'Eagle's Cry', by David Nevin (2000)

Instead of another William Martin book, as promised last time, the subject of this critique will be Eagle's Cry, by David Nevin. This novel of early United States history concentrates on causes and effects of westward expansion in the opening years of the 19th century. Eagle's Cry opens with George Washington's death in 1799 and concludes in 1804, following the Louisiana Purchase. Most of the characters are historical figures, from Jefferson, Madison, Burr and John Quincy Adams to Meriwether Lewis, Andrew Jackson and (briefly) Napoleon Bonaparte. These characters' differing narrative viewpoints on the events of those fateful years are presented in alternating chapters. Historical names are supplemented by fictional characters Danny Mobry, the French Louisiana-born widow of an American trader, and her two married black slaves Tom and Millie. A brief 'Author's Note' following the novel explains some of Nevin's historical thinking, although the somewhat ambiguous title is not explained.

The five criteria:

1. Did the novel inspire me to further historical research?

Yes; especially some events less familiar to me, such as the Haitian Revolution. Score = 4

2. Did the novel include enough history to make it an interesting historical story?

This novel is composed almost entirely of documented historical events, told in a highly entertaining style. Score = 4

3. Was the depiction of historical events accurate?

Quite accurate as far as it goes, though biased and not always complete. The 'Author's Note' confesses some of Nevin's sins, like referring to Jefferson's party as "Democrats". Some omissions, such as a failure to mention the Barbary Wars begun during Jefferson's presidency, were probably intentional, limiting the novel's scope to western-related events. Another major omission is the lack of any native American voice. Not surprising, perhaps, in a novel that lionizes Jefferson, Madison and Jackson. Score = 3

4. Was the depiction of historical characters accurate?

As noted above, Jefferson, Madison and Jackson come off better than they probably were. As Nevin notes, "Burr apologists" will take issue with their man's portrayal. Lewis' character seems much more detailed than historical evidence allows. For instance, during a visit to Jefferson at Monticello, he meets Sally Hemings and speculates inwardly on the ambiguous nature of her behavior toward her master. I don't know enough about Jackson to comment on his fictionalized character; a good biography will be placed on my non-fiction reading list. Score = 3

5. Would I read another novel by this author, continuing in this historical period, with these characters (or new ones)?

Yes; I plan to read 1812 sometime soon. Score = 4.

'The Lost Constitution' by William Martin (2007)

As promised before I got sidetracked with text searches in Google Books, the subject this time is The Lost Constitution, another New England historical by William Martin. The title gives away one big difference between this book and Cape Cod. The focus of this story is a document rather than a place. That difference releases the action from restriction to a small geographical area. Martin takes advantage of that release to let his story roam all over New England. Another thing the title tells you is that the earliest historical period in this novel will be close to 1787, when the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia to produce a new form of government for the United States. In fact, the historical story begins in 1786 with Shays' Rebellion. Martin describes those events as illustrating the need for a stronger national government to replace the weak Articles of Confederation.

The fictional element of the story takes the form of a quest for a semi-legendary 'lost' copy of the first draft of the Constitution belonging to Massachussets Convention delegate Rufus King. This plot line is similar to one in Cape Cod, which included a lost ship's log purportedly written by the captain of the Mayflower. The action shifts back and forth from the present to a sequence of historical periods and places, as a modern antiquities dealer attempts to trace the movements of the missing document through the years and generations. A collection of shady and/or dangerous characters are also pursuing the document, for a variety of reasons. This plot line gives The Lost Constitution a historical-thriller feel, a la Da Vinci Code. OK, no spoilers; let's move on to the five criteria:

1. Did the novel inspire me to further historical research?

Yes. A large number of historical people are incorporated into the novel, from the aforementioned Daniel Shays and Rufus King to Harriet Beecher Stowe and Joshua Chamberlain. Interesting places too, such as Crawford Notch and Newport, R.I. during the Gilded Age. Plenty of inspiration here. Score = 4

2. Did the novel include enough history to make it an interesting historical story?

Yes. The historical story traces the political, social and economic evolution of New England, including longer-term trends such as the rise and fall of the textile industry. Score = 4

3. Was the depiction of historical events accurate?

As in Cape Cod, Martin seems to be very strong on historical accuracy. Score = 4

4. Was the depiction of historical characters accurate?

Again similar to Cape Cod, historical characters are either mentioned only in passing or given small supporting roles. The biographical information given about these characters is accurate; there's just not much of it. Score = 3

5. Would I read another novel by this author, continuing in this historical period, with these characters (or new ones)?

Definitely, although none of Martin's novels are written in series. I might give New England a break and read Citizen Washington next. Score = 4.

A tip for better Google Books text searches

I've been reading Champlain's Dream (not a novel, I know), by David Hackett Fischer, and was curious about a colorful character known as "Captain Provençal"; Champlain's swashbuckling uncle. I typed the name into the Google search box but was disappointed to get only two relevant hits. I looked again at the search box; oops, I had typed "captain provancal". Correcting my spelling yielded much better results. Even the misspelling, however, led me to Champlain's Dream in Google Books. I decided to do some search engine testing there, since I already knew that the Captain was mentioned many times.

In case you haven't used it, Google Books has a great search feature that will search within a book and show snippet views of passages containing your search terms. I was puzzled, though. A search usually highlights instances of the search words. My search showed only a page of the book, without any highlighted words. That was when I discovered my spelling error. Correcting the spelling improved my results in the regular Google Search, but still no highlights appeared in the Google Books text search results. Maybe capitalization is important? I tried searching on "Captain Provencal" - still no highlights. It was only when I replaced the regular "c" with the French "ç" that the search found and highlighted the name "Captain Provençal" inside Champlain's Dream. It seems that the search engine inside Google Books is much less "fuzzy" than regular Google Search. So, to find exactly what you're searching for, don't forget those diacritical marks.