Flintlock

by Jason Manning

Book Overview

In 1806 the ambitious and charismatic Aaron Burr is plotting treason against the young American republic. He devises a scandalous plan to carve out his own private empire by detaching the western... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451181336
• ISBN13: 9780451181336
• Release Date: August 1994
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Great Book

I really enjoyed this novel. I also recommend The Flintlock by Torsten Lenk, which is a great history on the flintlock.

Good summer fun!

Flintlock is the frontier nickname of Nathaniel Jones, a deadeye shot on the Kentucky frontier. The book is ostensibly about Aaron Burr and his attempt to break the American West away from the rest of the United States in the early 1800s. For those of you not familiar with Burr, he was the former Vice President (Jefferson's first term) who killed America's first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton (he's on your $10 bill) in a duel. This ruined his political career and he was accused of conspiring to turn the US territory East of the Mississippi and west of the Appalachians into a personal dictatorship. The book has a rather large prologue (almost 1/2 of the book) that concerns young Flintlock's exploits as a teen in the Revolutionary War on the Virginia/Kentucky frontier. To be honest, that is the only complaint that I have with the book - its back cover does not accurately describe its contents. It's a fun summertime book, a quick read with lots of action and lots of historical background thrown in. Is it a great work of fiction, able to stand with Melville and Hemingway? No, but it is a fun little book that does all that it was ever intended to do - entertain a lot and educate a little.

A Delightful Journey Back to the Birth of the US

This was my first Manning novel. I enjoyed it so much that I just ordered 6 more. The author tells an exciting story of political intrigue, pioneer terrors, and patriotic heroics. There are a few history lessons in there, too. A bit like Patrick O'Brian on land, but not as sweeping in breadth.