"Andersonrs"s imaginative and highly intelligent exploration of . . . the ambiguous history of Americars"s origins will leave readers impatient for the sequel." The New York Times Book Review Young Octavian is being raised by a group of rational philosophers known only by numbers but it is only after he opens a forbidden door that learns the hideous nature of their experiments, and his own chilling role them. Set in Revolutionary Boston, M. T. Andersonrs"s mesmerizing novel takes place at a time when Patriots battled to win liberty while African slaves were entreated to risk their lives for a freedom they would never claim. The first of two parts, this deeply provocative novel reimagines past as an eerie place that has startling resonance for readers today.