Long before America was a country, a humble yet ambitious British engineer came to the New World with his educated Dutch wife, to build a fort in the New England colonies. But his most successful endeavor was the safe paradise he created for his family. Acquired by a trade with Native Americans, off the coast of Long Island, in the piece of heaven, we now call The Hamptons.

This is the epic true but never-told-story of the first white family to settle the Eastern end of Long Island and become one of the largest private landowners of their time. Lion Gardiner and his wife emigrated to the colonies to escape war torn and impoverished early 17th century Europe via a four-year contract from a group of wealthy titled English families to build a fort on land they had purchased. He never went back.

From the shoddy and treacherous boat ride over, a mere pittance of the crew and supplies promised, the scantiest of dwellings, even meeker provisions, no protection and constant danger, Gardiner felt deeply betrayed.  Obstacle after obstacle, from hostile indigenous tribes to scrupulous self-righteous Puritans, and little comfort for his new family, only served to light his own path to survival—and success. Forging his own relationships with more open Native Americans, he was able to gain their trust—a rarity in the New World.

His ways were ways of peace, protection and fair play. Barter over battle. Shrewd and practical, yet compassionate and free of the prejudices and petty attitudes of his day, this is the journey of an English visionary who became an American hero.