.. vividly written ... In novelistic prose, Mr. Kelly conveys the starkness of close-quarter naval warfare, where retreat was impossible and men dismembered by solid iron shot were unceremoniously pitched overboard to clear the decks. Valcour also evokes the remote and rugged landscape where events unfolded and the raging storms that suddenly transformed Lake Champlain’s surface ... Ironically, without the tarnished hero of Valcour, the United States might not exist today.
... richly detailed ... Kelly delves deeply into the logistics of warfare, including shipbuilding and combatting smallpox, and gathers stirring accounts of heroism on both sides of the conflict. Readers will be intrigued by this evocative portrait of one of America’s greatest traitors at the height of his glory.
An expert chronicle of an early Revolutionary War operation that deserves to be better known ... Not content with biographies of the major figures and a fine account of the preparations and battle, [Kelly] ably describes the military culture of the times, the self-defeating politics of the Continental Congress, the design and operation of the various ships, and the tactical problems of fighting on lakes versus the ocean. A boon for fans of Revolutionary-era military history.
