I decided to read this after seeing the many positive reviews on Goodreads, but unfortunately, the novel fell short of my expectations. It was a decent book, but I felt as though the language went from flowery to stilted rather abruptly, and a good chunk of the characters irritated me in some manner. I was drawn to the story because I heard the words "Williamsburg" and "Revolutionary War" - sadly, those alone weren't enough to make me fall in love with the book, unlike so many other readers. I doubt I will continue with the rest of the series... I'll stick to John Jakes' "North and South" trilogy for an American historical saga fix. (Not that the two are THAT similar - I'm just reminded of it a bit.) ( )

I originally read Dawn’s Early Light by Elswyth Thane many years ago and I held onto the memory of how much I enjoyed the book, so when I saw it was available for the Kindle I picked up a copy. This is the story of Julian Day, a young Englishman who arrives in Williamsburg, Virginia months before the beginning of the American Revolution. From his early stance of being pro-British, he eventually becomes so attached to his new country that by the middle of the book, he is off to join the American army.

The details about the various campaigns were well researched and full of interesting details. Also living and working in Williamsburg brought Julian into contact with many important men of the times, such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. This book is actually the first book in the author’s Williamsburg series, and so there are also many additional characters to follow. First and foremost is Tibby Mawes who meets Julian and falls in love with him, even though she is only eleven at the time. His best friend St. John Sprague draws him into his own family and Julian is treated as one of the family by St. John’s aunt and sister.

As much as I enjoyed revisiting this book, I am quite contented to end my reading of the series here. There are areas in the book, originally published in 1943, that I found quite dated, in particular, the author’s statements as to how happy and contented the slaves were but it certainly caught my attention that the colonists biggest concern when the British took the ammunition from their armoury was fear that the slaves would rise up against them. Overall I would say that I enjoyed reading about the various battles and campaigns, but that the romance angles felt contrived and rather superficial and didn’t really appeal to me as much as they did originally when I was twelve. ( )

"A Book from your childhood" (read this when I was younger, originally)

This is a re-read for me. I read this series when I was younger. Loved it. Love the detail of the history (not sure on the complete accuracy, but I'll buy it), and the love story mixed in.

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I love historical fiction and I have been wanting to read one set during the Revolutionary War for awhile now. This one satisfies a Book Battle criteria as well as a Popsugar Challenge criteria! I love when that happens! I enjoyed the storyline even though it did drag by quite a bit. There were times I would read really quickly and it would get interesting to then go back to a slower pace. I liked the all the main characters except for Rachel, she was super annoying but I suppose she was pretty accurate for that time period. The relationship between Julian and Tibby was also very odd. I know this book is the first in a series but I haven't decided yet if I will continue on to the other books. ( )

This is a richly detailed first novel in the historical "Williamsburg" series. It is beautifully imagined and detailed, a book that follows generations of families from colonial times through to the 20th century. It's a broad and sweeping epic that concentrates on characters who are integral to the revolutionary war, like St John Sprague, George Washington's aide, and others. Other historical figures come into play here in the novel as well. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and look forward to reading the next in the series. Thank you to the author and publisher for a review copy. ( )