B&N Reads
5/3/2016
Most Americans think they know the basic facts of the American Revolution, but leave it to Nathaniel Philbrick to prove us all wrong. His new book, Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution, explores four years of the Revolutionary War, from 1776 through 1780, with a focus on George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the many lesser personalities that surrounded them, offering a new perspective on the people and events that shaped the war. Read More
The New York Times Book Review - David Waldstreicher
Cue the villain. Benedict Arnold takes center stage in Nathaniel Philbrick's vivid and in some ways cautionary tale of the Revolutionary War…Philbrick skillfully depicts the sheer banality of Arnold's greed and self-interest, revealing the roots of his downfall: one part psychology and one part sensibility to at least three parts circumstance…Arnold's betrayal still makes for great drama, proving once again that the supposed villains of a story are usually the most interesting.
Publishers Weekly
★ 02/15/2016
By recounting inconvenient truths, including “how patriotic zeal had lapsed into cynicism and self-interest,” Philbrick (Mayflower) once again casts new light on a period of American history with which many readers may assume familiarity. He relates the four years of the Revolutionary War (1776–1780) in a compulsively readable and fascinating narrative, prefacing his account with a provocative description of what really happened during the American Revolution, which was “so troubling and strange that once the struggle was over, a generation did its best to remove all traces of the truth.” Philbrick makes vivid and memorable the details of numerous military engagements and reliably punctures any preconceptions that the rebels’ victory was inevitable. Eye-openers abound, such as how British general John Burgoyne’s use of Native American warriors backfired, as “even more than their love of liberty, the New Englanders’ multigenerational fear of native peoples was what finally moved them to rise up and extirpate” the British. Balancing his portrayals of the protagonists, Philbrick presents Washington’s weaknesses as a military commander without apology and contextualizes Arnold’s eventual betrayal of his country in the context of a long list of slights against him. Philbrick’s deep scholarship, nuanced analysis, and novelistic storytelling add up to another triumph. Maps. (May)
From the Publisher
"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
Library Journal
03/01/2016
Best-selling author Philbrick (Bunker Hill; The Mayflower) recounts details of Revolutionary War battles in the context of Gen. Benedict Arnold's character traits as well as his relationships with George Washington and others that affected his successes and downfalls and ultimately led to his defection from the Continental to the British Army. Philbrick sympathetically explains but doesn't excuse the complicated factors resulting in Arnold's treason. He observes that initially the general was patriotic, loyal, trustworthy, and valued by Washington. His battlefield valor was impressive, but his impertinence engendered animosity from scornful, opportunistic officials. By 1779, starvation, mutiny, Washington's indecisiveness, and the combination of Congress's meddling and lack of support made America's outlook appear dismal. Philbrick argues, nonetheless, that his subject's impetuosity, arrogance, self-interest, and insolence, coupled with his financial distress and growing bitterness impelled him (with his wife's support) to sell secrets to the British. The general didn't consider himself a traitor but claimed that his defection supported the United States by hastening the return to normalcy. Philbrick believes that Arnold's actions vitalized the revolutionary spirit and helped create a mythical history of the period. VERDICT Philbrick weaves exciting accounts of Arnold's impulsive battlefield exploits with the activities of self-interested military and civil associates into the demythified story of the circumstances of a tragic betrayal. This page-turner will be valued by both casual readers and historians. [See Prepub Alert, 11/2/15]—Margaret Kappanadze, Elmira Coll. Lib., NY
APRIL 2016 - AudioFile
This fascinating audiobook is further lifted by narrator Scott Brick’s impressive performance. Author Nathaniel Philbrick manages to inject humanity into both George Washington and Benedict Arnold, going beyond their respective schoolbook roles of hero and traitor. Brick’s dramatic style works well, especially when he is focused on Arnold, who was corrupt, greedy, and egotistical—he firmly believed that he was underappreciated and undercompensated by the Americans. As Arnold moved toward treachery, Washington—whom Philbrick portrays as a flawed general laboring under extreme pressures—maintained faith in him. Brick’s theatrical narration distracts occasionally, but mostly suits. The times and the men, after all, combined for high drama. Brick’s rendition captures it well. G.S.D. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2016-01-28
A history of the American Revolution, focused on George Washington (1732-1799) and Benedict Arnold (1741-1801), in which the author acknowledges Arnold's good points but does not fully rehabilitate him. National Book Award winner Philbrick (Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution, 2013, etc.) devotes almost equal time to Washington, in his eyes an incompetent general and a slow—although eventually successful—learner but a superb judge of talent; he knew Arnold possessed plenty. As a militia captain at the 1775 siege of Boston, Arnold impressed Washington with his energy in capturing the fortress of Ticonderoga. His expedition to Quebec ended in disaster but burnished his reputation. In 1777, fearless leadership played a major role in defeating Gen. John Burgoyne at Saratoga. Arnold's self-regard ensured that success produced more enemies than admirers. Appointed military governor of Philadelphia in 1778, he was a controversial figure and began to profit from a variety of business deals related to his post. In 1779, he offered his services to the British and began sending useful intelligence. Only bad luck derailed his 1780 plot to surrender West Point to the British. In Philbrick's opinion, Arnold was a psychopath. Oblivious to the consequences of his actions, he was incredibly brave under fire. Peculation was common even among loyal Revolutionary officers, but Arnold's stood out. He exhausted his fortune to support his campaigns, lived beyond his means, and used his official position, especially in Philadelphia, to enrich himself. Payment dominated his negotiations with the British. After brilliantly chronicling two obscure voyages (In the Heart of the Sea, Sea of Glory), Philbrick turned to familiar subjects (Mayflower, Bunker Hill) with admirable, if slightly less, brilliance but better sales. Like the latter, Valiant Ambition is solid popular history. A lively account of our Revolution's most reviled figure.
