A Call to Arms - Paperback

by Marcus Cloer (Author)

Before the revolution was fought with muskets and cannons, it was waged in secret, with ships, smuggling everything from paper to gunpowder.

Charles Town, 1774. Torquato Guimaraes Franca, a Portuguese sea captain hiding behind an English name, and his partner Alex Watson have built a smuggling empire under the nose of the British Crown. Their ships slip past customs agents like ghosts, and their warehouses overflow with contraband. Their business, the Charles Town Commodities Group has become one of the most profitable ventures in the colonies. But when word reaches them that Parliament intends to close Boston's Harbor and starve her citizens into submission, profit gives way to something far more dangerous: Principle.

Together with a brotherhood of Freemasons that span the colonies, Torquato and Alex launch a covert operation meant to circumvent the blockade and supply Boston's population. Allies of the fast growing movement are drawn into a conspiracy that could brand them all as traitors. What begins as a daring act of solidarity quickly escalates into a full blown financial war against the mightiest empire on earth. A wrecking empire in the Caribbean adds to the depth of the smuggling operations, and Embargos of British goods push the Crown to the brink. But England cannot afford to lose control of its wealthiest colonial city, and the consequences of failure will be measured in blood.

When every peaceful avenue has been exhausted and shots finally ring out, the men who once smuggled tea and tobacco must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice for a world that does not yet exist. In A Call to Arms, history is not observed from a distance. It is lived.