The Thunder of Captains

by Dan Lynch

Historians have characterized it as "the military clash of the millennium." In the spring of 1777, an English army set off from Canada in a vast armada of boats to crush the colonial uprising. What followed that departure from Canada were months of bitter, bloody warfare culminating in the Battle of Saratoga -- the most crucial military confrontation of the American Revolution. In the aftermath of that momentous battle a great nation was born. The battle's outcome was determined, however, less by factors like tactics, weather and topography than by the complex passions and personalities of the unique men and women involved. The Battle of Saratoga's ending was shaped by a determined, compelling woman whose love affair with a dashing general altered the course of world history. Their dramatic, romantic story set in motion a bizarre sequence of events that created a nation. The Thunder of Captains is a story of courage, conviction, foolhardiness and doomed love set against a backdrop of personal and military conflict, dark intrigue and international politics. With a compelling cast of characters -- including Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne, Benedict Arnold and Benjamin Franklin -- The Thunder of Captains tells a captivating story known to far too few Americans.

Genres: Historical Fiction

438 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Dan Lynch is the author of thirteen books both fiction and non-fiction. He is a veteran newspaperman, nationally distributed columnist, and radio and television commentator. His live radio program is broadcast weekdays on TALK 1300, Albany’s leading news-talk station. He formerly created and hosted a television interview show, Dan Lynch Dialogues, which aired weekly on NBC affiliate WNYT. In addition to his radio show, Dan writes and produces documentary films.

Also wrote as Daniel Lynch.

Reviews

[Joy H.]

Added 12/19/09.
RE: _The Thunder of Captains_
From the GR description:
"... The Battle of Saratoga's ending was shaped by a determined, compelling woman whose love affair with a dashing general altered the course of world history. Their dramatic, romantic story set in motion a bizarre sequence of events that created a nation. ..."

I first heard of this book in 2009 when it was mentioned at my GR group by GR member, Katherine Totten. That's when I put it on my "To-Read" list. See Katherine's 12/19/09 post here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Katherine wrote:
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"I met Dan Lynch today at a book signing at the New York State Military Museum here in Saratoga Springs. He's the author of "The Thunder of Captains". It's a historical novel, telling the story of John Burgoyne's love affair that changed history and altered the outcome of the Battle of Saratoga in the American Revolutionary War, October, 1777. Can't wait to start this one!"
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4/1/16 (finally!) - While searching for ideas on what to read next and scouring my overly-long "To-Read" list, I found this book and decided to try it. I borrowed it from our public library yesterday and started reading it today. I'm not sure I will be able to stick with it, but I hope I will. I'm hoping it will draw me in. This is not the usual type of book (about Civil War battles) that I like to read.

Funny how we happen to come across certain books. That's always been interesting to me, a sort of private "etymology" of book discovery.

PS - Speaking of how we happen to come across things, I have come across an interesting article in which the author, Dan Lynch, answers questions about his book. See the following link:
http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009...

ADDENDUM (December 2016):
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I found a factual error in the book. The error is about which way Lake Champlain flows.
Dan Lynch's book claims that Lake Champlain flows south. In actuality, it flows north, not south.
See pages 47 and 48 of Dan Lynch's book where he claims that Lake Champlain flows south and into Lake George. This is wrong. He writes: "At the lake's southern tip, Champlain became a river, Wood Creek, that served as the lake's outlet." As I said, this is wrong.
See Wikipedia's page about Lake Champlain. It explains that Lake Champlain flows north. It says: "Lake Champlain is drained northward by the Richilieu River into the St. Lawrence River. It receives the waters from the 32-mile-long Lake George."
The Wiki link is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Ch...

My husband and I have boated for years on Lake George. We know for a fact that Lake George drains into Lake Champlain, not the other way around. In fact the waterfalls in Ticonderoga flow north from Lake George to eventually drain into Lake Champlain. My husband and I once canoed on the creek from Ticonderoga to where it flows into Lake Champlain. The "creek" (or stream) is the La Chute River, which connects Lake George and Lake Champlain. Here are pictures of the waterfalls in Ticonderoga:
http://www.coveredbridgesite.com/ny/n...
http://northeastwaterfalls.com/pics/p...
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...
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[Pete Benway · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, albeit fictional account of one the most important battles of the American Revolution. This book came highly recommended and though I am not generally a fan of HF, I found the details surrounding each character's personality and motivations along with the descriptions of the land, living conditions, weaponry and period warfare to be fascinating and engaging. This was of particular interest to me in that I am from the area where this battle took place and many of the characters left a lasting imprint on the towns and villages that grew up in rural Easter NY. One character in particular I am going to do some further research on is Benedict Arnold - portrayed as a slightly damaged, hard drinking, charismatic leader of men and how he was a victim of politics that - according to the book - had as much to do with the outcome of the battle as did some of the personal decisions military leaders made throughout the course of the campaign.

Great book.