This fictional novel offers an alternative history through the lens of Creighton Brown. We meet the young Brit at the age of 15. He hates the king, and he is a troublemaker, often on the run from the police. His mother decides he needs a serious change, and she sends him to America. He is captured by the American army and released only when he pretends to be an indentured servant.
Once free from the army, he is ordered by his Uncle Gower to spy on the men who captured them together. He turns himself in to Benjamin Franklin. He admits that his family is part of the British intelligence, and he betrays the British thrown. He takes a job in Franklin's print shop as an apprentice.
He makes friends with the historical person, Benedict Arnold. He finds that Arnold is a man prone to violence, and he notices that Arnold is always looking for an excuse to duel. Creighton learns about Sophie, a potential love interest who also works at the print shop. In order to impress her, Creighton must consider her disciplined, rigorous attention to Benjamin Franklin's philosophy. In the end of this fictional novel, America loses the Revolutionary War, and George Washington is hanged.
