From the New York Times bestselling historian comes a surprising account of the messy middle years of the Revolution and the tragic relationship of George Washington and Benedict Arnold.
Nathaniel Philbrick is the New York Times bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea, winner of the National Book Award; Mayflower, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Bunker Hill, winner of the New England Book Award; Sea of Glory; The Last Stand; Why Read Moby Dick?; and Away Off Shore. He lives in Nantucket.
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
"A suspenseful, richly detailed, and deeply researched book
about the revolutionary struggle that bound George Washington and
Benedict Arnold together and almost disastrous dysfunction of
America's revolutionary government that helped drive them
apart."
--The New York Review of Books Clear and insightful, it
consolidates his reputation as one of America's foremost
practitioners of narrative nonfiction.
--Wall Street Journal Philbrick is both a meticulous historian and
a captivating storyteller. The book has unforgettable novelistic
details [and] also contains much astute historical analysis and
argument. Philbrick sees Arnold not as the man who almost lost the
war so much as the catalyst that helped to win it.
--Christian Science Monitor "This is history at its most
compelling: political machinations, military jostling and outright
treachery. And Philbrick's vivid writing brings the whistling
cannon balls and half-frozen soldiers to life (and death) in vivid
detail....He peels back the mythology to reveal a teetering war
effort, a bickering Congress, discordant states unwilling to
coalesce to support the new national government and -- above all --
a traitor who sought to sell out his own country for personal gain
and achieved instead the one thing that no other revolutionary
could: a unification of the Americans and an end to the war. And
for that, we have much to thank Benedict Arnold.
--Seattle Times Benedict Arnold takes center stage in Nathaniel
Philbrick's vivid and in some ways cautionary tale of the
Revolutionary War. The near-tragic nature of the drama hinges not
on any military secrets Arnold gave to the British but on an open
secret: the weakness of the patriot cause....Arnold's betrayal
still makes for great drama, proving once again that the supposed
villains of a story are usually the most interesting.
--New York Times Book Review "Philbrick wants his readers to
experience the terror, the suffering and the adrenaline rush of
battle, and he wants us to grit our teeth at our early politicians
who, by their pettiness and shortsightedness, shape military events
as profoundly as generals and admirals do. Finally, he reveals the
emotional and physical cost of war on colonial society. He succeeds
on all fronts."
--Washington Post "Philbrick has the ability to take seemingly dry
facts of history and turn them into exciting prose. The players
come alive and their motivations are clear. The people he
chronicles are legends, so revealing to the reader what makes them
human, foibles and all, helps make sense of the events that
transpired and why they acted the way they did."
--Associated Press Philbrick's deep scholarship, nuanced analysis,
and novelistic storytelling add up to another triumph.
--Publishers Weekly, starred review "A lively account of our
Revolutions' most reviled figure."
--Kirkus Reviews An engrossing narrative of the war's most
difficult years... Philbrick argues that the quarrelsome, divided
Americans needed Arnold's perfidy as much as they did Washington's
greatness to unify their new nation. He pushes aside the patriotic
myth to unveil the war's messy reality--and it's still a rousing
adventure."
--BookPage "As another American summer crawls toward the Fourth of
July, and with a presidential election creeping up like Freddy on
Elm Street, Nathaniel Philbrick offers some beach reading to remind
us that outsized egos and a dysfunctional Congress were as much at
issue in 1776 as they are now -- if that's any comfort...Valiant
Ambition colorfully reconstructs the character-driven battles that
defined the Revolutionary War."
--USA Today "Look, you're not getting tickets to Hamilton. If he
were alive, George Washington himself couldn't get tickets to
Hamilton. Here's a cheaper alternative...a new look at the first
American president and contrasts him with our most famous
traitor."
--The Miami Herald Praise for Bunker Hill A masterpiece
of narrative and perspective.
--Boston Globe A tour de force . . .
--Chicago Tribune Popular history at its best--a taut
narrative with a novelist's touch, grounded in careful
research.
--Miami Herald A story that resonates with leadership lessons
for all times.
--Walter Isaacson, The Washington Post A gripping
book.
--The Wall Street
Journal
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