Rating: 
Summary: a well done historical novel
Review: I enjoyed every page of this great book at age 14 when I discovered it at the public library in my hometown. It truly made history come to life. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the northern campaigns of the War for Independence. There are some historical errors as well as a hero worship of Benedict Arnold. However no one can deny that Arnold was the driving force in the success of the northern army at the Battle of Valcour Island and the next year at both battles at Freeman's Farm. The historical characters jump off the page like Arnold, Daniel Morgan, Horatio Gates, Philip Schuyler, John Sullivan, and James Wilkinson. We get some insight into their character and thinking through Roberts' accessible writings style. Roberts builds on his previous novel of Arundel by utilizing many of the characters such as Cap Huff and Steven Nason of that fine book. His narrator is a Maine sea captain Peter Merrill who enlists in Nason's company in early 1776 and follows his travails including a long captvity with western Indians after Valcour Island. We meet up again with Marie de Sabrevois who works her nefarious schemes on the gullible brother of Merrill. How that all turns out is the underbook of the whole novel.
But the real story is the that of the Northern Army who after 2 years of disease, retreat, incompetent leadership, limited food and clothing supplies and military disaster showed amazing resilience in 1777 and defeated the British at the critical phase of the war. Do yourself a favor and read this great book. You'll enjoy every page.
Rating:
Summary: Best Historical Novel About the American Revolution
Review: I first read this book, along with all the other books this author wrote, back in 1960 and 1961 and wrote a term paper on this author's works. Book reviews contemporary with the writing of Kenneth Roberts' novels noted that there was more history packed into each of his novels than in an entire college course or two. The book describes actual historical events through the eyes of several colorful fictional characters. This novel describes the birth of the United States Navy, where, in 1776, the American Colonists under command of General Benedict Arnold built a fleet of ships in Skenesborough (now Whitehall) at the foot of Lake Champlain. It describes the subsequent battle of Valcour Island, where this tiny fleet of ships took on a much larger British force sailing south on Lake Champlain enroute from Canada to Albany. Although the American Fleet was eventually dispersed, this first US Navy successfully delayed the British by a year in their march to the south. This year allowed the Americans to recruit a large enough army to defeat Burgoyne's British Army at Saratoga. This book tells the stories of Jennie (or Jane) McCrea's massacre by the indian allies of the British, the use of the story of her massacre to encourage enlistments throughout New York and New England, the massing of Rebel forces at Saratoga, and the defeat of General Burgoyne's Army at Saratoga. It also covers to a degree the battle of Oriskany, which halted the advance of Col. Barry St. Leger who was advancing down the Mohawk Valley from the west, with the intent to join forces with Burgoyne at Albany. During one winter, it delves into the lives of the western Indians who allied themselves with the British. It does all this in a very entertaining way. I found it to be a very enjoyable way to learn a great deal about the history of the American Revolution in the Champlain, Hudson, and Mohawk Valleys of upstate New York. I am purchasing this book to read it again for perhaps the fifth or sixth time.
Rating:
Summary: Living history in "Rabble In Arms"
Review: I have read "Rabble In Arms" several times and have liked it better each time I (re)-read it. Many years ago as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy I wrote a paper about the naval battle of Valcour Island, fought by the Continental northern army under Benedict Arnold against the British on October 11, 1776. While Arnold's small fleet was defeated and almost totally wiped out, the strategic importance of the battle cannot be overstated. This is because Arnold succeeded in forcing the British to forego until 1777 their plan of moving down Lake Champlain and Lake George to link up with another force moving up the Hudson, cutting New England off from the rest of the Colonies. When the British did move south in 1777, they were defeated and forced to surrender at the Battle of Saratoga, and it was this battle that convinced the French to join with the Revolutionary forces to fight against the British. Kenneth Roberts' history is exact, and in fact his researches made clear some very fundimental but unknown facts about the Battle of Valcour Island. This is an outstanding book!
