From Lucifer’s rebellion to Adam and Eve’s expulsion, from Lancelot’s betrayal to Macbeth’s downfall, stories of greatness undone have gripped audiences for centuries. For America’s Revolutionaries, the cautionary examples of Julius Caesar and Oliver Cromwell warned of leaders who turned against the people.

No figure embodies this tragic arc in American history more than General Benedict Arnold. Once a brilliant and passionate commander whose daring made him one of the Revolution’s most effective leaders, Arnold’s defection to the Crown became a devastating blow to the patriot cause—and forever branded him the nation’s most infamous traitor.

Historian Joyce Lee Malcolm joins us to explore Arnold’s rise, fall, covered in her acclaimed book The Tragedy of Benedict Arnold: An American Life.

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