Review: Excellent and very detailed biography of Benedict Arnold
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 28, 2014
This is a detailed scholarly biography that explains both the value of General Arnold to the American Revolutionary army, and how he became a traitor.  To a large extent the first half of the book duplicates information I already knew from another book, "Benedict Arnold's Navy, the Ragtag Fleet that lost the Battle for Lake Champlain but Won the American Revolution".  That may be why the first half seemed a bit slow to me.  However, as the book moved on to his time in Philadelphia, his change of loyalties and his appointment to West Point, the detail was somewhat new to me and the book read a lot faster.  For those who want to read a scholarly (vs quickie) biography, this is excellent.It starts with Arnold as a hero (which he clearly was at first) and shows how British records from the Canadian invasion support that he did in fact tell the truth in the multiple hearings  held about his dealings there as he was hounded by enemies.  As an excellent general/admiral, but a very poor politician, he was persecuted both by those who took credit for his achievements and those who were jealous.  Then he managed to get into a situation in Philadelphia where he became the test case for states rights vs the Continental Congress so that larger interests prevented him from clearing his name (and getting paid his many-years-in-arrears salary).  Add a seasoning of his falling for the Loyalist Peggy Shippen, and his turning traitor becomes understandable, if not forgivable.I had not realized how long he was on the fence, trying to repair his fortunes with George Washington while flirting with turning traitor.  When Washington finally did offer him a command in the South, it was "too little, too late", but one can't help but wonder if Arnold would have pulled back from being a traitor if he had been treated justly earlier,  Great story, well written, a good read.However, I've taken off a star for poor editing.  Especially frustrating is the apparently random sprinkling of what should be sentence ending punctuation in the middle of sentences.  Question marks and periods especially. seem. to appear? for no reason.