[.ca] The Hornet's Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War (ISBN 0743255445)

This conservative now a big fan of Jimmy Carter the writer!:
A vivid description of the struggles of daily life on the frontier combined with graphic descriptions of military engagement, weaponry, tactics, strategy, and political motivation moved my senses so intensely that I felt like I was one of the participating characters. Wow! Never read anything so revealing about this turbulent period of time. Mr. Carter will be hard pressed to ever top this one!

Interesting:
This book was a selection of our book club and I have to say that I probably would not have read it had it not been for this club. That being said, Jimmy Carter is a fascinating individual, much lauded and awarded, and deservedly so. His book, The Hornets Nest, is an admirable effort, but it reads like a confused text book. The storyline and dialog are average, though the subject matter is interesting. Compared to other books in this genre, Carter's book struggles for stature. Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, and Robinson Crusoe were some of the original historical novels and are much stronger in many aspects. I don't think Carter was trying to write the next Rob Roy, however. I think he accomplished basically what he set out to do, which was to write a book that taught people about the Revolutionary War without being a textbook. I think he actually could have written two books with the material he has in this one. He easily has enough material and research to have written a non-fiction book about the Southern perspective on the Revolutionary War. I think he could have taken the fictional storyline and dialog from this book and written another about the psyche and psychological dichotomy of life thrown into war and the choices and decisions one has to make as an individual. If you have an interest in this time in history, you will find this a worthwhile read. For all its faults, this book is still very well researched and full of information about how the state of Georgia came to be. The role of the southern States in the Revolutionary War is much less well-known that that of the northern States and the stories of George Washington and Cornwallis. If you enjoy politics and history, you will likely enjoy this book much more than the average reader. If these subjects are not your cup of tea, you are probably best served to look elsewhere.

Great First Effort!:
It is obvious that President Carter did thorough research to fill this book full of interesting details about the Revolutionary War Days. One gets a feeling for the viciousness of this period...of the hate of the British and the vast misunderstandings among the people that led to tragic bloodshed. Through his main character, Ethan Pratt, one sees the good, the bad and the ugly of the period. I enjoyed most what Ethan through of the confusion around him, and how he dealt with war and family issues. Character development could have been a little stronger, but it was a great first effort!! I'm a big Jimmy Carter fan. He was one of my favorite US presidents, if not my favorite. I remember during my high school and college years watching Carter on TV and hoping his decisions would turn out to be the right ones. I was really pulling for him and felt so proud of the efforts he made in the middle east. Nice guys sometimes finish last, but they can still be good role models. Carter is a great model for what a president can achieve following his presidency, a full and very productive post-Washington period of time. Jeffrey McAndrew author of "Our Brown-Eyed Boy"

Excellent research and story:
The Honet's Nest is a very well researched and narrated story of American Revolution in South. It brought perspectives of both British army and Patriots. In addition, through the characters of Ethan, Clark, Thomas and Kindred, author provided different view points. I specially enjoyed descriptions of Ethan's home, structure of Red Indian culture, fascination of researchers with plants and man-wife relationship. As an Asian Indian, for me these were very fascinating parts of American history which usual text books ignore. Full credit to Mr. Carter for this book. I specially appreciate his courage to write a fiction, which are usually easy targets of critics. I look forward to a similar book on War of 1812 and American Revolution.

A War Within A War.:
After eight previous published books written by our former U.S. president (one co-authored with Rosalynn) he has been a busy man writing an over-long novel purportedly about the South's particiapation in the Revolutionary War. He wrote journals, poems, meditations, a primer on aging, memoirs, and some inspirational pieces. This, however, is totally fiction (more than 900 pages in the LP version). He uses letter to the militia to keep up morale from the Governor's agent. He involves the Creeks and Cherokees in this eight year war (1775-1783) taken place in Georgia of all places. He and Rosalynn build houses for the poor working class, and I wonder when he has time to write. This can't compare with CITY OF DREAMS, which was based on many years of research. He mentions the brutality of this war. There is great brutality in any war, even when the American Indians are not the enemy. His ending, "For the next half century, legal and military battles would be fought over the conflicting claims for land, and the ravages of slavery and its aftermath would affect the nation for another 150 years." His next novel, no doubt, will be about the underground railroad in which the Southern blacks were secretly moved to the North, the atrocities of the Civil War and its aftermath in the South, or maybe he will do a bit of research and write about THE TRAIL OF TEARS in which our beloved Cherokees were forced to relocate to Oklahoma. The Creeks, I think, stayed in Florida. Maybe his home state of Georgia.