Bio

I was raised in Kingston, Rhode Island in a home built in 1809.  In high school, I wrote a book on the history of Kingston, which was not a bad effort for a teenager!  I graduated from South Kingstown High School in 1977 and from Brown University in 1981. At Brown I wrote a 300-page undergraduate history thesis on colonial South Kingstown planter society.  After graduating from New York University School of Law in 1985, I embarked on a career as an attorney.  Currently, I am a partner with the law firm of Arent Fox LLP.  I live with my wife, Margaret, in Kensington, Maryland, where we raised three wonderful children, Ryan, Kyle and Victoria.  I renewed my interest in history writing by writing the adult version of the history of Kingston, which was published in 2004.

My Books

My Credo

• I want to write about neglected topics and preserve the memory of long-lost stories.
• I want to broaden and deepen our understanding of the Revolutionary War by focusing on these neglected topics.
• I want to write about not only the decisions of leaders (which is important), but also to describe the experiences of ordinary soldiers, using their diaries and letters, as well as and other original documents.
• I want to be fair and balanced to all sides.
• I want to write a fast-paced narrative that engages the reader, while still documenting my work with detailed footnotes for readers who want to delve into matters in greater detail.