
Valiant Ambition
George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution
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Narrated by:
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Scott Brick
About this listen
A New York Times best seller
Winner of the George Washington Prize
A surprising account of the middle years of the American Revolution and the tragic relationship between George Washington and Benedict Arnold, from the New York Times best-selling author of In the Heart of the Sea, Mayflower, and In the Hurricane's Eye.
"May be one of the greatest what-if books of the age - a volume that turns one of America’s best-known narratives on its head.” (Boston Globe)
"Clear and insightful, [Valiant Ambition] consolidates Philbrick's reputation as one of America's foremost practitioners of narrative nonfiction." (Wall Street Journal)
In the second book of his acclaimed American Revolution series, Nathaniel Philbrick turns to the tragic relationship between George Washington and Benedict Arnold.
In September 1776, the vulnerable Continental army under an unsure George Washington evacuated 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 succeeded in postponing the British naval advance down Lake Champlain that might have lost the war. As this book ends, four years later, Washington has vanquished his demons, and Arnold has fled to the enemy. America was forced at last to realize that the real threat to its liberties might not come from without but from within.
Complex, controversial, and dramatic, Valiant Ambition is a portrait of a people in crisis and the war that gave birth to a nation.
©2016 Nathaniel Philbrick (P)2016 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Benedict Arnold takes center stage in Nathaniel Philbrick’s vivid and in some ways cautionary tale of the Revolutionary War. The near-tragic nature of the drama hinges not on any military secrets Arnold gave to the British but on an open secret: the weakness of the patriot cause.... Arnold’s betrayal still makes for great drama, proving once again that the supposed villains of a story are usually the most interesting." (New York Times Book Review)
"Philbrick's deep scholarship, nuanced analysis, and novelistic storytelling add up to another triumph." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
“A lively account of our Revolutions’ most reviled figure.” (Kirkus Reviews)
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What good are the arts? Why should we care about the past? For millennia, humanity has sought to understand and transmit to future generations not just the "know-how" of life, but the "know-why"—the meaning and purpose of our existence, as expressed in art, architecture, religion, and philosophy. This crucial passing down of knowledge has required the radical integration of insights from the past and from other cultures. In Culture, acclaimed author, professor, and public intellectual Martin Puchner takes us on a breakneck tour through pivotal moments in world history.
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Must read book
- By Anonymous User on 08-05-24
By: Martin Puchner
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In the Heart of the Sea
- The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
- By: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The ordeal of the whaleship Essex was an event as mythic in the nineteenth century as the sinking of the Titanic was in the twentieth. In 1819 the Essex left Nantucket for the South Pacific with 20 crew members aboard. In the middle of the South Pacific the ship was rammed and sunk by an angry sperm whale. The crew drifted for more than 90 days in three tiny whaleboats, succumbing to weather, hunger, and disease and ultimately turning to drastic measures in the fight for survival.
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Audio must have been fixed
- By Amazon Customer on 02-11-18
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The Brothers Karamazov
- Penguin Classics
- By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, David McDuff - translator
- Narrated by: Luke Thompson
- Length: 43 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The murder of brutal landowner Fyodor Karamazov changes the lives of his sons irrevocably: Mitya, the sensualist, whose bitter rivalry with his father immediately places him under suspicion for parricide; Ivan, the intellectual, driven to breakdown; the spiritual Alyosha, who tries to heal the family's rifts; and the shadowy figure of their bastard half-brother, Smerdyakov. Dostoyevsky's dark masterwork evokes a world where the lines between innocence and corruption, good and evil, blur and everyone's faith in humanity is tested.
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Fix an error near the end of chapter 7.
- By Ragena Mae Brown on 10-17-21
By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and others
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Mayflower
- A Story of Courage, Community, and War
- By: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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From the perilous ocean crossing to the shared bounty of the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrim settlement of New England has become enshrined as our most sacred national myth. Yet, as best-selling author Nathaniel Philbrick reveals in his spellbinding new book, the true story of the Pilgrims is much more than the well-known tale of piety and sacrifice; it is a 55-year epic that is at once tragic, heroic, exhilarating, and profound.
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Fascinating book about a little-understood time
- By John M on 02-04-07
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The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors
- The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Told from the point of view of the men who waged this steel-shattering battle, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors captures Navy pilots attacking enemy battleships with makeshift weapons and sacrificial valor, a veteran commander improvising tactics never taught in Annapolis, and young crews from across America rising to an impossible challenge.
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Outstanding
- By John on 04-17-04
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The British Are Coming
- The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrated by: George Newbern, Rick Atkinson - introduction
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
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Abridged edition: Rick Atkinson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning An Army at Dawn, has long been admired for his deeply researched, stunningly vivid narrative histories. Now he turns his attention to a new war, and in the initial volume of the Revolution Trilogy he recounts the first 21 months of America’s violent war for independence. From the battles at Lexington and Concord in spring 1775 to those at Trenton and Princeton in winter 1777, American militiamen and then the ragged Continental Army take on the world’s most formidable fighting force.
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Great Start!
