Treacherous Beauty

May 14, 2012
In British-occupied Philadelphia during the winter of 1777–1778, privileged society girl Peggy Shippen (1760–1804) became friends with the charming, cultured British officer John André, an artist, poet, thespian, and spy. André was also the impresario of an extravagant costume party, “the most shameful carousing amid catastrophe since Nero fiddled while Rome burned,” write the authors. The following year, Peggy married Gen. Benedict Arnold, who was twice her age. Forming a secret partnership with André, this trio of conspirators enlisted the help of British loyalists and other confederates, and in May 1779 “they set about to deal a death blow to the American Revolution” with Arnold supplying information to the British. After André’s arrest, the plot unraveled. André was hanged, and Peggy, declared “an enemy of the people,” was banished from Philadelphia. Chicago Tribune deputy metro editor Jacob and Case, an American Revolution Center board member, detail Peggy’s role as go-between and document her later life in London. They succeed in capturing the period atmosphere as they adroitly interweave military maneuvers with the shadowy machinations. The book also benefits from rarely studied correspondence by Peggy to her son Edward provided by her descendant Hugh Arnold. Maps. Agent: Gary Heidt. Signature Literary Agency.

July 1, 2012

This book attempts to correct what Jacob (metro editor, Chicago Tribune) and Case (general counsel, Emerald Development Managers) contend is the underappreciated role of Peggy Shippen Arnold in the most infamous case of treason in American history. Her husband, Revolutionary army general Benedict Arnold, plotted to turn West Point over to the British in 1780. An ambitious socialite, Shippen was the daughter of an influential Philadelphia public official faced with delicately balancing loyalist sympathies with the city's rapidly shifting political and military realities. She actively mingled with British officers, including Arnold's coconspirator Major John Andre, and eventually with the dashing Arnold himself, who aggressively courted and then married her. The argument made by Jacob and Case, that Peggy Shippen played a key role in executing the plot, is not a new one, having been advanced through the years, most notably in James Thomas Flexner's The Traitor and the Spy. The real accomplishment of this book is in fleshing out the family and personal tensions that dominated the world of those who attempted to maintain their positions as the Revolutionary War challenged the established social order. VERDICT While scholars will be disappointed, history enthusiasts will be intrigued by this story involving love and revolutionary-era loyalties.--Charles K. Piehl, Minnesota State Univ., Mankato

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