Soldier • Spy • Traitor
Gideon's Revolution
A Novel
by Brian Carso
The Plot to Capture
Benedict Arnold
It’s 1780, days after Benedict Arnold flees to the British when his treasonous plot to surrender the American fort at West Point is discovered—and Gideon’s Revolution begins. General Washington orders a secret mission for two Continental Army soldiers to go behind enemy lines, abduct Arnold, and return him to his countrymen to be tried and hanged.
Based on actual events, Gideon’s Revolution tells a gripping story of loyalty and treason at America’s founding, as relevant today as anytime in the past.
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“Gideon’s Revolution is a lean, remarkable piece of historical fiction, beautifully paced and always plausibly voiced. Carso is imaginatively attentive to both war’s horrifying violence and tender comradeship, and his novel is keenly effective at making us ponder how treason causes not just civic calamity but also deeply personal catastrophes.”
—Thomas Mallon, author of ‘Henry and Clara’
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Get the Book
“Gideon’s Revolution is a lean, remarkable piece of historical fiction, beautifully paced and always plausibly voiced. Carso is imaginatively attentive to both war’s horrifying violence and tender comradeship, and his novel is keenly effective at making us ponder how treason causes not just civic calamity but also deeply personal catastrophes.”
—Thomas Mallon, author of Henry and Clara
Enter Promo Code 09BCARD to save 30%
A Loyal Soldier
“I was a soldier in the Revolution. This would have pleased my father, who measured his worth in the currency of honor. But my mother made me promise to live three score and ten, and she knew the cost of soldiering.”
—from Gideon’s Revolution
Becomes a Reluctant Spy
“Suspicion is the thing most abundant in a country at war, and I—a lone stranger—would sooner or later be questioned. Answering any inquisitor would be a walk on a knife’s edge, since both the British and Americans had reason to hang me.”
—from Gideon’s Revolution
To Catch a Hero Turned Traitor
My stomach twisted. These are his own people, I thought. Arnold’s eyes locked on the sergeant. He gave a decisive nod. “Burn it,” he commanded. “All of it!”
—from Gideon’s Revolution
The Author: Brian Carso
Brian Carso, a lawyer and historian, has studied the American Revolution and the life of Benedict Arnold for more than two decades. Gideon’s Revolution is his first novel.
