Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution (American Revolution #2)
Nathaniel Philbrick
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
4.06
· 18 ratings · 427 pages · Published: 10 May 2016
In September 1776, the vulnerable Continental Army under an unsure George Washington (who had never commanded a large force in battle) evacuates New York after a devastating defeat by the British Army. Three weeks later, near the Canadian border, one of his favorite generals, Benedict Arnold, miraculously succeeds in postponing the British naval advance down Lake Champlain that might have ended the war. Four years later, as the book ends, Washington has vanquished his demons and Arnold has fled to the enemy after a foiled attempt to surrender the American fortress at West Point to the British. After four years of war, America is forced to realize that the real threat to its liberties might not come from without but from within.
Valiant Ambition is a complex, controversial, and dramatic portrait of a people in crisis and the war that gave birth to a nation. The focus is on loyalty and personal integrity, evoking a Shakespearean tragedy that unfolds in the key relationship of Washington and Arnold, who is an impulsive but sympathetic hero whose misfortunes at the hands of self-serving politicians fatally destroy his faith in the legitimacy of the rebellion. As a country wary of tyrants suddenly must figure out how it should be led, Washington’s unmatched ability to rise above the petty politics of his time enables him to win the war that really matters.
Tagged as:
- war/big battles 3
- historical 3
- military 3
- political 2
- revolution/rebellion 2
- historical fiction 2
- espionage 2
- military, war & conflict 2
- political intrigue 1
- Add topics
- format - reader age
- non-fiction 3
- audiobook 3
- book 1
- adult fiction 1
romance tags
crime tags
literary-fiction tags
historical-fiction tags
fantasy tags
sci-fi tags
action-adventure tags
thriller tags
horror tags
Collections/Custom tags
The 'American Revolution' series
4.04 · 54 ratings- Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick Book #1
- Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick Book #2
- In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown by Nathaniel Philbrick Book #3
non-fiction · politics · historical · adult · violent-conflict · historical-fiction · audiobook · military · war · book · revolution
American Revolution reading order and complete book list ❯