Book excerpt: Among the stirring, illogical episodes described here: a band of desperate religious refugees find themselves blown hopelessly off course, only to be deposited at the one spot on a wild continent best suited for their survival; George Washington's beaten army, surrounded by a ruthless foe and on the verge of annihilation, manages an impossible escape due to a freakish change in the weather; a famous conqueror known for seizing territory, frustrated by a slave rebellion and a frozen harbor, impulsively hands Thomas Jefferson a tract of land that doubles the size of the United States; a weary soldier picks up three cigars left behind in an open field and notices the stogies have been wrapped in a handwritten description of the enemy's secret battle plans--a revelation that gives Lincoln the supernatural sign he's awaited in order to free the slaves.