As they did in their other story of the American Revolution, My Brother Sam Is Dead, the Colliers [in The Bloody Country] focus on a small geographical area and use it to explore the conflicting loyalties and abrasions between groups of colonists. Here the setting is a Pennsylvania valley community whose residents, emigrants from Connecticut, are persecuted by the Pennamites, older residents who claim the land and who use the help of the British and of a local Indian tribe to drive the newcomers away…. Most of the book is based on fact; the community is Wilkes-Barre. The story is dramatic and convincing, the characters drawn with depth and vigor, and the book especially valuable for its exploration of issues and philosophy in a way that enhances the narrative impact of a fine example of historical fiction.

Zena Sutherland, in a review of "The Bloody Country," in Bulletin...