David Liss: The Whiskey Rebel

Hamilton’s pet project was, indeed, the Bank of the United States, and while William Duer’s reckless trading habits brought about the first American financial panic in early 1792, I’ve fictionalized the matter of the plot against the bank. The historical buildup to the Panic of ’92-the machinations in government securities, the attempt to overtake the Million Bank, and Duer’s bankruptcy-are all a matter of record. I’ve merely made Joan and her Whiskey Rebels the cause of these events.

This novel, in many respects, details the events that led up to the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, which numerous historians and novelists have dealt with in much depth. The insurrection was indeed caused by an onerous tax levied upon whiskey, a commodity more used for trade and consumption than generating revenue, by Alexander Hamilton, who was eager not only to raise money but also to test the new power of a strong federal government. Conditions on the western frontier were every bit as brutal as I describe, and probably more so.

Historical fiction is never written in isolation, but this novel has been a far less solitary project than anything I’ve done before. My previous historical novels have focused on relatively minor and under-researched events, but attempting to get a handle on the Revolutionary War and Federalist periods, the founding fathers, New York, Philadelphia, and western Pennsylvania of the late eighteenth centuries, and countless other subjects has been one of the most challenging projects of my career. Thus I’d like to begin by thanking those who made the research possible.

In Philadelphia I was very fortunate to receive the help and support of many wonderful people and institutions. Many thanks to The Library Company of Philadelphia, with its amazing collections and people, especially Wendy Wolson, Sarah Weatherwax, Phil Lapsansky, and John C. Van Horne. I must also thank the Historical Society of Philadelphia, perhaps less gregarious, but with an invaluable collection. I was delighted by how much helpful, specific, and scholarly information I received from Philadelphia’s many living historians, especially Mitchell Kramer. Jack Lynch, my old friend and walking eighteenth-century encyclopedia, provided much help and pointed me to much-needed resources. Bernice T. Hamel, a total stranger, literally pulled me off the street to help me with research on the Man Full of Trouble tavern, and Paul Boni also provided much help on my research into eighteenth-century tavern life. I also received help from Edward Colimore and from the National Museum of American Jewish History.

My research in Pittsburgh was made a pleasure thanks to Animal Friends of Pittsburgh and Robert Fragasso of the Fragasso Group. Robert was remarkably generous with his time and resources. I would also like to thank Lisa Lazor at the John Heinz History Center.

In New York, many thanks to Joseph Ditta of the New-York Historical Society. For whiskey, I am in debt to Gary Regan and Mike Veach. I was very lucky in my research on the Bank of the United States to have the generous help of the world’s foremost authorities on early American banking: David J. Cowen, Richard Sylla, and Robert E. Wright. Carl G. Karsch helped me understand the logistics of the Bank at Carpenters’ Hall. Unfortunately I was obligated to remove numerous sections with Thomas Jefferson; nevertheless I must thank Jeff Looney of Monticello for his input and advice.

I’d also like to thank the hospitality of the many coffee shops which I’ve made my homes away from home: the late and lamented Café Espuma, where this book was first conceived; Ruta Maya in downtown San Antonio, where I worked on the early drafts; and Olmos Perk, where the book was finished and polished.

I am indebted to those whose ears I bent during Thrillerfest 2006, especially Joseph Finder, Katherine Neville, and Leslie Silbert. And I am eternally grateful to the early readers of this very long manuscript: Billy Taylor and Sophia Hollander.

As always, I am grateful for the help and support from my phenomenal agent, Liz Darhansoff. If this novel is worth reading, it is only so because of the hard work and insightful, creative, and encouraging (if sometimes unwelcome) advice of my extraordinary editor, Jennifer Hershey, as well as that of Dana Isaacson. I suspect myself of having more typos than the average writer, so thanks to Dennis Ambrose at Random House and Janet Hotson Baker, my copy editor. I hope I am not jumping the gun, but assuming my publicist will once more be Sally Marvin, I will thank her in advance for her wonderful and tireless work. If it’s not Sally, then I’ll be content to thank her for her work in the past. Because of the necessary chronology of the publishing schedule, publicists don’t get the public praise they deserve.

For reasons that need not be stated, I must thank my family for their love and encouragement, and my cats for their therapeutic value and for making sure I never overslept.

DAVID LISS is the author of A Spectacle of Corruption, The Coffee Trader, and A Conspiracy of Paper, winner of the 2000 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. He lives in San Antonio with his wife and daughter, and can be reached via his website, www.davidliss.com.