Rating:
Summary: Living history in "Rabble In Arms"
Review: I have read "Rabble In Arms" several times and have liked it better each time I (re)-read it. Many years ago as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy I wrote a paper about the naval battle of Valcour Island, fought by the Continental northern army under Benedict Arnold against the British on October 11, 1776. While Arnold's small fleet was defeated and almost totally wiped out, the strategic importance of the battle cannot be overstated. This is because Arnold succeeded in forcing the British to forego until 1777 their plan of moving down Lake Champlain and Lake George to link up with another force moving up the Hudson, cutting New England off from the rest of the Colonies. When the British did move south in 1777, they were defeated and forced to surrender at the Battle of Saratoga, and it was this battle that convinced the French to join with the Revolutionary forces to fight against the British. Kenneth Roberts' history is exact, and in fact his researches made clear some very fundimental but unknown facts about the Battle of Valcour Island. This is an outstanding book!
Rating:
Summary: Living history in "Rabble In Arms"
Review: I have read "Rabble In Arms" several times and have liked it better each time I (re)-read it. Many years ago as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy I wrote a paper about the naval battle of Valcour Island, fought by the Continental northern army under Benedict Arnold against the British on October 11, 1776. While Arnold's small fleet was defeated and almost totally wiped out, the strategic importance of the battle cannot be overstated. This is because Arnold succeeded in forcing the British to forego until 1777 their plan of moving down Lake Champlain and Lake George to link up with another force moving up the Hudson, cutting New England off from the rest of the Colonies. When the British did move south in 1777, they were defeated and forced to surrender at the Battle of Saratoga, and it was this battle that convinced the French to join with the Revolutionary forces to fight against the British. Kenneth Roberts' history is exact, and in fact his researches made clear some very fundimental but unknown facts about the Battle of Valcour Island. This is an outstanding book!
Rating:
Summary: Great read, but there is a "However"
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed "Rabble in Arms" and its sister novel, "Arundel." The characters come alive, there is much to learn about the Revolution, and I for one enjoyed Roberts' occasional meditations on the nature of war and the pros and cons of certain historical figures. I won't detail the contents of the book because others have done that already on this site, but will say that no one can read these books and not come away with an appreciation what the men (and women!) who fought on our behalf in the Revolution did for us.
There is a "however," however... Roberts is terribly pro-Benedict Arnold, to an unreasonable degree. I wonder if that wasn't simply to add interest to his book - by giving us an alternate Arnold as a counterweight to one of history's most notorious traitors, he does add an intriguing element to his novel that draws the reader in. The Arnold he produces is seductive, a "prodigy" of great military skill and selfless honor. Arnold, Roberts would have us believe, only turned traitor to save the colonies from French domination (a viewpoint he pushes heavily in his other Revolutionary War novel, "Oliver Wiswell.") Roberts reports Arnold was despised and ill-treated beyond all reason by mediocre fellow officers and Congress out of jealousy... and yet, high-minded principle was the only reason he defected.
Now, I spent only a few minutes on the Internet reading up on Arnold to learn a few things that do not jibe with Roberts' view of him: for example, one might well wonder if it was true that Arnold was so ill-used. It's probably true that Arnold was deprived of proper credit for the victory at Saratoga by his commanding general, Gates. And its true he had his share of enemies. But the fact remains, Arnold DID receieve the rank of Major General from Congress, and DID receive the prestigious command of Philadelphia after his leg injury at Saratoga made it impossible to continue field command without extensive recuperation. While at Philadelphia, he was court martialed on a number of charges Roberts considers trumped up: but it IS true that Arnold spent beyond his means on lavish parties he was holding to socialize with Philadelphia's largely loyalist elite. The core charges that stuck against him involved misusing government property to further his social life. The upshot was that Arnold was given a symbolic slap on the wrist by Congress, in the form of a letter of reprimand written by Washington that read more like a thank you note for Arnold's brilliant service than a condemnation. So much for "abuse."
Arnold's inappropriate fraternization with Loyalists in Philadelphia led to his second marriage... predictably enough, to a Loyalist. His lavish spending left him deeply in debt. It may be that Roberts is correct that Arnold's decision to sell out West Point to the British for the equivalent of millions of modern dollars was motivated only by high-minded, anti-French principles (Roberts never mentions the Arnold had requested money, by the way)... but I think more objective observors might think of a better word for his actions and motivations: treachery, against one's own country for the sake of money and personal grudges, goaded on by is wife and new friends. Certainly that was the view his British contemporaries held of him, a fact that puzzles Roberts when he mentions it in "Oliver Wiswell." Wasn't there an obvious reason the British didn't fully trust Arnold... because he had sold out his own for money? How could anyone, really, trust Arnold after that?
