The tragedy of Benedict Arnold
Subtitle: an American life
By: Joyce Lee Malcolm
Edition: First Pegasus Books cloth edition.
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 410
ISBN-13: 9781681777375
Copyright date: 2018
Subjects: United States; Generals; American loyalists; United States. Continental Army; Biography
Description: Historian Joyce Lee Malcolm skillfully unravels the man behind the myth and gives us a portrait of the true Arnold and his world. There was his dramatic victory against the British at Saratoga in 1777 and his troubled childhood in a pre-revolutionary America beset with class tension and economic instability. We witness his brilliant wartime military exploits and learn of his contentious relationship with a newly formed and fractious Congress, fearful of powerful military leaders, like Arnold, who could threaten the nation's fragile democracy. Throughout, Malcolm weaves in portraits of Arnold's great allies--George Washington, General Schuyler, his beautiful and beloved wife Peggy Shippen, and others--as well as his unrelenting enemy John Adams, British General Clinton, and master spy John Andre. Thrilling and thought-provoking, The Tragedy of Benedict Arnold sheds new light on a man--as well on the nuanced and complicated time in which he lived.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 363-395) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: The price of honor; title: Great expectations; title: Descent; title: The fortunes of war; title: Taking charge; title: Smooth and choppy waters; title: Love, marriage, duels, and honor; title: "My country called"; title: The race to seize forts; title: Buried in the public calamity; title: Honor in a "direful howling wilderness"; title: A fierce attack, a winter siege; title: Defending the lakes; title: Don't tread on me; title: "Besmirched honor"; title: Savage warfare; title: Defending New York, again; title: The fatal blow; title: The wages of victory; title: The eye of the storm; title: The court-martial; title: Becoming Gustavus Monk; title: Treason; title: Bridges burned; title: Afterword; title: Final thoughts.