FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Boson Books. 3905 Meadow Field Lane, Raleigh, NC 27606

Publisher Contact : David McAllister / Nancy McAllister

 (USA) 919-233-8164

Email: nancy@cmonline.com

Website : http://www.cmonline.com/boson/

Author contact: Chris Scott Wilson

(UK) XXXXXXXX

Email : XXXXXX

Website : http://www.chrisscottwilson.co.uk

attached : author photo

                 : book jacket illustration

When America Needed a Hero, John Paul Jones Stood Up

Today, July 8, 2011, Boson Books of Raleigh, North Carolina released the worldwide ebook Scarborough Fair  by British author Chris Scott Wilson. Better known for his gritty westerns, Scarborough Fair shows that when Wilson forsakes the land for the sea, he is still very much at home spinning yarns to make even salty sailors smile. In Scarborough Fair he tells the story of how John Paul Jones became America’s first great naval hero.

With the onset of the War of Independence in 1775, a young America flexed her muscles to throw off the shackles that bound her to the mother country England. The US Congress desperately needed to break England’s domination of the seas and cripple her trade routes. The French, knowing any such disorder could only benefit them too, were eager to help. King Louis XVI promised to furnish and arm a ship commanded by an American officer who would have free access to French ports.

John Paul Jones, originally from Scotland, served his apprenticeship on the high seas, working his way up to captain. His ambition was to own plantations in Virginia, the most important and prosperous colony. When war was declared against England, Paul Jones immediately volunteered to serve his adopted nation. Three years later, he was ordered to Paris where one of the most prominent American founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, became his greatest ally. Offering constant reassurance, Franklin guided Jones though the murky political waters of the French Marine Ministry in his quest to secure a ship to fight the English. When the task appeared hopeless, he eventually devised a plot to force the purchase of a suitable vessel.

In recognition of Franklin’s efforts, Jones renamed his new command Bonhomme Richard, Franklin’s pen name. Promoted to commodore, John Paul Jones began to harry the English in their own territorial waters while battling the treachery of insubordinate French officers who commanded the other ships in his small flotilla. A year later, just south of Scarborough on England’s Yorkshire coast, he tackled a brand new enemy frigate. They fought within sight of the very shores of England, a nation whose proud boast was its invincible navy. It was at the Battle of Flamborough Head in 1779, that John Paul Jones became a legend.

The author, Chris Scott Wilson, comments, “Jones was an extraordinary man whose famous cry was, ‘Surrender? I have not yet begun to fight.’ And he never gave up. It seems astounding these days to think he was only 31 years old when he fought that great battle. His courage, grit and determination inspired other commanders to fight and defend their beliefs and encouraged his adopted homeland to seek a bold new future.”

The best-selling author Clive Cussler, himself interested in Paul Jones to the point of financing several searches in the North Sea for the wreckage of Bonhomme Richard, wrote to Chris: “Scarborough Fair is a terrific story. Of course, you English always had a better command of the language than we colonists. The Serapis and Bonhomme Richard battle was always a great adventure tale and you did it proud.”

Scarborough Fair by Chris Scott Wilson is now available in ebook format from all leading online retailers. For a sample read and purchasing details, visit http://www.cmonline.com/boson/ and follow Fiction> Historical fiction, or visit the author’s website http://chrisscottwilson.co.uk. where Chris would be pleased to welcome you.

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