“Guns of Burgoyne” is a very enjoyable historical novel about the events leading up to and including the battle of Saratoga during the American Revolutionary War. The book portrays how common people from the Hesse-Hanau region of Germany were drafted into military service, and sent off to fight with the British in far-off America, while their “Elector” was paid for their services by the British government. It describes the harsh life the Hessian soldiers had to endure, contrasted against the privileged life of many of their officers. The story is told through the eyes of a young German Lieutenant, Kurt Ahrens, and through Gustav Rentner, an enlisted man “drafted” against his will into the Hessian army. It covers General Burgoyne’s advance down Lake Champlain from Canada as he proceeded toward Saratoga and his ultimate defeat.

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