With the death of George Washington, symbol of American unity and a man who abhorred factions, comes the two party system. And with it, comes inherent struggle that the young nation is ill prepared for. A dashing Aaron Burr has a grip on New York, and a coup d'état is planned that could bring the two leaders down. Madison learns that Napoleon Bonaparte has forced the Spanish to turn New Orleans over to him and thereby potentially take control of the Mississippi River Valley. A country as strong as France could stop the aspiring free trade market growing on the Mississippi River, including the business of widow Danny Mulberry, a New Orleans shipping tycoon and one of the most sought after woman in New Orleans. As the young nation's hands are forced economically and politically by France, there is a movement in the Northeast to turn towards England. This could bring them under the Imperial yoke they just shook off. Suddenly the nation is a global nation, as the greatest minds and visionaries of a young America struggle to hold it together.
David Nevin spent his childhood on Army bases scattered across the United States. On his seventeenth birthday he joined the US Navy during the latter stages of World War II. After seven years on the Pacific as a merchant marine, David returned to the United States and became a journalist, first in Texas, then in Washington as a Life Magazine correspondent. He was awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Journalism Award. In addition to books on popular history for Time-Life, David continues to write free lance. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Dream West which became a seven hour mini series as well as the critically acclaimed 1812.