Isabelle Lawrence

Ever since she can remember, Isabelle Lawrence has loved tales from history and deeds of derring-do. Brought up in Cambridge, Mass., just around the corner from the Longfellow House, which was once General Washington's headquarters, and across the street from the Common where his cannon still stand, she has always been fascinated by this great national hero. A graduate of Radcliffe, she spent four years with the Harvard 47 drama workshop. In recent years she has been teaching history at the Latin School of Chicago, finding her pupils invaluable critics. She has won the Freedom Foundation of Valley Forge Award for furthering, "Citizenship and the American way of life, over and above the call of duty.'

In addition to Drumbeats in Williamsburg, she has written seven other books featuring famous historical figures against dramatic and authentic backgrounds—Greek, Roman, Elizabethan, Dutch and American. Drumbeats was written as a sequel to A Spy in Williamsburg, a Junior Literary Guild selection, because so many children asked for more about the Budges.

—from the dust jacket of Drumbeats in Williamsburg