God bless the republican who saved America  When researching his
novel on the American revolution, Patrick McGrath was inspired
by republican hero Thomas Paine  Some years ago, having written
several novels in succession about insanity and obsessive sexual
love, I decided that the next would be a story about the
American revolution. Instead of wild delusions, ungovernable
passions, bad decisions and flawed perceptions, there would be
horses and muskets and sailing ships and thunderstorms. There
would be sacrifice, treachery and bloodshed. Tyranny would be
overthrown, a nation born. It was a chancey venture, but every
author will recognise the impulse to travel down strange roads,
if only for one book.  Why the revolution? There was, of course,
its sheer romanticism, this band of farmers challenging the
greatest army in the world, with the wilderness landscapes of
colonial America as a backdrop and the idea of Liberty
shimmering at the heart of it all. But there was a more personal
motive involved. I had grown