Valiant Ambition
George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the fate of the American Revolution
Viking, May 2016
New York Times Bestseller
From the acclaimed author of Mayflower, In the Heart of the Sea, and Bunker Hill comes an engrossing new book about the American Revolution. Its focus: the relationship between Benedict Arnold and George Washington, and the four years that led to the notorious fall of one and the gradual emergence of the other as a true leader.
In the summer of 1776, Washington’s army in Brooklyn and New York City faced one of the largest invading forces ever assembled by the British Empire. After suffering a series of devastating defeats, Washington’s vulnerable and dejected troops were forced to evacuate the southern tip of Manhattan Island. Three weeks later, however, near the Canadian border, one of his favorite and most talented generals, Benedict Arnold, accomplished a tactical miracle by stalling the British advance in a viciously fought naval battle on Lake Champlain. An American defeat would have effectively ended the war, and it was Benedict Arnold who saved his young country from ruin.
Nathaniel Philbrick brings his mastery of narrative to a tumultuous time in the Revolution. Moving beyond the storied victories at Trenton and Princeton and the ordeal of the Continental army at Valley Forge, he shows how the injuries Arnold suffered at the Battle of Saratoga set Washington’s greatest fighting general on the road to treason. Arnold was an impulsive but sympathetic hero whose misfortunes at the hands of self-serving politicians undermined his faith in the legitimacy of the rebellion. By 1780, he had fled to the enemy after his failed attempt to surrender the American fortress at West Point to the British.
During the same period, Washington came to embrace the full scope of his leadership. The book tracks the messy collision of military and political goals and shows how the deep divisions among the American people posed a greater threat to their cause than the British army. In a new country wary of tyrants, Washington’s unmatched ability to rise above the petty politics of his time enabled him to recognize the war that really mattered. In his treason, Arnold may actually have saved America.
Valiant Ambition crackles with urgency and human drama fueled by issues of loyalty and personal integrity. By intertwining the stories of Washington and Arnold, Philbrick has crafted a Shakespearean tragedy revealing the dark path America traveled during its revolution. Here is a portrait of a people in crisis and the war that gave birth to a nation.