In September 1776, the Continental Army—led by a self-doubting George Washington—evacuated New York after a devastating defeat, while Benedict Arnold (one of Washington's favorite generals) miraculously held back a British naval advance down Lake Champlain that might well have ended the American Revolution. Yet four years later, Washington had vanquished his personal demons, while Arnold fled to the enemy after a foiled attempt to surrender West Point to them. Here the National Book Award-winning author of In The Heart of the Sea evokes a Shakespearean tragedy in the key relationship of Washington and Arnold, who is re-cast as an impulsive yet sympathetic hero who lost his faith in the rebellion.