Customer Reviews (4)

Incompetent Publishing
My rating of 3 stars (above) is a lie, since I never read the book. I never read
the book because it's printed without capitals, in densely packed type, and is
very difficult to read. I enjoyed Altsheler as a boy , and hoped to give
the book and other Altsheler adventures as a gift to a teen-ager. But
it would be unfair to foist this poor edition onto a youngster just beginning
his serious reading life. It's not e e cummings poetry; it's not great literature.
What on earth possessed Valde Books to eschew capitals?
Parsimony? Cost-cutting? Whatever, it cost them my order(s).

Adventures of the First Wet-Backs
Take a boy and make him a killer.Take some killers and put them in Kentucky.With land ahead of them inadequately defended by their American owners, the Yankee invaders knew it could be stolen. The author has written an exciting crime adventure novel that glorifies the Yankee theft of American lands.If you don't mind the good guys made to look bad for defending their land, and the racist, violent colonialism of the Yankees who ended up defeating the American landowners - killing them, and stealing their land, then you'll like this story's fast-moving plot.

Doing Homeland Security since 1492, the Americans have their hands full with Yankee invaders from the East - especially a team of five young men led by Henry Ware.These five wetbacks are called "forest runners", although they do swim across rivers in addition to running the trails.

The setting is Kain-tuck-ee "Dark and Dangerous Ground" and the Ohio River Valley about 200 years ago.The Yankees along the East Coast colonies are in rebellion to the government, which is headquartered in London, England.So when the Yankees violate treaties that the Americans have made with the British Empire and invade Kain-tuck-ee, the Americans under the Shawnee government of Red Eagle try to defend themselves against the illegal aliens.

The five immigrants led by Henry Ware baffle the American forces who try to defend the Appalachian border between Yankees and Americans.Two Yankee invaders, Paul Cotter and Henry Ware, are bringing arms and supplies to a Yankee outpost in American territorywhen Paul is captured by the Americans.Paul does a jail-break thanks to Henry, who has learned that the American authorities ("Indian League") is preparing to repel a Yankee invasion during winter.

The five immigrants go to the American villages and spy on them.Henry disquises himself as a Shawnee American and intercepts American war communications.Bringing those communications to the Miami Americans in Southern Ohio, they are discovered by Braxton Wyatt, a Tory Yankee on the side of the British government.The Americans have no quarrel with the British, just the Yankee invaders.

The five Yankee spies spend the winter hiding out on a "haunted" island in the middle of a lake, which is really an American burial ground.They survive the winter using many interesting survivalist techniques.And in the Spring they go back to the immigrant invaders and help them against the American authorities and the British government.

The heroes in this story are clearly the Yankee invaders.The American characters and British characters are stock characters, not developed.The villain is a violent Yankee turned Tory.Ultimately the Americans fail against the invaders.

Today, the American names are still with us - Ohio, Kentucky, Erie, Miami.But the American are gone.Where are the Miami today?The Erie?In a space of less than 200 years, they have vanished at the hands of the Yankee invaders, who the author glorifies in his book.And we wonder why the Yanks have no problem invading Afghanistan and Iraq today - it's what they do, it's what they've always done.Just ask a genuineAmerican.

Amazon - Visconti is not Altsheler!
I have tried to inform Amazon three times that the reviews and links of this book to Visconti's book are in error.

Great, Must Read!!!!
The two boys, Henry Ware, and Paul Cotter, set out to carry powder from one settlement to another.They are attacked by Indians, and Paul is captured and taken to an Indian village.One of the scouts disguises as an Indian and rescues Paul.The book ends with a great battle between the Indians and a wagon train of pioneers. ... Read more