Rob Roberts was a Virginian, fiercely proud of the colony in which his forebears had lived on the same land for more than 150 years.   Now the flames of revolution blazed and the Roberts family faced the most important decision of their lives. The patriots had driven British Governor Lord Dunmore from Virginia's capital at Williamsburg, and he was gathering his forces around Norfolk. It was 1776, and no Virginian could remain loyal to both crown and colony. There was no middle ground—a choice had to be made.

Rob soon learned the price of that choice—the courage needed to stand fast in an unpopular cause. In a world turned upside down he saw revolution and rebellion become patriotism, loyalty to his king become treason, friends and neighbors become strangers and enemies.

The "scarlet badge" was the red badge of loyalty to king and crown worn by those who remained faithful to King George III of England. The loyalists were men born and raised in Virginia who loved their native land with a passion equal to that of rebels who opposed them.

The Scarlet Badge is the story of Rob Roberts and his family at the crossroads of their lives on the eve of the birth of a new nation.

From the dust jacket