In this ambitious and deeply rewarding story, Jimmy Carter brings to life the Revolutionary War as it was fought in the Deep South. It is a saga that will change the way we think about the conflict. He reminds us that much of the fight for independence took place in that region, and that it was a struggle of both great and small battles and of terrible brutality, with neighbor turned against neighbor, the Indians' support sought by both sides, and no quarter asked or given. The Hornet's Nest follows a cast of characters and their loved ones on both sides of this violent conflict, including some who are based on Carter's ancestors.

At the heart of the story is Ethan Pratt, who in 1766 moves with his wife, Epsey, from Philadelphia to North Carolina and then to Georgia in 1771, in the company of Quakers. On their homestead in Georgia, Ethan and his wife become friends with neighbors Kindred and Mavis Morris. Through Kindred and his young Indian friend, Newota, Ethan learns about the frontier and the Native American tribes who are being continually pressed further inland by settlers. As the eight-year war develops, Ethan and Kindred find themselves in life-and-death combat with opposing forces.

With its moving love story, vivid action, and the suspense of a war fought with increasing ferocity and stealth, Hornet's Nest is historical fiction at its best, in the tradition of such classics as The Last of the Mohicans.