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Facinating book about the American Revolution
I last read this book in 1950 when I was ten years old. I bought a used copy in excellent condition to re-read at 69. It tells the story of the American Loyalists who fought for the British during the American Revolution. They were considered the enemy by the rebels and were tortured, their house burned, and ordered out of the area. Some of my ancestors were part of this group who experienced the rejection and moved to Canada, settling in Ontario. Kenneth Roberts is a brillant writer who makes the past come alive with vivid detail, lively narrative, and the ability to make you yearn for the "good old days"

Look for a used copy of this great out-of-print classic
Great telling of the Tory side of the American Revolution.

Roberts' best
I just finished this book, and I believe it to be Kenneth Roberts' best book. I have enjoyed all of his storys since I read Arundel years ago. He was a masterful storyteller, and his knowledge of the history and culture of the times is unequaled. I have long felt that his books are timeless and should be required reading in both high school and college. He wrote fiction, but you cannot get a similar feeling for the times and people in any history book. He brought to life the great leaders of this period such as Arnold, Schyler, Roberts, Thompson, and so many others in a way no history book could. All of his books are great reads and worthy of our attention. Oliver Wiswell is unique to Roberts and perhaps to American literature. I had never considered "the other side" of the revolution. We were taught about the great patriots, but loyalists and the likes of Benedict Arnold were always traitors. This book reveals the fallacy of that teaching. It also shows the great tragedy that was the American Revolution. I had never considered it to be another civil war, but that was precisely what it was. The "patriots" were not that different from the "loyalists", and in many cases they were worse. The darkest and most ugly part of that civil war was the division that was borne between people who equally loved their country. There are reflections of all of that in our times as politicians in the name of freedom and democracy seek to divide us. The lessons of history are for all times. Anyway, you MUST read this book.

Great read on the American Revolution from a different perspective
Briefly, Kenneth Roberts filled out his treatment of the American Revolution through this novel providing a Loyalist's view of the Revolution. It was fascinating to follow the Revolution from the "other side" of our standard histories. The descriptions of events, people and issues were done nicely and rounded out the heroic viewpoints we usually learn in school. The effect did not detract from the facts or heroics of the rebel's side, but did round it out with balance and perspective. The tale and the romance are a bit tortuous, but this style of writing was to entertain, not read like a 60 minutes TV program action script. As such, this book continues to be a great read 65 years after it was first published. There is an interesting set of observations or subtext by Roberts on the futility of armed conflict, and that war solves nothing. That is interesting in the context of the American 1940s political setting. I am not sure of how Mr. Roberts viewed the possible American involvement in the struggle with Nazi Germany. Perhaps he was an adherent of the isolationist theory that was very popular with a number of prominent Americans in the years just before Pearl Harbor. Again, this novel is a great balance with the Robert's classic American Revolution novels that create the historic records of the American patriots.

An American Tolstoy?
I'll be brief. I am puzzled by the reader who downgraded Oliver Wiswell for its sympathetic portrayal of middle-class loyalist Americans in the Revolutionary period. Roberts has written sympathetically about all classes in his opus, and Wiswell states frequently in the book that he is, after all, an American. Is that insufficently PC?
I've read other books by Kenneth Roberts and continue to read history and biography of the Revolutionary period. Judging by that material, Roberts' insight (remember he wrote over 70 years ago) is astonishing.
Although Roberts does not seem to have enjoyed the literary acclaim given Fitzgerald, Faulkner, even Hemingway and the like in contemporary criticism. I believe his works will and should endure.