- By Darren Sapp on 07-14-19
By: Rick Atkinson
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Away Off Shore
- Nantucket Island and Its People, 1602-1890
- By: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In his first book of history, Away Off Shore, New York Times best-selling author Nathaniel Philbrick reveals the people and the stories behind what was once the whaling capital of the world. Beyond its charm, quaint local traditions, and whaling yarns, Philbrick explores the origins of Nantucket in this comprehensive history. From the English settlers who thought they were purchasing a "Native American ghost town" but actually found a fully realized society, the story of Nantucket is a truly unique chapter of American history.
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There once were some (wo)men in Nantucket...
- By Darwin8u on 02-03-19
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Great Expectations
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the most revered works in English literature, Great Expectations traces the coming of age of a young orphan, Pip, from a boy of shallow aspirations into a man of maturity. From the chilling opening confrontation with an escaped convict to the grand but eerily disheveled estate of bitter old Miss Havisham, all is not what it seems in Dickens’ dark tale of false illusions and thwarted desire.
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The narrator!!
- By Dana on 06-13-13
By: Charles Dickens
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Grant Moves South
- By: Bruce Catton
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 17 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian's acclaimed Civil War history of the complex man and controversial Union commander whose battlefield brilliance ensured the downfall of the Confederacy. Preeminent Civil War historian Bruce Catton narrows his focus on commander Ulysses S. Grant, whose bold tactics and relentless dedication to the Union ultimately ensured a Northern victory in the nation's bloodiest conflict.
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Riveting history with a great narration
- By Roberta Rothwell on 01-11-18
By: Bruce Catton
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1776
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: David McCullough
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In this stirring audiobook, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence, when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper.
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Front Seat on History
- By Mark on 10-22-05
By: David McCullough
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The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.
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Strong History Rich With Behind The Scenes Details
- By John on 10-06-11
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Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann, Jon Meacham
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion and Franklin and Winston brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged in the wars of his era.
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A Man and Biography Relevant to Our Day
- By Darwin8u on 11-14-12
By: Jon Meacham
What listeners say about Valiant Ambition
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- Michael
- 07-28-18
Amazing look it something important
Great book. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Great story and well read. It kept me wanting to hear more.
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- diane daniels manning
- 06-10-16
History with Plot and Characters
Philbrick takes the shine (and the tarnish) off some of America's most famous figures and leaves them both more and less than we knew. His interpretation in the epilogue of Arnold's role in our country's history is insightful and leaves the reader wondering in a new way about the actual effect of Arnold's treason.
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- Elizabeth
- 08-21-20
one of my favorites books
I loved this book from beginning to end. It is a compelling view into the drama and politics of the Continental Army mid-war. Philbrick turns these characters into real people who belong to more than just a dry textbook. This is one I will definitely listen to again.
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- A reader
- 10-30-19
Comprehensive yet opinionated
Good research. Interesting history that I wasn’t aware of, but sometimes too much detail. Since Philbrick used (and credited) so many historical sources, I expected a more academic, nuanced take. However, I found instead that the author seemed rather opinionated and to have drawn conclusions about individual’s motives and mental states that could only be conjectures.
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- Anonymous User
- 11-27-21
Valiant Story!
Very well-researched and written. Surprisingly much broader perspective on that critical time in US history that I expected. A delightful tale and prescient warning for today’s US citizens to stay ever-vigilant in defending our precious democracy from those self-serving traitors dressed as patriots.
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- JF2013
- 11-27-18
good book
reader can be tough to listen to, bur story and research are well done. recommend. philbrick is excellent
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- Steve
- 05-27-16
Such a great book and fantastic narration!
This is a well written book about a subject that gets glossed over in many history classes. We all know Arnold the traitor but few know the what, how and why. Philbrick does this smoothly and with Scott Brick's beautiful narration, this book will grab you and not release until the end which is not often said on historical literature and narration. You must listen to this book.
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- burden
- 06-27-16
History come to life- A real page Turner
What did you love best about Valiant Ambition?
The American Revolutionary War suddenly became full of real people with emotions, successes and failures.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Knowing very little about Benedict Arnold, I was at first indignant that he should have been treated so poorly and eventually consumed by dislike of his behavior to his conemporaies and country.
What does Scott Brick bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Excellent delivery that kept one on edge even though the ultimate results were preordained.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Absolutely!
Any additional comments?
The wealth of documentation in the form of private letters and official records made the reader confident that he was party to an accurate observer of these thrilling episodes.
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- Bob
- 01-10-17
great research in historiography
Philbrick examines all of the motives, weaknesses and strengths of the principal parties in our nation's founding war. Even for those familiar with the story, the detail that is used by Philbrook is outstanding.
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- seawolf
- 08-11-22
Where's the ending !?
As we listened to this very detailed examination of Arnold's career serving the colonies, I thought this was going to be a glowing review of Benedict Arnold's entire life...until the end! The book seems to abruptly end upon his betrayal. It only briefly mentions his service to the Brits and no discussion of the rest of his days. These were topics I really wanted to hear, but no!
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