Imagine youíre in a swaying hammock on a British man-oíwar around 1800, riding out a harsh spring storm in a deserted estuary. Behind those high red cliffs lie a hundred miles of uncharted wilderness, populated only by indigenous peoples. If you jump ship and are caught, you will be branded a deserter ó subject to death by one thousand lashes. Within minutes, the ice-strewn waters will freeze your body and claim your soul. Even if this were your one chance for a life in the New World, would you jump? Thomas Manning did, and his leap into uncertainty begins the epic tale of a pioneer family, one of the many who built our great nation. Through his and his descendantsí eyes, we watch one small communityís impact on the great events which swirl about them and bring conflicts they must face in their struggles to create homes and families. Absorbing, touching and full of adventure, THE DESERTER is Book One of the Alford saga, a series chronicling two hundred years of Canadian history, as seen through the eyes of a settlerís family.