In clear prose, both accessible and insightful, Watson portrays George Washington as a great yet flawed hero, the leader whose character and vision helped to win the Revolutionary War and initiate the building of a new city from which the new nation could be governed. Washington understood that this country needed a national identity and that a new capital city was an essential building block for such an identity. Watson considers this phase of Washington’s career as his ‘final battle’ and amply demonstrates his characterization of it as an ‘epic struggle’.

David E. Haberstich, curator and archivist, Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Until very recently, there has been astonishingly little attention paid to the submitted of prisoners of war. Yet, to understand the present, it is critical to look back at history. In Escape! Robert Watson takes us to a time when the rules were far different than today. Overcrowding and poor sanitation at the prison led to an intolerable death toll, even for the times. Because of this, Libby Prison is generally regarded as only second in notoriety to Andersonville Prison in George. Escape! shines a bright and well written light on the camp conditions, the men living under them, and the extraordinary endurance of those who managed to escape.

Cheryl Ann Cerbone, CEO American Ex-Prisoners of War