WINTHROP – Local author Jim Nelson will speak 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 16 at the Bailey Public Library and sign copies of his newest book, “With Fire and Sword: The Battle of Bunker Hill and the Beginning of the American Revolution.”

“With Fire and Sword” has received rave reviews from Publishers Weekly, The Philadelphia Inquirer and American History Magazine. The award-winning author gives a new history of the first set-piece battle of the Revolutionary War, and offers critical new insights into one of the most important actions of our country’s founding.

Nelson tells the dramatic story of the fight that changed the face of the American Revolution. He looks at the events leading up to that day, the personalities on both the British and American sides, and the bloody outcome of those crucial choices, which would affect the British strategy on the battlefield throughout the coming six years of active warfare.

Nelson is a former professional sailor and the author of more than 15 works of historical fiction and nonfiction. His books have covered piracy in the Americas, the American Revolution and the naval action of the Civil War. He has appeared on the History Channel, the Discovery Channel and Book TV.

In 2004 Nelson was the recipient of the American Library Association/William Young Boyd Award, one of the country’s top honors for military fiction, for his novel “Glory in the Name.” In 2009 he was awarded the Samuel Eliot Morison Award by the Naval Order of the United States for his nonfiction, “George Washington’s Secret Navy.”

Nelson is currently education coordinator at Maine Maritime Museum.

The event will be held in the historic Reading Room and is part of the ongoing Lakes Region Forum.