The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery

by Steve Sheinkin

Overview

New York Times bestselling author, Newbery Honor recipient, and National Book Award finalist Steve Sheinkin presents both the heroism and the treachery of one of the Revolutionary War's most infamous players in his biography of Benedict Arnold.

Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction

Winner of the YALSA-ALA Award for Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction

Most people know that Benedict Arnold was America's first, most notorious traitor. Few know that he was also one of its greatest Revolutionary War heroes.

Steve Sheinkin's accessible biography, The Notorious Benedict Arnold, introduces young readers to the real Arnold: reckless, heroic, and driven. Packed with first-person accounts, astonishing American Revolution battle scenes, and surprising twists, this is a gripping and true adventure tale from history.

“Sheinkin sees Arnold as America's ‘original action hero' and succeeds in writing a brilliant, fast-paced biography that reads like an adventure novel...The author's obvious mastery of his material, lively prose and abundant use of eyewitness accounts make this one of the most exciting biographies young readers will find.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Several complex political, social, and military themes emerge, one of the most prominent being that within the Continental army, often simplistically depicted as single-minded patriots, beat hearts scheming with political machinations that are completely familiar today...Arnold's inexorable clash with Gates and his decision to turn traitor both chill and compel.” —Horn Book Magazine (starred review)

Also by Steve Sheinkin:

Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights

Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team

Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War

Which Way to the Wild West?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About Westward Expansion

King George: What Was His Problem?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the American Revolution

Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the Civil War

Born to Fly: The First Women's Air Race Across America

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250024602
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	02/19/2013
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	342,756
Product dimensions:	5.34(w) x 7.52(h) x 0.98(d)
Lexile:	990L (what's this?)
Age Range:	11 - 14 Years

About the Author

Steve Sheinkin is the acclaimed author of fast-paced, cinematic nonfiction histories, including Fallout, Undefeated, Born to Fly, The Port Chicago 50, and Bomb. His accolades include a Newbery Honor, three Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards, a Sibert Medal and Honor, and three National Book Award finalist honors. He lives in Saratoga Springs, New York, with his wife and two children.

Read an Excerpt

Clearing in the Woods

October 2, 1780

It was a beautiful place to die. The sky above the woods glowed blue, and the leaves on the trees were a riot of fall colors: sunshine yellow, campfire orange, blood red.

In a grassy clearing, a small group of American soldiers quickly built a gallows. It was a simple structure, made of two tall, forked logs stuck into the ground, with a third log laid horizontally between the forks. The soldiers tied one end of a rope to the middle of the horizontal log, letting the other end hang down. There was no platform to stand on, no trapdoor to fall through—the prisoner would have to climb onto a wagon with the rope looped around his throat. Horses would jerk the wagon forward, and he would tumble off the back. The force of his falling weight should be enough to snap a man’s neck.

As the soldiers worked, a crowd began to gather. Officers rode up and sat still on their horses. Soldiers and citizens from nearby towns gradually filled the clearing. By late afternoon, hundreds of people surrounded the gallows, and thousands lined the road leading to it. It was a somber crowd. People spoke in whispers, if at all.

Shortly before five o’clock, a wagon carrying a plain, pine coffin rattled along the road and into the clearing. The driver stopped his horses just beyond the gallows, with the wagon lined up under the dangling rope. The ghoulish figure of a hangman appeared, his face sloppily smeared with black axle grease to disguise his identity. He stood by the wagon and waited.

A few minutes after five, the distant sounds of a fife and drum band reached the clearing. The music grew louder, and the crowd recognized the tune—a funeral march. Soon the players came into view, stepping slowly and heavily in time with the music.

Behind the band marched the prisoner. He wore a spotless officer’s uniform, his long hair pulled back and tied neatly behind his neck. When he reached the clearing he saw the gallows and stopped. The color drained from his skin. He swallowed, making a visibly painful effort to force the saliva down his throat. Then he began marching again, walking steadily toward his death.

