"The World Turned Upside Down" takes readers on an exhilarating journey through one of history's most transformative periods.
This masterful work of historical fiction follows the audacious British-American colonists, known as the Founders, as they boldly rise against the mightiest empire of their time: England. Their unprecedented struggle challenged the status quo and reshaped the foundation of global politics and human rights, ushering in the era of democracy. As the narrative unfolds with rich, immersive detail and dynamic characters, the story poses a profound question: after securing their hard-won liberty, could they preserve and nurture the fragile promise of a new world?
This compelling tale captures the spirit of revolution and the enduring quest for freedom.
Book Title: The World Turn’d Upside Down
Series: Volume 2 of 4 of Creating a Republic the American Way
Author: Seth Irving Handaside
Publication Date: November 30th, 2024
Publisher: Historium Press
Pages: 287
Genre: Historical Fiction
Excerpt
Politics
The water sparkled as the sun dove into the distant fast-flowing ribbon-like Hudson River.
“To the “spirit of 76,” said the guests still on the veranda at Richmond Hill.
General Wilkinson stood refreshed by his medicinal herbs and enjoyed the occasion.
Wilkinson was again front and center for the next ten minutes, full of himself, but no one seemed to care. “I do not think,” he said, “there was a moment where someone was not pointing the finger at someone else.”
“Be careful,” said General Willet, who caught Burr’s eye, “or he will give you another rundown of the Battles of Saratoga.”
Willet’s words made Wilkinson laugh so hard that he feared spilling his drink. “It started,” he said, “in the army when Schuyler, Gates, and Arnold had concurred on the retreat from Crown Point. A contingent of New England subordinate officers remonstrated to Washington, who rebuked the presiding officers without the fort’s abandonment facts. As any man of honour would do, Schuyler asked for a court of inquiry from Congress, and upon it not being granted, he sent in his formal resignation.”
General Willet, one of the many heroes who were under siege at Fort Stanwix, interjected, “The first of many because of his tinctured pride, that man possessed more vanity than leaves in the forest. If I recall, Congress appointed a committee to investigate the northern department’s affairs, not with Schuyler in attendance but with his inferior, Gates, in command.”
“Hamilton’s future father-in-law,” said Burr, “fumed about that.”
Music did not come to Colonel Burr’s ears when the name of Schuyler entered the conversation. He thought of his daughters, “Betsey” and Angelica, and John Church, Angelica’s husband.
“The aristocratical Schuyler,” said Willet, “thought in terms of social class, believing himself more equal, an octave above.”
After considering the implications of this, Wilkinson shrugged.
Washington Irving’s curiosity heightened, considering the conversation one of the most entraining of his life.
His mind in a different time, Colonel Burr sat quietly, a little off from the others, not hearing Wilkinson. He puffed his long seegar, thinking how Wilkinson could straddle the fence between Gates and Schuyler. This straddling between political parties plagued him throughout his political life. It dawned on him that the birth of political parties began with the battle between the Gates and Schuyler forces in Congress.
Gates, a Whig, personified the future Jeffersonian Republicanism. And Schuyler, the embodiment of the future Federalism of Alexander Hamilton. One committed to freedom from the hammer of authority, and the other believed the privileged should be the rulers.
The Colonel thought politics, the jewelry of vanity, sought out a point of access in Congress and, when found, impacted the lives of the innocent faithful soldiers.
His epaulets highlighted by the light of several candles, General Wilkinson’s brow lifted.
Above, the black roof of heaven bejeweled by glittering stars, he scanned his fellow patriots and Congress’s thought. Nausea entered his tone, “They were like a wandering compass, rotating in vain, trying to direct victory but endangering the revolution. Of course, they needed to organize a revolution. Fund it. Create an organization. But they feared the military.”
Sighing, he walked the length of the veranda.
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Seth Irving Handaside
Growing up in Putnam County in the town of Putnam Valley, named after General Israel Putnam, Seth Irving Handaside walked its roads.
He explored the hills and valleys that American rebels tread. But, he often thought, what would have done when the head of the state, King George III of England, ignored his rights and the rule of law?
Would he have marched to the tune of the revolution and been in a regiment commanded by General Putnam or sided with the loyalists?
Fascinated by American history since elementary school, politics runs in his veins. He has spent the last ten years researching and reading about the founding fathers and settled on six men, three boys not yet twenty, and three Virginians who risked having their necks stretched to make the American dream a reality.
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Thank you so much for hosting Seth Irving Handaside, with an excerpt from his fascinating novel, The World Turn'd Upside Down.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Cathie xx
The Coffee Pot Book Club