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

For much of our country’s history, Benedict Arnold has been a name synonymous with the word traitor.  It’s easy to think of him as this criminal who chose the wrong side of the American Revolution, but there’s so much more to this man.  A remarried widower with several children, he was driven by a need to succeed and an ambition to hold the highest offices in the military.  He was a trusted officer for General Washington, and some would even venture they were close friends.  A series of events would turn this war hero from revolutionary, to mercenary looking for the best opportunity for promotion.

As with all his books, Nathaniel Philbrick delivers a well-researched, detailed account of the relationships and the small independent decisions that shaped our nation’s most famous traitors.  Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the fate of the American Revolution details the personal and military events that may not be well known to Americans including Washington’s support through most of Arnold’s storied military career, and the Continental Congress repeatedly passing over Arnold for promotion and, instead, choosing subordinate officers due to a quota system instead of merit.  Philbrick brings Arnold’s professional frustrations to life as well as the personal struggles of this company man – Arnold repeatedly courted women of high-born families in hopes of increasing his society standing.

I give Valiant Ambition 4 out of 5 stars.  As with most books about historical events, this book read at times like a textbook, and I struggled to keep track of the people and events.  However, I appreciated the detail and the way Philbrick turns the material into a narrative instead of a list of facts and events.  I also learned several new aspects of both Arnold and Washington’s histories, as well as new facts about the Revolution in general.

I recommend this book to readers looking to learn more about the American Revolution and two of the most famous characters in American history.  Specifically, higher education students studying early American history, or British history from this time period, would find this book applicable to their learning – there are so many things on these pages I didn’t learn in my college courses.  Given the discussions of battlefield injuries, death, and executions, I would caution more sensitive readers against this book.

I chose Valiant Ambition for June’s historical biography.  I have been reading a lot about the life of George Washington recently, along with the people around him during America’s early days.  I am choosing to read several different books by different authors to fill in different areas of Washington’s life and try to understand the motivations behind his decisions as a General and President.  That also means I need to look at the catalysts and people who affected his decision making – Benedict Arnold is definitely in that category.  His betrayal seems to have stayed with Washington for many years and affected his views on loyalty and the need for merit-based decisions instead of political appointments.  Of all the books I’ve read over the course of my Washington-mania, this one is by far the most detailed and comprehensive and was easier to read than most others.  I hope you enjoy this one, too!

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What I’m Reading

• Current print book: Star-Spangled Banner, Marc Ferris
• Current audio book: Twelve Years a Slave, Solomon Northrup
• Book I’m most looking forward to: The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise, Colleen Oakley