This is Robert Kraske's amazing booklet The Treason of Benedict Arnold 1780 - An American General Becomes His Country's First Traitor (1970) which vividly captures the personages and events of an American general who betrayed his own country. Benedict Arnold was America's first traitor. Some two hundred years after the American Revolution, his name and deed are still synonymous with treachery and deceit. Yet few people today realize how close his treason came to succeeding - only the merest chance frustrated it. Had it been successful, the Revolution may well have sputtered and eventually died. In this account of Arnold's tragic story, the emphasis is on two themes: his secret dealings with the British and his skill as a military leader. Perhaps the outstanding battlefield officer - American or British - of the Revolutionary War, Arnold on two occasions (at Valcour Island and Bemis Heights) probably saved the young United States through his daring tactics, raw courage, and inspired leadership. Find out how British treachery almost succeeded in suppressing the American revolution and how the events unfolded in most dramatic way for it to eventually triumph. 60 pages, many pictures. A must read for everyone.