Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered

Rating:
Summary: An intriguing portrait of a complex American anti-hero
Review: Martin's biography demonstrates the complexities of Arnold's mercurial character. The author syphons through 2 centuries of myth to find the true Benedict Arnold: a complex human being with amazing military talent, caught over and again in a web of politicking which he neither understood nor approved. Arnold's treason becomes more heroicly tragic than dastardly. Indeed, the reader cannot help but see similarities of today's "look out for my own best interests" philosophy in business, sports, and politics. It would seem Arnold may be the ultimate example of American individualism.

Rating:
Summary: Only a partial biography
Review: This book does not thoroughly cover Arnold's life from the treason to his death. I just wish the cover let me know that the book went from his family's American history up until his treason. I felt the book left out his treason & post treason events to make him look better, while I was just looking for an objective biography on Arnold's life. I felt this book was incomplete.

Rating:
Summary: An Attempt to Polish up Arnold's Image
Review: This is a biography of a controversial, but relatively little-known American. The maps are crude. The writing style is a bit dry and convoluted with barely-relevant details about Arnold's detractors. This is an attempt to portray Arnold as a noble hero who fought hard for the revolution but was mistreated by an ungrateful Congress. Arnold certainly played a major and heroic role in the war. Ethan Allen and Horatio Gates are villainized as puffed-up zeroes. Unfortunately, the author glosses over Arnold's treachery; his last twenty years are covered in less than ten pages. There are interesting viewpoints on military professionalism vs. civilian control of the military. Arnold got a lot of the dirty combat jobs that other officers shirked - like Valcour island and organizing a covering force north of Saratoga. There is no doubt that Arnold was one of our best combat leaders in the Revolution but he was also a traitor, and that is a sad fact.