, various colonial bad and good guys, sympathetic Brits, and an African slave who leads his followers to freedom. First solo effort by Cameron (the pseudonymous Gordon Kent, a father/son writing team: authors of the Alan Craik naval intelligence series), who gives his eponymous Caesar the birth name Cese Mwakale, a noble-born Ashanti. His Roman namesake, a helpful mentor tells him, was himself briefly a slave but later ransomed; the future emperor then spends a few pleasant months chasing down and crucifying those who have offended him. Though he likes the justice in that, Cese is less Caesar than Spartacus. After having aroused the ire of former master George Washington-who figures as a moody, often-unpleasant fellow-he's banished to the Great Dismal Swamp. There, he organizes a slave revolt, becomes a scout for the British, who have promised him and his fellow Loyal Ethiopians freedom in exchange for military service, and begins to rise through the ranks. (Think Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe.) Naturally, he encounters Washington again, to great dramatic effect; as Caesar relates to a British officer, We exchanged shots at the Brandywine. Something like a duel, I think. I've thought that it settled something between us. Caesar also has a few cliffhanging run-ins with a murderous slavecatcher named Bludner-after Hannibal Lecter, one of the most sneeringly villainous figures in recent fiction. Cameron has done his homework well, peppering his pages with real-life incidents rendered with precise attention to detail; where he invents, he does so plausibly. His handling of regional dialects and the language of the time-so often a problem in historical fiction-is particularly skillful. More praiseworthy still is Cameron's careful plotting, which serves up just the right amount of drama, just the right amount of useful-to-know information. Only in the last couple of pages does Cameron falter, as if reluctant to leave off with this delicious tale. A treat for Revolutionary War buffs, especially those interested in the role of Africans and African-Americans on both sides of that fight. (Kirkus Reviews)

When future American President George Washington acquires a new slave, he contemptuously names him Julius Caesar. The hapless Negro could scarcely less resemble a figure of military or political greatness. Yet within months master and slave will be pitted against each other in a war destined to change the course of history. With a skilful blend of fact and fiction, Cameron brings the American War of Independence alive in a way that explodes many cherished myths. Although a novel, the story is rooted in actual events and all the historical details are authentic. As a result the tale can be read as a thumping good yarn or equally as a cautionary tale of how power corrupted both sides in that 18th-century war. When the story opens in 1773, George Washington is a wealthy landowner with a legion of slaves to do his bidding. He can be brutal to the point of inhumanity - hardly the folk hero of American legend. His slave, Caesar, manages to escape and risks much more than his life in fleeing to the British army where he is guaranteed freedom if he is willing to fight for the King. The characters of Washington and Caesar are vividly portrayed, one the leader of a revolution and the other a renegade foot soldier who finds himself becoming captivated by warfare and the chance to exact revenge. Both men are ultimately flawed by their experiences and their prejudices, and though both can claim in the end to have achieved all they desired, they find that victory is not necessarily what they expected it to be. Cameron - who also writes spy thrillers with his father under the pseudonym Gordon Kent - has ventured into new ground with this novel and in the process said a great deal about an emerging nation. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

A former officer in the US Navy, Christian Cameron is a novelist and military historian with a lifelong interest in the American Revolution. Along with Kenneth Cameron, he is also the co-author of the novels Night Trap, Peacemaker, Top Hook and Hostile Contact – published under the pseudonym Gordon Kent.

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