The Men Who Choose Liberty

In "Men Who Choose Liberty," Handaside debunks the education system's history of America. Using creative non-fiction as his vehicle, he unwinds the myths of America's founding to reveal that history doesn't repeat itself, it rhymes. The present often breaks into fragments of antique myths. Lying and backstabbing in politicians' quest for power is as old as our ancestors first walking the earth. This creative nonfiction novel about the founding of the American experiment follows six founding fathers from their youth to the summer of 1775: Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and James Wilkinson. The colonists plowed the ground for rebellion, the field of liberty needing cultivation. These six grabbed hold of the words of liberty and delved into an uncertain future, finding holes and secrets within themselves and each other. These stories are grounded in historical fact and a decade of research.

Growing up in Putnam County in the town of Putnam Valley, Seth Irving Handaside explored the hills and valleys that American rebels tread. An 11th-grade teacher's question triggered his interest in the founding of America. What he would have done when the head of the state, King George III of England, ignored his rights and the rule of law? Would he have marched to the tune of the revolution and been in a regiment commanded by General Putnam, or sided with the loyalists? Fascinated by American history since elementary school, politics runs in his veins. He has spent the last decade researching the founding fathers in preparation for his "Men Who Choose Liberty" series.