cover image The Life of John André: The Redcoat Who Turned Benedict Arnold

The Life of John André: The Redcoat Who Turned Benedict Arnold

D.A.B. Ronald. Casemate, $32.95 (366p) ISBN 978-1-61200-521-8

Ronald (Youth, Heroism and War Propaganda: Britain and the Young Maritime Hero, 1745­–1820) offers a detailed look at the British officer best known for having persuaded Benedict Arnold to betray the American Revolution. The account begins in the 1740s, with the story of John André’s father, Anthony, before delving into André’s childhood and education. André joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1771, beginning the military career that took him to America three years later. Once there, he conspired with Philadelphia’s Peggy Shippen “to snare a pliable Continental Army officer”—Arnold, that city’s military commander, whom Peggy married. After prolonged negotiations, Arnold agreed to defect to the British. André ended up captured and hanged as a spy in 1780. Ronald does not hide his admiration for André or his detestation of Arnold. He maintains, without citation, that André believed Arnold had betrayed him and that Arnold’s letter to George Washington threatening retribution should André be executed was written “to make sure” that the capital sentence was carried out. Other authors, such as Nathaniel Philbrick, have demonstrated that Arnold’s decision to defect was a complex one, and Ronald’s decision to make him a one-dimensional villain detracts from what is otherwise a well-researched and through look at his subject’s life. (Jan.)