Washington and Caesar [Hardcover]

Christian Cameron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 7, 2003

A sweeping historical novel about the roles of two remarkable men in the American Revolution: George Washington and Caesar -- Washington's ex-slave who escaped to fight against his former master. This novel shatters some of the most enduring myths of American history -- myths about the colossus George Washington; myths about the idea of liberty and what it meant; myths about slavery; and myths about the role of black soldiers who found freedom fighting in the British army against the self-proclaimed idealists of freedom and independence. It chronicles, in accurate historical detail, the battles and major events of the American Revolution as experienced by two very different characters. George Washington, who at the outset of war is an ambitious landowner and by the end has attained great political power, and Caesar, one of Washington's many slaves, who escapes and joins the British Corps of Guides and Pioneers, which was the most decorated Loyalist unit of the Revolution -- and was composed entirely of escaped slaves. Washington and Caesar is a novel about white and black; owner and slave; naked ambition and powerless submission turned to rebellion. It is a novel about men who find themselves in war, who fall in love with war, and who then find the terrible cost of war to their innermost selves.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This historical novel dramatizes the American Revolution from the dual viewpoints of George Washington and Caesar, Washington's "dogs boy" slave who escapes Mount Vernon to become a soldier in the Loyal Ethiopians, a unit of runaway slaves who fought alongside the British in exchange for manumission. Cameron hits on the oft-ignored and embarrassing fact that America's fight for freedom from the British never prevented even the most fervent patriot from owning slaves. The exploration of this tragic irony, however, undermines Cameron's effort. Not satisfied with establishing the point and moving into the dense military and political machinations of the ordeal itself, Cameron belabors the issue on almost every page. To the author's credit, his portrayal of George Washington, particularly in the early chapters, is compelling. He humanizes the general and presents him as a modest but self-confident gentlemen farmer who acknowledges his limitations as readily as he embraces his duty. Caesar's initial characterization as a victim of the greatest moral injustice in American history is also believable, but Cameron cultivates in him a near savant precociousness that strains credibility. The novel is meticulously accurate in its historical detail (if sometimes repetitive), but the story meanders in an undisciplined way before finally grinding to a tedious and predictable ending. FYI: Cameron is the son half of the father-son team that writes the Alan Craik thriller series under the pseudonym Gordon Kent.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Cameron provides a compelling fictional account of a regiment of slaves, promised their freedom by the British, who fought in the Loyalist corps during the Revolutionary War. Acquired by George Washington in 1773, Caesar is sent away from Mount Vernon for having the temerity to laugh at a comedy of errors involving his normally staid and dignified master. Forever changed after being discarded so casually, he educates himself and, once war is declared, jumps at the chance to fight alongside the British. Rising through the ranks, Caesar becomes a leader in the Corps of Black Guides, eventually earning both his freedom and the respect of his former owner. Though Caesar is a splendidly drawn character, Cameron's complex portrait of Washington as a brilliant but flawed leader, capable of insight and change, is the real standout in this authentically detailed American drama. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Harper Collins (July 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 000711270X
• ISBN-13: 978-0007112708
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,798,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical Fiction At Its Best, January 25, 2004

By 

Bob Kaylor (Park City, UT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Washington and Caesar (Hardcover)

Cameron's book is not only historically accurate but a great read as well. The novel's parallel and intersecting storylines between Washington (portrayed here in very human and historically plausible terms without the mythic quality so often attributed to him) and one of his slaves, aptly named "Julius Caesar" who escapes to join the British Army are compelling and offer a unique and welcome glimpse into the ironies of 18th century life. Cameron's well-developed characters represent the relative views "freedom" as it was interpreted by American rebels and their slaves in very different ways.

As a fan of Jeff Shaara's historical novels on the Civil War, I rate Cameron's attention to historical detail and writing style on an even higher plane. Military and social historians alike, as well as the casual reader just looking look for a great story, will enjoy this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Current and Thought Provoking for all Americans, March 1, 2005

By 

Doug (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Washington and Caesar (Hardcover)

As a Canadian with ancestors in the infamous Butler's Rangers and many relatives in the United States, I find this book fascinating, relevant today and holding me to the end. Cameron's research brings out the character of Washington and Caesar, two military men from classes at the opposite ends of society, with credibility. And in the dialogue with the captured British Captain Stewart comes close to making Patrick Henry's concluding remark in his famous speech, "Give me liberty or give me death" seem hypocritical. Douglas R. Kinsman

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't Miss Novel, July 29, 2005

By 

Leo P. Anderson (South Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Washington and Caesar (Hardcover)

As an historian/author/interpreter of the Revolutionary War I give this book a stamp of approval. I usually shy away from fiction novels on history because they have a tendency to re-write history and take poetic license with facts. Nothing upsets a historian more than ready a story and having to correct every other paragraph. No one was more surprised than I that this was a wonderful book to read. Are there historic inaccuracies in the book? Yes, but not bad enough so as to take away from the overall content or flow of the story. As a previous reviewer wrote, "I found myself rooting for Caesar." I did the same thing and took it one step further, cheering for the Continental soldier, George Lake. The story was marvelous, pulling you in and taking you on ride that brought both up and down. A great villain in the book that really gets your blood boiling, beauties that the men are attracted to, but no steamy sex scenes and action that makes you feel like you are a British, Hessian or Continental soldier on the battlefields of Colonial America. I can pay this book and its author only my best compliment. Look for another book written by Christian Cameron.