The Hornet's Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War

Rating:
Summary: Interesting history - not very interesting storytelling
Review: This book was given to me as a gift this past Christmas. I am a fan of Jimmy Carter's humanitarian efforts but I hadn't read any of his literature. The book starts out nice with the Pratt's in Philadelphia and their journey to North Carolina. After that, it gets hard to follow. The basic problem as I see it is that there is a wealth of historical facts that Mr. Carter tries unsuccessfully to spin an interesting tale around. My main complaint is that he skips from character to character without warning. He will be going in depth on how Ethan feels about his political sentiments and the next sentence he is introducing a completely new character. The next time we get back to Ethan may be 50 pages later. This back and forth writing style is irritating and prevalent throughout the entire book. Personally, I find this hard to follow. I like historical non-fiction as-well-as fiction; however, this book does not succeed as either. I recommend this book only to the reader that is very interested in learning about the Revolutionary War and doesn't mind the confusing and hectic writing style of the author.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent history crippled by 8th-grade writing
Review: This could have been an excellent book. The plot is interesting, the historical details are accurate and richly detailed. And the characters certainly had potential.
But the writing is so amatuerish, pedantic, and lacking in emotion that it ends up being difficult to complete the book. This latter quality is why I rated it poorly. The plot is so straightforward that it may as well be a textbook.

Nevertheless, I DO recommend this book for anyone interested in the era and circumstances surrounding the birth of the United States. It provides a good account of the North Carolina Regulators, a mostly overlooked and usually misunderstood event essential to understanding the true situation in the lower colonies.
It also provides interesting details of life during this period from the perspective of the ups and downs of the middle class.

I applaud former President Carter for the exactness and extent of his historical research. I also am in debt for the focus on such an over-looked but crucial period of our country's history. But I heartily wish that he had utilized the services of a competent writer to make the book more readable.