100 books like Valiant Ambition

By Nathaniel Philbrick,

Here are 100 books that Valiant Ambition fans have personally recommended if you like Valiant Ambition. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret: George Washington, Slavery, and the Enslaved Community at Mount Vernon

John Koopman III Author Of George Washington at War - 1776

From my list on a fresh look into the past.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been interested in history and in particular military history for my entire life. Since 2006 I have been a George Washington interpreter. I portray the great man in first person live presentations and in documentary film. I have devoted a great deal of time in study of him. As a result of my studies of Washington, I felt compelled to write a book about him. I wanted to capture aspects of him not covered in most books or in film. Four of the books I reviewed involve George Washington.

John's book list on a fresh look into the past

John Koopman III Why did John love this book?

Mount Vernon research historian Mary V. Thompson has written what will become the definitive book on slavery at George Washington's home. The book puts you in the place of an enslaved person, what their daily life was like. Throughout his life Washington struggled with slavery, he wanted it to end. Finally in his will, he freed his slaves. Sending a message to the country that slavery must end. There were those who were angered by this action, documented in the book. One contemporary said it was “the…worst act of his public life.” There were former slaves that thought differently. Over thirty years after Washington’s death eleven African American men were observed making repairs to Washington’s tomb. When asked about it by a visitor to Mount Vernon, it was discovered that they were former slaves of Washington freed in his will. They had volunteered their time for the memory of a…

By Mary V. Thompson,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

George Washington's life has been scrutinized by historians over the past three centuries, but the day-to-day lives of Mount Vernon's enslaved workers, who left few written records but made up 90 percent of the estate's population, have been largely left out of the story.

In ""The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret,"" Mary Thompson offers the first comprehensive account of those who served in bondage at Mount Vernon. Drawing on years of research in a wide range of sources, Thompson brings to life the lives of Washington's slaves while illuminating the radical change in his views on slavery and race wrought…


Book cover of Founding Friendships: Friendships Between Men and Women in the Early American Republic

Alexis Coe Author Of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington

From my list on George Washington.

Why am I passionate about this?

Alexis Coe is a presidential historian and the New York Times bestselling author of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington, which was also Audible’s best history book of 2020 and Barnes and Nobel's nonfiction Book of the Month. She was a producer and appeared in Doris Kearns Goodwin's Washington series on the History Channel.

Alexis' book list on George Washington

Alexis Coe Why did Alexis love this book?

“I am always yours” was not George Washington’s usual signoff. It was reserved for Elizabeth Willing Powel, a dear friend who often gets short shrift in Washington biographies. Cassandra Good’s book isn’t devoted to the General, but what's there can't be found anywhere else.

By Cassandra A. Good,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Founding Friendships as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"When Harry Met Sally" is only the most iconic of popular American movies, books, and articles that pose the question of whether friendships between men and women are possible. In Founding Friendships, Cassandra A. Good shows that this question was embedded in and debated as far back as the birth of the American nation. Indeed, many of the nation's founding fathers had female friends but popular rhetoric held that these relationships were fraught with
social danger, if not impossible.

Elite men and women formed loving, politically significant friendships in the early national period that were crucial to the individuals' lives…


Book cover of 1774: The Long Year of Revolution

Alexis Coe Author Of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington

From my list on George Washington.

Why am I passionate about this?

Alexis Coe is a presidential historian and the New York Times bestselling author of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington, which was also Audible’s best history book of 2020 and Barnes and Nobel's nonfiction Book of the Month. She was a producer and appeared in Doris Kearns Goodwin's Washington series on the History Channel.

Alexis' book list on George Washington

Alexis Coe Why did Alexis love this book?

George Washington didn’t sign the Declaration of Independence because he was already too busy fighting for it. Americans have become so focused on 1776, but the American Revolution was a long time coming. Mary Beth Norton does an excellent job of focusing on a pivotal year. 

