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Ballantine
August 2006
Featuring: John Riley; Paddy Quinn
304 pages
ISBN: 0345445562
Hardcover
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Fiction | Historical
A stirring fictional account of the amazing real-life
story of John Riley, an Irishman who led his men to desert
the American military during the Mexican-American War, as
seen through the eyes of two memorable narrators. It is June 1 845, and Paddy Quinn is a camp boy for the
American army-which, by order of President Polk, is bound
for Mexico. A young man with journalistic aspirations,
Paddy writes letters for illiterate soldiers and learns
that, like him, many are Irish, including the enigmatic
John Riley. Riley rattles camp hierarchy when he rails
against the brutal treatment of Irish soldiers, but soon
he goes further, sneaking away at night to switch sides.
Riley is not alone. Fed up with mistreatment and drawn by
a Catholic bond, Irish, German, and other soldiers join
Mexico. Led by Riley, a corps of Irishmen called the San
Patricios-in English, St. Patrick's Battalion-fights for
the enemy in the war's major campaigns. But when they are
captured, their resolve is tested in the extreme—as are
Paddy's loyalties, to his country and to the man he most
admires.
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