But this is the end of the story. The story begins thirty-nine years earlier and 125 miles to the east, in the busy port town of Norwich, Connecticut. The story begins with Benedict Arnold.

THE NOTORIOUS BENEDICT ARNOLD Copyright © 2010 by Steve Sheinkin

Editorial Reviews

Sheinkin sees Arnold as America's 'original action hero' and succeeds in writing a brilliant, fast-paced biography that reads like an adventure novel…The author's obvious mastery of his material, lively prose and abundant use of eyewitness accounts make this one of the most exciting biographies young readers will find.” —STARRED, Kirkus Reviews

“American history is brought to life in this engaging story of revolution and treason… The Notorious Benedict Arnold is likely to make readers want to learn more about the American Revolution and its players, great and small.” —STARRED, School Library Journal

“Several complex political, social, and military themes emerge, one of the most prominent being that within the Continental army, often simplistically depicted as single-minded patriots, beat hearts scheming with political machinations that are completely familiar today…Arnold's inexorable clash with Gates and his decision to turn traitor both chill and compel.” —STARRED, Horn Book Magazine

“History junkies are in for a treat when they pick up this lively, highly readable biography of the U.S.' most vilified traitor…A worthy addition to all libraries.” —Booklist

From the Publisher

Gr 7 Up—American history is brought to life in this engaging story of revolution and treason. Most people know very little about Benedict Arnold—only that he was a traitor during the American War of Independence. Sheinkin recounts the tale of a larger-than-life persona, from his uncertain boyhood to his immense popularity as an unpredictable, yet brilliant, commander in the American army, and finally, to his end days, living in London, despised and disgraced. The story of Arnold's bravery and his rise in the esteem of the colonists is played out against the political squabbling and fears the Continental Congress had about military figures becoming too powerful and upsetting the delicate democracy they were busy creating. Through letters, journals, historic accounts, and other resources, Sheinkin keeps readers wanting to know what will happen next. Short, episodic chapters titled with relevant dates are an effective way to pace various battles—on the field and off—and understand their place in the larger picture of the war. Other key figures are well developed in the narrative. Seeing a glimpse of these personalities makes their subsequent actions believable and meaningful. The Notorious Benedict Arnold is likely to make readers want to learn more about the American Revolution and its players, great and small. Source notes at the end of the book allow them to do just that.—Karen Elliott, Grafton High School, WI

School Library Journal

THE NOTORIOUS BENEDICT ARNOLD follows Arnold from birth through his heroic military exploits to his eventual treason, the first in U.S. history. When voicing the story’s narrator, Mark Bramhall evokes a rugged American archetype. In dialogue he shifts subtly through an array of accents: British, German, French, high class and low. His portrayal of the revolutionaries is as engrossing as the precarious circumstances of their lives. Bramhall's pace and timing are flawless. His voice quickens with the tension of coming battles. During covert missions he evokes the power of silence between his words. His narration pulls the listener in to experience just how close the lines are between hero and villain, and how close America came to losing the Revolution. A.M.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2012 - AudioFile

If only Benedict Arnold had died sooner. Had he been killed at the Battle of Saratoga, he'd be one of the greatest heroes of American history, and "we'd celebrate his life as one of the best action stories we have." Instead, he survived and went on to betray the colonies and die in shame. Sheinkin sees Arnold as America's "original action hero" and succeeds in writing a brilliant, fast-paced biography that reads like an adventure novel. Opening with the hanging of Major Andre, the British officer who plotted with Arnold to turn West Point over to the British, the story sticks to the exciting illustrative scenes of Arnold's career—the invasion of Canada, assembling America's first naval fleet, the Battle of Valcour Island, the Battle of Saratoga and the plot with Andre, whose parallel narrative ends in a bungled mission, his execution and Arnold's dishonor. The author's obvious mastery of his material, lively prose and abundant use of eyewitness accounts make this one of the most exciting biographies young readers will find. (source notes, quotation notes, maps [not seen]) (Biography. 11-14)

Kirkus Reviews