By Mary Beth Norton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked 1774 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From one of our most acclaimed and original colonial historians, a groundbreaking book tracing the critical "long year" of 1774 and the revolutionary change that took place from the Boston Tea Party and the First Continental Congress to the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

In this masterly work of history, the culmination of more than four decades of research and thought, Mary Beth Norton looks at the sixteen months leading up to the clashes at Lexington and Concord in mid-April 1775. This was the critical, and often overlooked, period when colonists…


Book cover of The Widow Washington: The Life of Mary Washington

Alexis Coe Author Of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington

From my list on George Washington.

Why am I passionate about this?

Alexis Coe is a presidential historian and the New York Times bestselling author of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington, which was also Audible’s best history book of 2020 and Barnes and Nobel's nonfiction Book of the Month. She was a producer and appeared in Doris Kearns Goodwin's Washington series on the History Channel.

Alexis' book list on George Washington

Alexis Coe Why did Alexis love this book?

Until Martha Saxton came along, Mary Ball Washington was much maligned by historians--but she’s no Mary Washington apologist. Saxton wrote the first comprehensive book on the first President’s mother with her eyes wide open and no one, not mother or son, gets away with anything.

By Martha Saxton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Widow Washington as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Widow Washington is the first life of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother, based on archival sources. Her son's biographers have, for the most part, painted her as self-centered and crude, a trial and an obstacle to her son. But the records tell a very different story. Mary Ball, the daughter of a wealthy planter and a formerly indentured servant, was orphaned very young and grew up in an atmosphere of work, frugality, and piety. She married the older planter Augustine Washington and had five children with him before his death eleven years later. As a widow deprived of…


Book cover of God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America's Most Hated Man

Brian Carso Author Of Gideon's Revolution

From my list on life and treason of Benedict Arnold.

Why am I passionate about this?

Loyalty and betrayal—and spies—are at the heart of some of the greatest stories ever told. Some years ago, I wrote a book about treason in the early United States, and that’s how I found what little is known about the secret mission to capture Arnold. My background as a historian gave me the tools to fill in the missing pieces. I read everything there is about Arnold and espionage during the Revolution, from 250-year-old journals to the latest scholarship, and retraced Arnold’s footsteps in cities, towns, and battlefields. Only then could I imagine how the history really felt, and I put it all together into my book. 

Brian's book list on life and treason of Benedict Arnold

Brian Carso Why did Brian love this book?

I like Jack Kelly’s book because he does a masterful job recounting Benedict Arnold’s military career before his treason, when he was admired for strategic daring and tactical genius as a hard-charging American warrior. Arnold wasn’t a run-of-the-mill traitor; indeed, early during the Revolution, some thought Washington and Arnold would emerge together as the war’s two great leaders. That’s why Arnold’s betrayal knocked Americans for a loop: he was a battlefield hero who turned traitor.

From Fort Ticonderoga, to Quebec, to Saratoga (and battles in between), Jack Kelly focuses on Arnold’s heroic achievements and sets the stage for understanding the shock and dismay that, as one soldier put it at the time, “a man so high on the list of fame should be as guilty as Arnold.”

By Jack Kelly,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked God Save Benedict Arnold as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Finalist, New England Book Awards

"Vivid." ―The Wall Street Journal

"A dazzling addition to the history of the American Revolution." ―Kirkus Review (starred)

"Finally... a full and fascinating portrait of a true hero of the American Revolution, until he was visited by villainy. A riveting read." ―Tom Clavin, New York Times bestselling author of Follow Me to Hell

Benedict Arnold committed treason― for more than two centuries, that’s all that most Americans have known about him.

Yet Arnold was much more than a turncoat―his achievements during the early years of the Revolutionary War defined him as the most successful soldier…


Book cover of Homegrown Terror: Benedict Arnold and the Burning of New London

Brian Carso Author Of Gideon's Revolution

From my list on life and treason of Benedict Arnold.

Why am I passionate about this?

