The Lost Constitution [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

William Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2007

Rare-book expert Peter Fallon and his girlfriend, Evangeline, the main characters from Back Bay and Harvard Yard, are back for another treasure hunt through time. They have learned of an early, annotated draft of the Constitution, stolen and smuggled out of Philadelphia. The draft’s marginal notes spell out, in shocking detail, the Founders’ unequivocal intentions---the unmistakable meaning of the Bill of Rights. Peddled and purloined, trafficked and concealed for over two centuries, the lost Constitution could forever change America’s history---and its future. 
 
Moreover, Congress is already at war, fighting tooth and claw over the eternally contentious Bill of Rights. When word gets out of the lost draft’s existence, it launches a frenzied search, as both sides of the partisan machine believe it will reinforce their arguments. While battling politicians from both sides of the debate, Peter and Evangeline must get to the document first, because they know that if the wrong people find it, they will burn it, stripping the nation of its constitutional moorings.
 
The search takes Peter and Evangeline into the rich history of America and New England, from Shay’s Rebellion to the birth of the American industrial revolution to the march of the legendary 20th Maine in the Civil War.
 
Past and present play off one another as the search for the draft heats up. It finally boils over on the first night of the World Series, at that Mecca of New England, Boston’s fabled Fenway Park, and the truth is finally revealed.… 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A rare, annotated draft of the U.S. Constitution is at the heart of Martin's entertaining third novel to feature antiquarian book dealer Peter Fallon. As in Harvard Yard (2003), Martin tells two stories. The first chronicles the loss and recovery of the document at the time of the constitutional convention, where young Will Pike attends Massachusetts delegate Rufus King, and its passing through generations of the Pike family to the present. The second traces Fallon's search against deadly competition to find the draft. Throughout, Martin makes clear that people have always tried to use the Constitution for their own purposes, including right-wing Christian fanatics, survivalist gun nuts, liberal gun-banners and greedy entrepreneurs now seeking the lost draft. The Pike family motto: "In America, we get up in the morning, we go to work, and we solve our problems" serves as a unifying theme, and Martin also makes clear that the Constitution—drafts and all—was intended as a unifying agent. This is a good mystery, a better examination of constitutional issues and a superb paean to New England, its people, natural beauty and resources. Author tour. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Rare book dealer Peter Fallon and his travel reporter paramour, Evangeline Carrington, are back for a third treasure-hunting adventure in this gem of a series by Martin. The search is on for an original first draft of the Constitution marked up and annotated by the Founding Fathers that was stolen hours after it was written and lost ever since. Intermittent historical flashbacks tell the fascinating tale of how the document was smuggled, stolen, and sold over the past 220 years. Fast-forwarding to the present: after a major terrorist attack involving easily obtainable automatic weapons is thwarted, gun-control supporters in Congress are trying to get the Second Amendment repealed. The margin notes on the draft constitution could give surprising insights on what the Founders really intended regarding "the right of the people to keep and bear arms." Villianous parties are determined to get their hands on the "lost Constitution" and will stop at nothing—not even murder—to get their greedy hands on it. Readers looking for another Da Vinci Code should find this a worthy successor. Gannon, Michael
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (May 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765315386
• ASIN: B001CJS68Q
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,666,458 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In his boyhood, William Martin loved what he later called "big stories on broad canvases." He read the novels of C.S. Forester, Dickens, and western author Will Henry. He sat transfixed by the big movies of the early sixties. So after college he went to Hollywood to try his hand at screenwritng but quickly found that his instincts were better suited to novels. His first, "Back Bay," introduced treasure hunter Peter Fallon in a new kind of adventure that joined the contemporary mystery-thriller to the historical novel. In his nine novels (including four best selling Peter Fallon adventures), Martin has tracked national treasures across the landscape of the American imagination, chronicled the lives of the great and the anonymous in American history, and brought to life legendary American locations, from "Cape Cod" to "Annapolis" to the "City of Dreams." He has also written an award-winning PBS documentary on the life of Washington and a cult-classic horror movie, has contributed book reviews to the Boston Globe, and has taught writing across the country, from the Harvard Extension School to the famous Maui Writers Conference. He lives near Boston with his wife and has three grown children. His work has established him as a "storyteller whose smoothness matches his ambition."(Publisher's Weekly) And he was the recipient of the 2005 New England Book Award, given to "an author whose body of work stands as a significant contribution to the culture of the region."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BACK BAY, the next generation, May 31, 2007

