From the files of M. D. Schutzman
The Research Desk
Every novel starts with research. These notes from my files are where history meets fiction: the real story behind events depicted in The Hell Gate Treasure and Black Powder on Bunker Hill. Facts checked, sources listed, no spoilers.
Behind Black Powder on Bunker Hill
The Bookseller’s Noble Train
A 25-year-old bookseller hauled 60 tons of cannon 300 miles through a New England winter, and drove the British out of Boston.
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Behind Black Powder on Bunker Hill
The Night Bermuda’s Powder Disappeared
Washington had nine rounds a man. Then a hundred barrels of powder vanished from a Bermuda magazine in the night.
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Behind The Hell Gate Treasure
Before He Was “Boss”
Before the Tweed Ring, there was a chair maker’s son, a volunteer fire company and a painted tiger.
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Behind The Hell Gate Treasure
Taming Hell Gate
How the Army spent years tunneling under the East River’s deadliest reefs, then blew them sky-high.
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Have a question about New York’s past? The best ones become the next stories.
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