A young man is baptized by fire during the bloody battle of Lexington, the first conflict of the Revolutionary War, in this unforgettable coming-of-age novel from the award-winning author of Spartacus.

“Invites comparison with Crane’s Red Badge of Courage . . . I think this is an even better book.”—The New York Times

When you read this novel about April 19, 1775, you will see the British redcoats marching in a solid column through your town. Your hands will be sweating and you will shake a little as you grip your musket because never have you shot with the aim of killing a man. But you will shoot, and shoot again and again while your shoulder aches from your musket’s kick and the tight, disciplined red column bleeds and wavers and breaks and you begin to shout at the top of your lungs because you are there, at the birth of freedom—you're a veteran of the Battle of Lexington, and you’ve helped whip the King’s best soldiers. . . .