• 2006 best book by the New York City American Revolutionary War Round Table
• 2007 George Washington Book Prize

Rappleye, a journalist whose one previous book was about organized crime, skillfully details the complex relationship between these brothers, whose differences over slavery tested but never destroyed their friendship.

The leap from the Mafia to colonial New England is a long one, but Rappleye makes it with style. He is a diligent researcher (who has difficulty letting go of what he finds, hence this book's excessive length) and a fair-minded, unjudgmental chronicler of the Browns' complicated story.