� Benedict Arnold�s Navy is an excellent book.� . —Associated Press. �This book must be on the shelf of anyone who is. interested in our struggle for independence, a war. we should not have won against the strongest nation. on earth, but did.� . — Sea History . �A suspenseful, vivid account.� . — Wall Street Journal . �Nelson�s finely written narrative is a winner.� . — Naval History . �James Nelson is a master both of his period and of. the English language.� . —Patrick O�Brian, author of. Master And Commander . Covering one of history�s great �tipping point�. battles, Benedict Arnold�s Navy recounts the courageous. and exemplary campaign of Arnold and his. cobbled-together fleet of �ships� against a much. superior British force in the Battle of Valcour Island. (Lake Champlain) in October 1776.This landmark. book shows how Arnold�s fearless leadership against. staggering odds in a northern wilderness secured for. America the independence that he would later try. to betray.