Loyalty and betrayal—and spies—are at the heart of some of the greatest stories ever told. Some years ago, I wrote a book about treason in the early United States, and that’s how I found what little is known about the secret mission to capture Arnold. My background as a historian gave me the tools to fill in the missing pieces. I read everything there is about Arnold and espionage during the Revolution, from 250-year-old journals to the latest scholarship, and retraced Arnold’s footsteps in cities, towns, and battlefields. Only then could I imagine how the history really felt, and I put it all together into my book. 

Brian's book list on life and treason of Benedict Arnold

Brian Carso Why did Brian love this book?

Of all the books about Arnold I’ve read, this might be my favorite. Eric Lehman primarily focuses on what comes after Arnold sides with the British.

Arnold is not satisfied with defecting and lying low. Instead, he leads massive raids against the Americans—his former brothers-in-arms—in Richmond, Virginia, and New London, Connecticut. This latter attack—and the focus of Lehman’s book—is particularly brutal since New London is just 11 miles downriver from Arnold’s hometown of Norwich.

Arnold knew the people of New London, yet he arrived by sea to burn the city and terrorize the population. This book is loaded with historical detail, but Eric Lehman is a brilliant storyteller, and it is hard to put down. 

By Eric D. Lehman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Homegrown Terror as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On September 6, 1781, Connecticut native Benedict Arnold and a force of 1,600 British soldiers and loyalists took Fort Griswold and burnt New London to the ground. The brutality of the invasion galvanized the new nation, and "Remember New London!" would become a rallying cry for troops under General Lafayette. In Homegrown Terror, Eric D. Lehman chronicles the events leading up to the attack and highlights this key transformation in Arnold-the point where he went from betraying his comrades to massacring his neighbors and destroying their homes. This defining incident forever marked him as a symbol of evil, turning an…


Book cover of Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered

Brian Carso Author Of Gideon's Revolution

From my list on life and treason of Benedict Arnold.

Why am I passionate about this?

Loyalty and betrayal—and spies—are at the heart of some of the greatest stories ever told. Some years ago, I wrote a book about treason in the early United States, and that’s how I found what little is known about the secret mission to capture Arnold. My background as a historian gave me the tools to fill in the missing pieces. I read everything there is about Arnold and espionage during the Revolution, from 250-year-old journals to the latest scholarship, and retraced Arnold’s footsteps in cities, towns, and battlefields. Only then could I imagine how the history really felt, and I put it all together into my book. 

Brian's book list on life and treason of Benedict Arnold

Brian Carso Why did Brian love this book?

When I want to dig deeply into the details of Arnold’s life—from his birth in Norwich in 1741 and the troubled circumstances of his childhood, through to his long and uncertain convalescence in the Albany military hospital following his grave wounding at Saratoga—I invariably open James Kirby Martin’s biography.

The most intriguing question about Arnold is: Why did he betray his countrymen? There is no clear answer; he never offered a compelling explanation. The challenge, then, is to get inside Arnold’s head. That’s not easy, of course, but the detailed examination that Martin provides of Arnold’s life before his treason gives us notable insights to Arnold’s angels and demons.

By James K. Martin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An extensively researched account of the infamous Benedict Arnold, framed in Martin's biography as a hero rather than a traitor
Benedict Arnold stands as one of the most vilified figures in American history. Stories of his treason have so come to define him that his name, like that of Judas, is virtually synonymous with treason.
Yet Arnold was one of the most heroic and remarkable men of his time, indeed in all of American history. A brilliant military leader of uncommon bravery, Arnold dedicated himself to the Revolutionary cause, sacrificing family life, health, and financial well-being for a conflict that…


Book cover of Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring

Brian Carso Author Of Gideon's Revolution

From my list on life and treason of Benedict Arnold.

Why am I passionate about this?

Loyalty and betrayal—and spies—are at the heart of some of the greatest stories ever told. Some years ago, I wrote a book about treason in the early United States, and that’s how I found what little is known about the secret mission to capture Arnold. My background as a historian gave me the tools to fill in the missing pieces. I read everything there is about Arnold and espionage during the Revolution, from 250-year-old journals to the latest scholarship, and retraced Arnold’s footsteps in cities, towns, and battlefields. Only then could I imagine how the history really felt, and I put it all together into my book. 

