Review: Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution

I am reviewing this book for this weekend’s leisure reading review because Pastors also need a break from heavy theological reading!  I hope to share more reviews from the reading I finished while I was on Vacation.

Nathaniel Philbrick.  Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution. New York, NY: Penguin Books, May 9, 2017. 448 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

Want to read a book on the American War of Independence and the infamous general Benedict Arnold and his relationship with George Washington?  This book might be for you!  Benedict Arnold was the general who betrayed the American cause and helped the British.  About eight years ago I read The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin and reading this book jogged my memory of what I previously learned about Benedict Arnold whether from the previous book or other readings and lectures.  Yet I still learned some new things about Arnold from the book.

I appreciate the background of Benedict Arnold.  Also I appreciated the author’s angle of the relationship between Arnold and George Washington.  One get a sense of the admiration Arnold has for Washington.  I also appreciated George Washington more for having to have the skill to be able to handle such fascinating characters among the generals under him including Arnold with his ego and also at times genuine injustice done towards him by the Continental Congress and Arnold’s superiors.

The book isn’t just only about Arnold; the book also explore the difficulties of the War of Independence as fought by the Continental Army.  It also goes over the difficulties that Washington faced.  The book was also insightful of how discouraged the patriots were during the years of fighting.  Yet at the same time things weren’t going according to plan for the British either.  Such is the nature of war; such is the nature of history when we realize the enemy has a vote of how things turn out.

Things that I learned was more about the British officer John André who was the one who got captured by Patriot militias that exposed the plot.  Though he had the rank of Major and was relatively a young officer I learned from the book that he accelerated fast in military career and had the billet of adjunct general, coordinating various administrative details for the British Army.  It was however his role as heading the British effort with espionage that led him to make a big risk in meeting General Arnold behind enemy lines that led him to be caught and found with damning documents that exposed the plot of Arnold against the Patriots.  The book went over how risky it was and foolish for someone of such high position in the British Army to meet with General Arnold in person; and the author made a good point that if there’s someone in this whole affair that had a larger pride and narcissism and desire for success it was John André.  Again previously I have not known as much information about John André so I’m glad the book filled me in the details.

In general the book got more and more interesting and insightful as the book progressed though I felt the book had a slow start.  The author’s final conclusion I think is a profound one of how Benedict Arnold contributed to the Patriots cause by reinforcing the Patriot’s motivation not only for freedom but now someone to hate and for all parties to recognize the dangerous peril it was that they almost lost so badly; the Continental Congress afterwards was more willing to fund the Army better and also General Washington himself learned from the whole affair.  Overall a good book that I recommend!