"Valley Forge" picks up the unputdownable narrative of America's birth one year after Washington's triumphant surprise attack on Trenton, and much has changed since then. It's the winter of 1777, and Washington's battered, demoralized army retreats from Philadelphia. Arriving at Valley Forge, they discover that their repeated requests for a stockpile of food, winter clothing, and building tools have been ignored by Congress. With no other options available, the men settle down for a season of agony. For weeks the dwindling army freezes under tents in the bitter cold. The men are on the point of collapse, while in Philadelphia the British, joined by Allen van Dorn, the Loyalist brother of the dead patriot, Jonathan van Dorn, live in luxury. In spite of the suffering and deceit, Washington endures all, joined at last by a volunteer from Germany, Baron Friederich von Steuben. With precious few supplies and even less time, von Steuben begins the hard task of recasting the army as a professional fighting force capable of facing the British head-on - something it has never accomplished before - and in the process changing the course of history.
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Praise for the works of Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen:
"This second title in the George Washington series (after To Try Men's Souls) offers an energetic dramatization of the Continental Army's grim winter bivouac at Valley Forge, Pa., in 1777.... Gingrich and Forstchen recreate the sights and smells of the Continental Army's hand-to-mouth camp life and the battlefield action around Valley Forge with a brisk panache that should bode well for future entries." --"Publishers Weekly" on "Valley Forge"
"Masterful storytelling." --William E. Butterworth IV, "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Saboteurs"
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""Creative, clever, and fascinating." --James Carville
"Compelling narrative force and meticulous detail." --"The Atlanta Journal Constitution"
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""Gingrich and Forschten write with authority and with sensitivity." --"St. Louis"" Post Dispatch"
"Grim, gritty, realistic, accurate, and splendid, this is a soaring epic of triumph over almost unimaginable odds." --"Library Journal" on "To Try Men's Souls"
"With each book... Gingrich and Forstchen have gone from strength to strength as storytellers." --William Trotter, "The Charlotte Observer"
"The authors' research shines in accurate accounts of diplomatic maneuvering as well as the nuts-and-bolts of military action." --"Publishers Weekly"
"The writing is vivid and clear." --"Washington"" Times"
