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THE TRAGEDY OF BENEDICT ARNOLD

Name: THE TRAGEDY OF BENEDICT ARNOLD
Author: Joyce Lee Malcolm
ISBN: 978-1-68177-737-5

AN AMERICAN LIFE

by Joyce Lee Malcolm ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2018

Readers will decide if Arnold’s choices were forced upon him or if he was, indeed, flawed. Malcolm provides plenty to...

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An attempt to bring understanding, if not forgiveness, to the story of Benedict Arnold (1741-1801).

Examining a variety of primary sources, including Russell M. Lea’s 2008 publication of Arnold’s war correspondence and other Arnold papers “recently discovered in Quebec,” Malcolm (George Mason Univ. School of Law; Peter's War: A New England Slave Boy and the American Revolution, 2009, etc.) dives further into the psyche of the man synonymous with the word “traitor.” His ability as a soldier, acknowledged even by the British, and continued heroics indicate a truly talented, heroic patriot who dedicated his life, lost his fortune, and suffered crippling injury for the American cause. Arnold was also rash and impetuous, and his pride and successes made many enemies. The micromanaging of the Army by the Congress made such rivalries more common, as they often appointed ill-qualified but well-connected leaders. After Ticonderoga, Arnold led a heroic trek through the bleak winter landscape to meet up with Gen. Philip Schuyler at Montreal. But Col. Roger Enos abandoned that trek and left with a third of Arnold’s force. Even so, Arnold was successful at Montreal and then built a fleet of shallow draft boats on Lake Champlain to block the British. At Saratoga, Gen. Horatio Gates disliked him intensely and confined Arnold to his tent. Not to be held back, he led the leaderless army to turn the battle, but he was also grievously injured. George Washington sent him to Philadelphia to lead, a huge mistake since Arnold had very little political ability. He was often denied pay and promotions, and a series of false accusations pushed him over the edge. Others would suffer similarly and resign their commissions, but Arnold felt the war was lost and turned to the British. The author does her best to paint her subject as underappreciated—and is mostly successful in that endeavor—and she rejects the accusations that his wife drove him to treason.

Readers will decide if Arnold’s choices were forced upon him or if he was, indeed, flawed. Malcolm provides plenty to consider.

Pub Date: May 1, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-68177-737-5

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Pegasus

Review Posted Online: March 18, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018

Categories:

- BOOK REVIEW
THE TIMES THAT TRY MEN'S SOULS
by Joyce Lee Malcolm

- BOOK REVIEW
PETER’S WAR
by Joyce Lee Malcolm

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THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS

FROM MEAN STREETS TO WALL STREET

by Chris Gardner with Quincy Troupe ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2006

Well-told and admonitory.

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Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.

Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.

Well-told and admonitory.

Pub Date: June 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-06-074486-3

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006

Categories:

GENERAL BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | BUSINESS

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NIGHT

by Elie Wiesel & translated by Marion Wiesel ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2006

The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...

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Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children.

He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions.

The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the sphere of suffering shared, and in this case extended to the death march itself, there is no spiritual or emotional legacy here to offset any reader reluctance.