The Great Rebellion: Book One of The Autobiography of William Watson

Overview

What if George Washington's crossing of the Delaware had led to a catastrophic defeat and the collapse of the American Revolution?

This is William Watson's world. As a thirteen-year-old boy from a farm in Graves End near New York City, he is swept up in what he knows as the Great Rebellion - a war that takes the lives of both his parents. He joins the rebel army just before its defeat at the Battle of Brooklyn, and shares its suffering as it retreats across New Jersey into Pennsylvania. He is at Washington's side at the Battle of Trenton, the rebel's final defeat and surrender. Escaping from Hessian captivity, William survives to face the challenges of growing up in British North America. He falls in love, learns a trade, and matures into manhood. He endures another war and overcomes the hardships and dangers of life on the North Carolina frontier.

Now eighty years old, William tells his life story, but he is careful not to excuse his sometimes less than admirable behavior. He makes mistakes, suffers their consequences, and is willing to tell the reader about them.

Do the British treat the defeated Americans harshly, as they did the Scots and Irish who rebelled during the 18th century, or do they take a gentler approach? The Great Rebellion offers an answer to that question that may surprise you. And what about the rest of the world? Does the failure of the American Revolution stop the French Revolution from occurring or are the grievances that led the long-suffering French to overthrow their King so strong that their rebellion occurred anyway? Again, the answer may surprise you.

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