Benedict Arnold: A Traitor in Our Midst

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Most Canadians know that Benedict Arnold was the famous Yankee general
who went over to the British side during the American War of
Independence. Few Canadians know that Arnold has connections to Canada
that stretch from New Brunswick to Ontario and Saskatchewan. Although
many biographies have been written about Arnold from the American point
of view, this book by veteran journalist Barry K. Wilson presents a
unique nonpartisan perspective.

Arnold was arguably the best military leader on either side during the
war. Both a seasoned sailor and a soldier, he handed the British defeats
on both sea and land. He was the father of the American Navy and nearly
the conqueror of Canada. In civilian life, he was a shrewd businessman
and devoted family man.

Arnold was also not an easy person to like. He made enemies readily in
both civilian and military life. While serving in the Continental Army,
Arnold seemed to continually face court-martial for insubordination. In
the four short years he spent in New Brunswick as a trader, he launched
no less than 50 lawsuits—some against his best friends. In retirement
in England, he fought a pistol duel with an English parliamentarian. He
died penniless in London, but many of his children settled in Canada and
his descendants live among us to this day.

Wilson has done an admirable job of sifting through 200 years of
negative publicity to paint an evenhanded portrait of this fascinating
character and the turbulent times in which he lived. Using primary
sources wherever possible, Wilson quashes many of the myths about Arnold
that have been accepted as truth for more than a century. He also tries
to explain why Arnold is so vilified when many of his contemporaries
(Ethan Allen and Aaron Burr, for example) also committed treason against
the American government and yet remain heroes.

Impeccable research and fluid prose make this book one of the best
biographies of the year.