In "Oliver Wiswell," we meet Arnold as he is planning a raid against the very people he had previously led at Quebec and Lake Champlain. He drinks a toast to his new Loyalist officers, praying that all "rebels be confounded." Readers that come to this scene, after reading "Rabbble in Arms," will quite properly wonder what sort of man would pray for a thing like that to befall the Steven and Phoebe Nasons, the Peter Merrils, the Morgans, and countless others that previously followed him against all odds and at great personal risk and discomfort. What sort of man would now call them "rebels?" What sort of man would not only change sides, perhaps for reasons of principle but more likely also for need of money and personal revenge, but then go on to actually try to kill the very same people that had already risked their lives for him when he still called them "patriots?" The answer, I'm afraid, is... the worst traitor in American history.
Roberts is a great writer, and has an interesting take on Arnold... but even the greatest apologist for Arnold could not succesfully cover up Arnold's true nature. Arnold spent too much money being much to cozy with the wrong people in Philadelphia. His poor judgment entangled him with a Loyalist woman. His fundamental lack of loyalty and scruples, and the company he kept, allowed him to seek a way out of his financial problems by betraying his people and country.
Rating:
Summary: You don't have to be a history buff to enjoy this book, but
Review: I'm here buying this book and Arundel for a friend. Having read (insatiably) the entire series last winter, I visited the Saratoga battlefield a few weeks ago and felt sorry for the other tourists who had not read these books - Rabble in Arms in particular. To see the actual gun emplacements overlooking the Hudson and the road to Albany, artifacts and dioramas of the battles, and in particular the "Boot Monument" - the statue of a boot (symbolizing his injury?), erected a hundred years ago in honor of the unnamed Benedict Arnold "The greatest general of the Revolution" - greatly enhanced the experience of the series, and vice-versa. I was surprised that the otherwise well-informed guide at the Schuyler house had never heard of this book! Perhaps I should buy him a copy too.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully written epic tale of the Revolutionary War
Review: It is not just the incredible story--the struggles of a few brave men at the birth of a nation--it's HOW it is about these men that makes this book a masterpiece. You will want to read this as part of the series which began with "Arundel" and continues with "The Lively Lady." Roberts brings the tale to life, and shows far more insight into the actions of the Northern Army at the beginning of the Revolutionary War than you ever learned in public school. Men like Benedict Arnold who have become cardboard cutouts in glossy history books leap out at you, grab you by the shirt and drag you delightedly through the travails and untimate success of the Continental Army. Read the whole series!
Rating:
Summary: A Must for New Yorkers and New Englanders
Review: Just like "Time and Again" is a classic for anyone living in Manhattan, "Rabble in Arms" is a necessary novel to read for anyone who wants to understand the poignant history of the Hudson River Valley, Lake Champlain and New England. This novel wonderfully describes how Benedict Arnold saved the United States three months after it was born, by heading off a British invasion (out of Canada) in a naval battle off Valcour Island in Lake Champlain. The novel also describes the Battle of Saratoga which took place one year after the above naval battle. Amid the great fictional character development, one sees in vivid detail just how important a man Benedict Arnold was in the founding of our nation...and just how heartbreaking his later betrayal had to have been to everyone involved. One clearly sees that Benedict Arnold could not later reverse the fortunes of the new nation he had so bravely fought for in the beginning.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent historical novel of the American Revolution.
Review: Kenneth Roberts is not widely read today, although in the 30's and 40's he was a bestseller. It is unfortunate that he did not write straight history because the strongest part of his books is usually the narrative of what the soldiers actually went through -- the amount of marching and getting by on short rations greatly exceeds the time in combat. The one historical weakness of both this book and Arundel is that Benedict Arnold comes across as too heroic. As much time as Roberts spends on Arnold's frustrations and mistreatment by the Continental Congress, his portrayal of Arnold is of someone too good to betray his character. I also agree with the reviewer who tired of Cap's comic adventures. Still, Roberts has a strong narrative gift, and it is good to see his books back into print again. The N.C. Wyeth cover is also nice.
|
