It is the summer of 1776 in the former Crown Colony of New York. A fleet of British transport ships are looming off Staten Island, while on Brooklyn Heights the remnants of General George Washington's army is huddled behind hastily constructed fortifications. There, Captain Isaac Biddlecomb seeks Washington's aid in the reinstatement of his first officer- only to find that Washington is preparing for the destruction of the Continental army.Biddlecomb, commanding the brig-of-war Charlemagne, receives a monumental order. He is to transport to France the most dangerous secret weapon in the country's arsenal: scientist and philosopher Benjamin Franklin. Leading a new crew through the wintry North Atlantic, braving the cordon of the Royal Navy, Biddlecomb's seemingly simple mission to deliver Franklin to the court of Louis XVI is just the first volley in a grand scheme. While Biddlecomb is boldly raiding the English Coast and Franklin is strategising at Versailles, they both conspire to blow French neutrality out of the water - and turn the colonial uprising into a full-scale war.A novel of epic scope and staggering adventure which is as commanding and as vivid as history itself.