Patriot Hearts

A riveting behind-the-scenes account of the transformative 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games—an extraordinary story of visionary leadership, love of country and the ability to dream boldly. When John Furlong emigrated from Ireland in 1974, the customs officer greeted him with “Welcome to Canada. Make us better”—an imperative that has defined Furlong’s life ever since. A passionate, accomplished athlete with a track record of community service, Furlong was a volunteer for Vancouver’s Olympic bid movement when it began in 1996 and then spent the next 14 years living and breathing the Olympics. Furlong and his organizing team, including 25,000 volunteers and many partners, orchestrated a remarkable Winter Games. Patriot Hearts is the story of how they did it. Working with Globe & Mail columnist Gary Mason, Furlong recounts the lead­up to the Games and describes how he handled seemingly insurmountable setbacks—such as the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, a global recession and the washed­out snow at Cypress Bowl — to achieve a runaway success and, ultimately, a pivotal moment of nationhood.

When Martha Dandridge Custis marries her second husband, George, she never suspects that the soft-spoken Virginia planter is destined to command the founding of a nation—or that she is to be “Lady Washington,” the woman at the first President’s side. Only a select inner circle of women will know the cost of sharing a beloved man with history . . . and each will draw strength from the unique treasure given to them by a doomed queen. Seeing farm and family through each harsh New England season, Abigail Adams is sustained only by the fervent reunions stolen between John’s journeys abroad. She will face the terror of an ocean crossing to join her husband in France—and write her own page in history. And there she will cross paths with kings, commoners—and young Sally Hemings. Just as Sally had grown from a clever child to a beautiful woman, so had her relationship with Thomas Jefferson grown from a friendship between slave and master to one entangled in the complexities of black and white, decorum and desire. It is a relationship that will leave Sally to face an agonizingly wrenching choice. Dolley Madison, too, must live with the repercussions of a forbidden love affair—although she will confront even greater trials as a President’s wife. But Dolley will become one of the best-loved ladies of the White House—and leave an extraordinary legacy of her own. A lushly written novel that traces the marriages tested by the demands of love and loyalty, Patriot Hearts offers readers a dazzling glimpse behind the scenes of a revolution, from adversity and treachery to teatime strategies, as four magnificent women shape a nation’s future.

A riveting behind-the-scenes account of the transformative 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games--an extraordinary story of visionary leadership, love of country and the ability to dream boldly. When John Furlong emigrated from Ireland in 1974, the customs officer greeted him with "Welcome to Canada. Make us better"--an imperative that has defined Furlong's life ever since. A passionate, accomplished athlete with a track record of community service, Furlong was a volunteer for Vancouver's Olympic bid movement when it began in 1996 and then spent the next 14 years living and breathing the Olympics. Furlong and his organizing team, including 25,000 volunteers and many partners, orchestrated a remarkable Winter Games. Patriot Hearts is the story of how they did it. Working with Globe and Mail columnist Gary Mason, Furlong recounts the leadup to the Games and describes how he handled seemingly insurmountable setbacks--such as the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, a global recession and the washedout snow at Cypress Bowl--to achieve a runaway success and, ultimately, a pivotal moment of nationhood. Patriot Hearts will be published on February 12, 2011, a year after Canada welcomed the world at the opening ceremony. Furlong will donate part of his book royalties to the Own the Podium program.

When Martha Dandridge Custis marries her second husband, George, she never suspects that the soft-spoken Virginia planter is destined to command the founding of a nation—or that she is to be “Lady Washington,” the woman at the first President’s side. Only a select inner circle of women will know the cost of sharing a beloved man with history . . . and each will draw strength from the unique treasure given to them by a doomed queen. Seeing farm and family through each harsh New England season, Abigail Adams is sustained only by the fervent reunions stolen between John’s journeys abroad. She will face the terror of an ocean crossing to join her husband in France—and write her own page in history. And there she will cross paths with kings, commoners—and young Sally Hemings. Just as Sally had grown from a clever child to a beautiful woman, so had her relationship with Thomas Jefferson grown from a friendship between slave and master to one entangled in the complexities of black and white, decorum and desire. It is a relationship that will leave Sally to face an agonizingly wrenching choice. Dolley Madison, too, must live with the repercussions of a forbidden love affair—although she will confront even greater trials as a President’s wife. But Dolley will become one of the best-loved ladies of the White House—and leave an extraordinary legacy of her own. A lushly written novel that traces the marriages tested by the demands of love and loyalty, Patriot Hearts offers readers a dazzling glimpse behind the scenes of a revolution, from adversity and treachery to teatime strategies, as four magnificent women shape a nation’s future.

She'll risk everything to save him...Agnes, a blacksmith, runs the forge while her father fights in the Continental Army. The morning after the Battle of Monmouth, she discovers a wounded British soldier in her barn. Despite the risk, she vows to heal him as she believes a good Samaritan should. Edwin, third son of the Duke of Dalfour, was supposed to become a barrister. He opted to run away and join the army. Shot on a mission to deliver the general’s message, he wakes in Agnes’s barn unaware of how he got there and missing his horse. If he is caught, he could be hung, but Loyalists are also searching for British deserters. If anyone discovers he is the son of the Duke, he is doomed. Agnes tells everyone Edwin is her mother’s cousin, but she soon finds herself falling in love with him. When Loyalists kidnap her sister, Edwin vows to bring the child back from the British held camp. Can Agnes trust him? Or is he using her sister as an excuse to return to his company? Will Agnes ever see her sister again? And will Edwin

By the time he had reached middle age, Max Cleland thought he had nothing to live for. Vietnam had left him a triple amputee. He had lost his seat in the U.S. Senate, and in the grip of depression he had lost his fiancée, too. But instead of giving up, Cleland discovered that he has what it takes to survive: the heart of a patriot. Doctors did not give Cleland much hope when he returned from Vietnam, but he overcame his despair through his bonds with other wounded soldiers. Against all odds, he realized his dream of becoming a Senator. But after being smeared as unpatriotic in a reelection campaign, a long-dormant case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder sent him back to Walter Reed Hospital. Surrounded by the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, Cleland again found the faith and endurance to regain control of his life. In a gut-wrenching memoir that is free of bitterness but frank about the costs of being a soldier, Max Cleland describes with love the ties America’s soldiers forge with one another, along with the disillusionment many of them experience when they come home. Heart of a Patriot is a story about the joy of serving the country you love, no matter the cost—and how to recover from the deepest wounds of war.

While world war raged in Europe, an America divided by ethnic, political and nationalist unrest struggled to come together. Nowhere were tensions greater than in Minnesota, then under dictatorial control of a temporary seven-man commission-arrests for treason multiply, watchful secret agents are on duty, a U.S. Supreme Court justice condemns the state's "policy of repression." Patriot Hearts details the ongoing clashes between superpatriots and their rivals, the political left, pro-Germans, and those less than "100% American." Readable, relevant and carefully researched, this study supplies a fascinating supporting cast of radicals, seditionists, spies, firebrand farmers, profiteers and provocateurs who combine to tell an extraordinary story of Minnesota's home front during the stormy 1917-18 war years.