For Love of Country: A Novel [Hardcover]

I thought it would be impossible to top his first book, but I was wrong. Mr. Hammond has eclipsed my expectations ten fold and has me eagerly awaiting the next installment in what has become the favorite series of books I have ever read. Characters you feel like you know, places that you feel like you are at, and though I have spent many years at sea he takes me to sea on sailing vessels and makes me yearn for a more glorious time when ships were powered by wind not gas turbines. If you are a nautical fiction lover like me do yourself a favor and read A Matter of Honor quickly followed by For Love of Country, you will not regret it. You cannot even fathom what you are missing if you do not read this book. I have read almost every piece of age of fighting sail fiction out there and this very quickly became one of my favorites as I consumed it in a matter of days. Thank you Mr. Hammond, looking forward to book 3 and many more to follow!!!

FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY, a novel, by William C. Hammond, Naval Institute Press, will appeal most to readers interested in naval history. This is the second novel in the Cutler family series. It's probably best to read this series in order. Because I hadn't read the first book, A MATTER OF HONOR, I found the early parts of FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY a bit confusing. For example the main character, Richard Cutler, is married to Elizabeth Cutler, the same name as his mother, plus has a cousin named Lizzy Cutler. Too many Elizabeths? There's also a deceased older brother named Will, a son named Will, and an uncle in England named William. Perhaps this is historically accurate to the time, the 1780s, but there are other names common to the 18th century, such as Caroline or Margaret or Jane for females and Joseph or Peter or Paul for males, just to name a few. Another option would be to provide a cast of characters to which the reader can refer.

I was pleased a glossary of sailing terms was included at the end of FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY but a few line drawings showing the different ships mentioned in the text would be a helpful feature. I also was glad of an atlas of history and an adequate supply of maps in my home library to keep pace with Richard Cutler's journeys.

FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY certainly endorses the maxim that history repeats itself. Much of the novels' 18th century content is reflected in the events of the 21st century. America's conflict with the Islamic world, an inactive Congress, commercial wars, trade restrictions, the differences between the Federalists of the North and the southerners who favor States' rights over shared sovereignty, and pirates are prominent features of both time periods.

And there are surprises. In the first few pages the reader learns that Sweden had colonies in the Caribbean, Saint-Barthélemy for nearly a century. That the Swedes traded land holdings with the French isn't surprising. The current Swedish monarch is a Bernadotte, a descendant of one of Napoleon's field marshals. The surprise lies in the tropical Caribbean location of that land. Another revelation was the true name of the Bay of Gibraltar, Algeciras, a familiar name in the current day.

Once past the early chapters, the story of Richard Cutler's journey to Gibraltar, the Barbary states, and through France in the revolutionary days of 1789 should engage even the casual reader who hasn't read the first installment of the Cutler saga and has limited interest in naval history.

"For Love of Country" is the second entry in William Hammond's Cutler series set during, and following, the American Revolutionary War period. It follows "A Matter of Honor" (2007), in which Richard Cutler and his family joined with the likes of Captain John Paul Jones to help win America's independence. Now, in the mid-1780s, the Cutlers, a prominent shipping family operating off the coast of Massachusetts, are doing well despite the lack of an American navy to protect their vessels from those of hostile governments and Barbary Coast pirates.

As the story begins, one of the family's ships has been seized, and its crew and contents are being held for ransom (or as the pirates prefer to call it, "payment of tribute") in Algiers. Making the troublesome situation even more disturbing is that twenty-one-year-old Caleb Cutler is a member of the imprisoned crew. One of Richard Cutler's brothers was brutally flogged to death by the British during the war, and he is determined that he will not lose another to a bunch of North African pirates. Now, having been granted official diplomatic status by the fledgling U.S. government, raised the funds to pay the ransom, and outfitted a small warship, Richard Cutler hopes to negotiate the return of the ship and its crew. The governor of Algiers, unfortunately, has other plans.

"For Love of Country" references the backstory of the first book in enough detail that readers will feel comfortable in their knowledge of what motivates the Cutler family and those around them. This is a closely knit family, one still recovering from the loss of one son when another is suddenly snatched from them. Recovering Caleb Cutler and his crewmates is the most important thing in their world and, over the next two years, it is all the family thinks about.

But Hammond's depiction of family life of the period, however heartwarming it may be, is just part of the story. The author is a sailing devotee of some experience, and his narrative particularly shines when describing life and battles fought on the open sea. Hammond's description of the book's deciding battle between the pirates and Cutler's crew is especially well written - exciting, but so precisely written that even non-sailors will have a clear understanding of the tactics used by both sides during the chase and resulting firefight.

Readers for whom "For Love of Country" is their first exposure to the Cutler family now will likely want to go back and read book one, "A Matter of Honor." And those who have read both books will be looking forward to the third.

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