Valiant Ambition
George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution
-
-
4.4 • 163 Ratings
-
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
A New York Times Bestseller
Winner of the George Washington Prize
A surprising account of the middle years of the American Revolution and the tragic relationship between George Washington and Benedict Arnold, from the New York Times bestselling author of In The Heart of the Sea, Mayflower, and In the Hurricane's Eye.
"May be one of the greatest what-if books of the age—a volume that turns one of America’s best-known narratives on its head.”—Boston Globe
"Clear and insightful, [Valiant Ambition] consolidates Philbrick's reputation as one of America's foremost practitioners of narrative nonfiction."—Wall Street Journal
In the second book of his acclaimed American Revolution series, Nathaniel Philbrick turns to the tragic relationship between George Washington and Benedict Arnold. In September 1776, the vulnerable Continental army under an unsure George Washington evacuated New York after a devastating defeat by the British army. Three weeks later, one of his favorite generals, Benedict Arnold, miraculously succeeded in postponing the British naval advance down Lake Champlain that might have lost the war. As this book ends, four years later Washington has vanquished his demons, and Arnold has fled to the enemy. America was forced at last to realize that the real threat to its liberties might not come from without but from withinComplex, controversial, and dramatic, Valiant Ambition is a portrait of a people in crisis and the war that gave birth to a nation.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
By recounting inconvenient truths, including "how patriotic zeal had lapsed into cynicism and self-interest," Philbrick once again casts new light on a period of American history with which many readers may assume familiarity. He relates the four years of the Revolutionary War (1776 1780) in a compulsively readable and fascinating narrative, prefacing his account with a provocative description of what really happened during the American Revolution, which was "so troubling and strange that once the struggle was over, a generation did its best to remove all traces of the truth." Philbrick makes vivid and memorable the details of numerous military engagements and reliably punctures any preconceptions that the rebels' victory was inevitable. Eye-openers abound, such as how British general John Burgoyne's use of Native American warriors backfired, as "even more than their love of liberty, the New Englanders' multigenerational fear of native peoples was what finally moved them to rise up and extirpate" the British. Balancing his portrayals of the protagonists, Philbrick presents Washington's weaknesses as a military commander without apology and contextualizes Arnold's eventual betrayal of his country in the context of a long list of slights against him. Philbrick's deep scholarship, nuanced analysis, and novelistic storytelling add up to another triumph. Maps.
Customer Reviews
The more things change…
A very revealing look at the underside of valor and patriotism as America fought to exist. Philbrick’s words almost paint the generals of the Continental Army as a legion of “mean girls” led by a weary Washington who was unable in many cases to appeal to their sense of brotherhood and their better selves. Considering the level at which officers and the Continental Congressmen betrayed one another, it’s quite astounding that American came to be at all.
Arnold’s story is intriguing : his misery as he toiled to serve his new country is almost understandable, as we see lesser men destroy his military career, often from jealousy of his success. While his arrogance and self-centeredness were terribly off-putting, his bravery may have brought an earlier victorious end to the revolution should he have looked beyond his own personal desires.
Philbrick reminds us by expanding our understanding of the war and the colonies that our revered warriors were at heart, normal people with debilitating flaws. It seems some of the selfishness we see in current American politics was woven in at the very start.
GOOD BUT FOR THE ENDING
I greatly enjoyed this book. As I have other Philbrick books. It kept me reading. The ending however left me flat footed. I wanted more. I would have liked to see how Arnold's life continued in England and until his death.
Blind Ambition
History we never appreciated in school. Relevant to today’s acrimony and treacherous acts.