"The book is a triptych, beginning with the mutiny on the Hermione and the ensuing manhunt for members of her crew. The second section recounts the arrival of a handful of mutineers in the United States, including Jonathan Robbins, before examining in depth the political crisis that engulfed John Adams and the Federalist Party. The final three chapters focus on the election of 1800 and the protracted consequences of Robbins's martyrdom during the years of Republican ascendancy. As late as 1812, Adams bitterly complained that 'Robbins' was a scandal that ought to have been killed before it died of old age, ' 'a more infernal, wicked, malicious, unprincipled, deliberate, and cruel scandal never stalked this earth.' 'Indeed, ' he rued, 'I know not whether it be dead yet"--Preface.