Benedict Arnold is a well-known villain in American history. He was a traitor of the highest order who not only betrayed the trust of George Washington by conspiring to turn the important American forts at West Point over to the British, he also attempted have Washington captured by the British. Despicable though he was, up until that point, Arnold had been one of the great American heroes of the Revolution. A descendant of old stock Puritans (his great-grandfather, also Benedict Arnold, had succeeded Roger Williams as governor of Rhode Island), Arnold was widely regarded as the most capable battlefield commander in the American army.
Jim Craft has a bachelor’s in History from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, and a master’s in History from Wayne State University in Detroit. After teaching history for 13 years, he moved into corporate America for the balance of his career. Since 1995, he has been active in various historical projects: writing, researching, developing curriculum material, doing curatorial work and lecturing.
A frequent presenter in southeastern Michigan, he is currently writing a series of short history books. These primarily focus on important, although underappreciated, aspects of American History, but doing so from a local perspective. While Craft’s primary expertise is in the 19th century, his interests are broad. The Normandy Campaign is one of those many areas of interests. In addition to extensive research on all aspects of the campaign, he has visited Normandy on six occasions to explore the far-flung combat areas. He has been a member of the Oakland County (Michigan) Historical Commission since 2008.