Brian's book list on life and treason of Benedict Arnold

Brian Carso Why did Brian love this book?

I love a good spy story, and there are lots of them in this book—all focused on the cabal of spies in British-occupied New York that delivered intelligence to Washington. Here are Hercules Mulligan, the tailor; James Rivington, the printer; the ill-fated Nathan Hale; and a bounty of others.

But my favorite is John Champe, a sergeant-major from Virginia who is recruited for a mission to capture Benedict Arnold and deliver him to the Continental Army for trial (and the inevitable gallows). Rose reveals the intrigue and deception of Revolutionary New York, into which Arnold fled after his treason, and the characters who carried it out.

By Alexander Rose,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Washington's Spies as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Turn: Washington’s Spies, now an original series on AMC

Based on remarkable new research, acclaimed historian Alexander Rose brings to life the true story of the spy ring that helped America win the Revolutionary War. For the first time, Rose takes us beyond the battlefront and deep into the shadowy underworld of double agents and triple crosses, covert operations and code breaking, and unmasks the courageous, flawed men who inhabited this wilderness of mirrors—including the spymaster at the heart of it all.

In the summer of 1778, with the war poised to turn in his…


Book cover of Arundel

Max Byrd Author Of The Sixth Conspirator

From my list on American history that have become forgotten.

Why am I passionate about this?

Schoolteacher turned writer. With the encouragement of my old college friend, the great Michael Crichton I began writing detective novels—paperback originals at first, then a hardback thriller called Target of Opportunity, which was a detective novel but included a long section of historical background about the Resistance in southern France. From there I moved to biographical fiction: novels about Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant. Then straight historical fiction, often with a Parisian background, because I’ve lived and worked in that marvelous city and can’t get enough of it.

Max's book list on American history that have become forgotten

Max Byrd Why did Max love this book?

Roberts wrote many better-known novels—e.g. Northwest Passage and Rabble in Arms. Few people remember this wonderful adventure, which takes young Steven Nason on Benedict Arnold’s doomed expedition up the Kennebec River to assault Quebec. (Arundel is a town in southern Maine.) Exuberant writing, great historical detail, and a wonderful depiction of New England Indian life. A classic.

By Kenneth Roberts,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Arundel as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is the classic series from Pulitzer Prize-winning historical novelist Kenneth Roberts, all featuring characters from the town of Arundel, Maine. Arundel follows Steven Nason as he joins Benedict Arnold in his march to Quebec during the American Revolution.


Book cover of Secret History of the American Revolution: An Account of the Conspiracies of Benedict Arnold and Numerous Others Drawn from the Secret Service Paper

C. D. Baker Author Of The List

From my list on the American Revolution.

Why am I passionate about this?

Maybe I have a passion for this era because I live outside of Philadelphia, or maybe because so many of my ancestors served in Washington’s militia while others refused to serve. Either way, the connection to the times are personal. Having researched the tensions of my Mennonite past during the Revolution, I found myself intrigued by broader challenges of conscience for the Pennsylvania colonists more generally. Discovering the role it played in British occupied Philadelphia was particularly fascinating. My interest is in the untold story, and what I stumbled upon for this book was downright exciting!

C. D.'s book list on the American Revolution

C. D. Baker Why did C. D. love this book?

So much of history happens undercover. Few realize that the American Revolution would have failed were it not for the courage of forgotten spies, as well as mysterious, inexplicable behind-the-scenes surprises. In this book, we find specific ‘secrets’ unveiled that made a difference in the fight for independence. Well-researched, it’s an entertaining and informative read. Expect to blink your eyes and smile, and discover the soul of the patriots. 

Book cover of The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret: George Washington, Slavery, and the Enslaved Community at Mount Vernon
Book cover of Founding Friendships: Friendships Between Men and Women in the Early American Republic
Book cover of 1774: The Long Year of Revolution

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Benedict Arnold 8 books