By 

Jayhawk (Boston, Ma. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Constitution (Hardcover)

After HARVARD YARD, William Martin got up in the morning, got to work, solved the problems that writing a book present and thereby delivers to us his latest work, THE LOST CONSTITUTION. We fans are lucky that Martin himself subscribes to this Yankee work ethic that he extols throughout this book.

I'm always glad when a new William Martin novel is released. I know it will be exciting, a page turner. I know it will be informative. And I know it will be a history lesson, too.

In this new adventure, Martin sets our old friends, antiquarian book dealer Peter Fallon and his sassy girlfriend Evangeline, on the trail of an annotated copy of the Constitution. The stakes are higher in this quest than in his past tales. As important and valuable as the Paul Revere Tea Set from BACK BAY and Shakespeare's missing manuscript from HARVARD YARD might be, they don't have the political or social ramifications of this purloined copy of the Bill of Rights. What were the true intentions of the delegates? How much compromise was there before ratification? This copy smuggled out of Philadelphia might shed light on these issues and others.

Various competing factions within the country - Lefties, Righties, gun nuts, religious zealots - want this document, with margin remarks by Massachusetts delegate Rufus King, because it might bolster their cause or philosophy, which would translate into more power and more credibility. Power and credibility that are worth killing for, as Fallon and Evangeline discover as they track the missing document's movement through time.

This is a new millenium William Martin. His vision is as sharp as the hawks he has lazily soaring above the perimiters of the New England farmlands. There's terrorism in these pages. There's murder and assassination. And a final clash of past and present at Fenway Park during the World Series. There's even a Bingo confrontation! And, of course, there's the history. In this case, the rich tapestry of New England's past, beginning with Shay's Rebellion, as seen through the eyes of Martin's Pike family. The Pikes take us along with them as the document wends its way through New England through the generations. At every step of the way, Martin explores fascinating aspects of New England's past. A past that Martin obviously reveres, which is evident in all of his books. I expect that the most knowledgeable students of New England history will learn a few things from this book...

Somehow, with all of the vying for power and the attempts of opposite sides of issues to secure this document for their own ends, we understand that, ultimately, this Constitution of the United States, with its unique Bill of Rights for us citizens, brings us closer together much more than it divides us. It resonates at every stage of our development as a country. It is vital. It is alive. It will survive bad presidents and worse calamaties than that. It is our great strength. And it's William Martin's strength that he is able to make us see and understand this. THE LOST CONSTITUTION, a quarter century after BACK BAY, is a sterling start to the next William Martin quarter century.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what I was hoping for, July 10, 2007

By 

Rosemary M (Yonkers, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Constitution (Hardcover)

I read Harvard Yard and really enjoyed it. I was delighted to find this book in the bookstore. I am a huge history buff, especially the history of the founding of our country and I LOVE thrillers. Sorry to say, I was disappointed in this book. First, poor editing. Many typos plus was it Sarah or Sara? The name of one character was spelled both ways. I don't like to see that when I have paid top dollar for a book. Next, WAY too many characters. Impossible to keep them all straight. Farrells and Fallons , Katie and Kelly and on and on...I found myself flipping back to check on who was who. Don't like that either. Also, the whole kidnapping thing was unbelievable. The best parts of this book were the parts about the history of the mills and the backdrop of New England. Otherwise...eh!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Martin Yet, June 25, 2007

By 

Christopher Keane (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Constitution (Hardcover)

I have read just about all of William Martin's books. I read them for many reasons. Great story telling, characters whose lives I want to follow, and historical accuracy. In The Lost Constitution I found something else that in previous books was present, but not like this. The historical perspective, with little tweaking, could have been ripped from today's headlines. In this book I can trace what happened then to what is happening now. This substantial story telling layer upped the stakes for Evangeline and Peter (in itself a powerful love story) who risk everything in their search for the lost constitution. Highly recommended.