Courage of Conviction

Rating:
Summary: CONVICTIONS OF THE HEART
Review: "I sense in these writings a compassion for the human condition on both sides of the cultural divide. This, for me, is what breathes life into the stories of our past and allows history to be judged for what is, The lives people lived and the choices they made. I would recommend this novel as a must read to all students studying the American Revolution and the U. S. Constitution. Although separated by more than 100 years in time frame, it gives the reader a deeper appreciation for the choices our founding fathers made in drawing up the Constitution, most especially the wording in Article Six, Section Three, and the First Amendment."

Rating:
Summary: heart wrenching
Review: "I sense in these writings a compassion for the human condition on both sides of the cultural divide. This, for me, is what breathes life into the stories of our past and allows history to be judged for what is, The lives people lived and the choices they made. I would recommend this novel as a must read to all students studying the American Revolution and the U. S. Constitution. Although separated by more than 100 years in time frame, it gives the reader a deeper appreciation for the choices our founding fathers made in drawing up the Constitution, most especially the wording in Article Six, Section Three, and the First Amendment."

Rating:
Summary: A Better Understanding
Review: A story of a man's struggle to stand up for his beliefs, with
the price he paid for following those beliefs. With little
imagination, the reader is easily able to mentally picture the
events taking place, be they a searching of a church in Dorches-
ter, England, the "trial" of the Baptist dissidents in Boston,
or the Indian massacre at Peskeomskut which occurs in the final chapters. Given the strictness of the Puritan religion that
existed at the time and the harshness to which it was applied
to non-Puritans, this book indirectly shows the reason
why the writers of our constitution included Freedom of Religion
as a major tenet. Likewise, the confliction which existed
between many Indian tribes and the laws of the King's colony provides the basis for a better understanding of Indian actions, whether the reader agrees with those actions or not.

Rating:
Summary: Challenges historical beliefs
Review: Cadran takes us back to the turbulent Massachusetts Bay Colony where religious bigotry and Indian savagery are dominant. The story is based on the life of William Turner, Baptist, ex-patriot, challeger of Puritan orthodoxy, and imprisoned martyr. Cadran follows Turner's release from jail to lead a raid on an Indian village. Turner leads his men into a bloody ambush from which few survive. The novel will challenge accepted historical beliefs as to Puritan values and Indian nobility.

Rating:
Summary: heart wrenching
Review: I enjoyed it immensely, though I hesitate to use the word enjoy as the persecution that went on, the prison events, and the vivid battle scenes were heart-wrenching. You made it all so real.

Rating:
Summary: First impressions
Review: I like a story well told, a military or historical novel that not only teaches interesting new details, but also lets us experience events close up and brings us face-to-face with the characters to know first hand their challenges. Rarely does one have a chance to understand all the perspectives in a complicated, multi-faceted situation: the various eastern American Indian tribes and their leaders; the colonists, their religious leaders and civil authorities; and the threats, perceived and real, for all the players. Cadran skillfully reveals an intriguing story through dialogue and detail that vividly brings all these to life. The story offers an unusual insight into a little understood part of early American, colonial history that helped form the basis for our future country. This is a book I will recommend to others, but particularly I am telling my friends who are military history buffs and those who are interested in Protestantism and its roots in America. My Baptist friends are fascinated with this bit of detail never told before, but so important to our religious heritage.

Rating:
Summary: With Much Appreciation
Review: I read and thoroughly enjoyed your book. Thank you so much for writing such a wonderful book. The fact that you give us so much history in story form adds so much. I have already recommended the book to a number of people. In fact, I gave a book report to my people at our mid-week service.