Paul David Nelson has written an exciting biography of an exciting figure the military hero of the American Revolution and the Indian Wars in the Northwest Territory "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Some of his contemporaries called him rash and impetuous, a braggart and a dandy. "More active and enterprising than judicious and cautious" was George Washington's verdict. True, Wayne had a flair for the dramatic and consciously acted the role of swashbuckler, but he proved himself one of the best and most successful military leaders of the early American republic.

Despite his reputation for...