From the New York Times bestselling author of the epic Lost Fleet series comes a story of a nightmarish America that could have been-and the Civil War that would set her free once more…
America, 1863: the dream of the Founding Fathers has become a nightmare. The ideals of freedom and individualism have fallen to tyranny, corruption and greed. Wealthy industrialists of the North and slave-holding plantation owners of the South now hold power through the might of the military and puppet politicians-and all who defy them are declared traitors to the United States of America.
Condemned for daring to speak against the government, Prof. Joshua Chamberlain is on his way to a penal plantation when his prison train is captured by the Army of the New Republic-a growing force of courageous soldiers who wish to restore the United States to its original righteous path. Joining a company of heroes with names such as Hancock, Longstreet and Armistead, Chamberlain finds himself joining the fight for freedom. But to win that freedom-and keep it-the rebellion needs a leader who is not a soldier, but a living symbol of the cause with the wisdom and fortitude to lead America back into the light.
Chamberlain knows exactly where to find such a leader. A man who is currently being held in the most secure and dangerous prison in the country, where his treasonous ideals cannot be heard. A man whose refusal to bow to those who proudly claim slavery as a way of life has already made him a legend. A man they must rescue at all costs…
