Customer Reviews

John Treegate's Musket (Treegate Series)

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John Treegate's Musket (Living History Library)wonderful,wonderful novel for young adults.The Irish author,Leonard Wibberley,equals Patrick O'Brien for engrossing saga set just before and during the American Revolution.This book became the basis for a 7-book series that takes young Peter Treegate from shipwrecked orphan to a Captain of militia in the Continental Army.I just can't recommend it enough for lovers of historical fiction.

Not only does Peter live an exiting life but he gets to visit some strange places as well. As you know Peter is made cabin boy on a ship on the high seas but the ship makes a stop at a French island and although it is beautiful with strange birds flying around, it is filled with disease and poverty. When they get away from the dreadful island the ship is sunk in a hurricane and the Maclearen of Spey saves Peter. The Maclearan of Spey is a mountain man and lives in a heavily wooded forest filled with rattle snakes, bears, goats, deer and more. Last but certainly Peter finds himself in a beautiful field with a sunny sky only to fight in the Revolutionary war. I haven't been to places like this... have you?

This is juvenile historical fiction at its best. Leonard Wibberly(better known as the author of "The Mouse That Roared") is a skilled and witty story teller, and he is passionate about history. I can't think of a better way for youth to learn about the American Revolution (and what was happening elsewhere in the world at the same time) than to read this engrossing book. This book is a lively and readable adventure story, yet filled with accurate historical detail. The characters are colorful and well-developed - this book is much better than the highly over-rated "My Brother Sam is Dead" - a depressing and shallow attempt to show the other side of the story. This isn't as introspective as "Johnny Tremaine", but young readers who lack the patience for that excellent book may be captured by the fast pace and humor in this one. I'm thrilled that the "John Treegate" books are back in print after many years.

It's no mean feat to be able to write a story about a period of history that's been done to death and make it fresh. In John Treegate's Musket, author Leonard Wibberley (better known for his best-seller The Mouse that Roared: A Novel) recreates the heady days prior to the American Revolution, telling the tale through the eyes of a boy named Peter Treegate. Peter is the son of an important Boston merchant, John Treegate, who fought for the Crown at the climactic battle of the Plains of Abraham. Apprenticed to a cooper, Peter sees the hardships of Boston's merchants and manufacturers first hand. He is also exposed to the hazing and beatings of the older boys. Framed for a murder, Peter flees Boston on a smuggler's brig and embarks on an adventure that will eventually find him at the top of Breeds Hill near Boston a few years later.

Originally written in 1959, John Treegate's Musket is an engaging tale packed with colorful, memorable characters. I particularly liked the Maclaren of Spey--a tough dispossessed Scottish lord living on the Carolina frontier. This conflicted character is occasionally heroic, but is also presented as a relic to a time of brutal wars of succession and endless blood-feuds. Wibberley also incorporates several of the Founding Fathers into the tale, Sam Adams and Paul Revere among them, and puts Peter at the center of the Boston Massacre. I appreciated Wibberley's frank and honest portrayal of the times. He is not overly critical of the Loyalists, and his description of reciprocal raids by Indians and frontiersmen shows the harsh reality of frontier life without assigning victim status to either side.

John Treegate's Musket it the first in a four-book series, the other three being Peter Treegate's War, Sea Captain from Salem (Treegate), and Treegates Raiders (newly re-released). The series makes a great companion to a study of the Revolutionary War era and could also serve as an introduction to this period. The books are marked for ages 14 and up, but I think a 12 year old could easily handle them in terms of reading level and content.