Wartime treachery, twisted spies and brutality—sound familiar?

AMC’s period drama TURN: Washington’s Spies is in it’s third season, and tensions are rising in the Arnold household. One can understand how a man could be frustrated, having served as Washington’s finest battle commander only to be sent to work a desk job. This restless man would become synonymous with ‘traitor.’ If you’re loving the drama and intriguing politics of Turn, Eric Lehman’s Homegrown Terror: Benedict Arnold and the Burning of New London should be on your summer reading list.

The clandestine meeting of John Andre and Benedict Arnold led to Andre’s death and Arnold’s discovery as a traitor and became one of the most talked about incidents in American history. From an engraving by S. B. Stearns, in Writings of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 7, University of Bridgeport Archives.

Maybe AMC’s Turn has you wondering how true the drama between John Andre, Peggy Shippen, and Benedict Arnold is? Or you’re interested in learning more about the charges leveled at Arnold surrounding his leniency towards Loyalists? This new take on the most reviled traitor of the Revolutionary War is filled with fascinating details surrounding his attack on New London, Connecticut, when the settlement was burnt to the ground. Based on research of primary documents, Lehman pays close attention to key changes in Arnold’s character—from his time as a decorated American soldier, to “the point where he went from betraying his comrades to massacring his neighbors and destroying their homes.”

Homegrown Terror, a finalist for both the Indie Book and Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Book Awards, is a must-read for anyone enthralled by the twists of Benedict Arnold’s storyline in Turn. None of his colleagues saw his betrayal coming, just as readers will not anticipate what Lehman uncovers regarding this Revolutionary War antihero’s psyche.