Arts & Entertainment
Was Benedict Arnold a Terrorist?
Author Eric Lehman will be at the Hempsted Houses July 19 to discuss his new book on the burning of New London.
On Sept. 6, 1781, Connecticut native Benedict Arnold and a force of 1,600 British soldiers and loyalists took Fort Griswold and burned New London to the ground.
The brutality of the invasion galvanized the new nation, and “Remember New London!” would become a rallying cry for troops under General Lafayette.
Eric Lehman, author of the just-published “Homegrown Terror,” will be at the Hempsted Houses July 19 to discuss how this defining incident forever marked Arnold as a symbol of evil, turning an antiheroic story about weakness of character and missed opportunity into one about the nature of treachery itself.
Rethinking Benedict Arnold through the lens of this terrible episode, Lehman’s new book sheds light on the ethics of the dawning nation, and the way colonial America responded to betrayal and terror.
Lehman directs the creative writing program at the University of Bridgeport and has taught courses there ranging from “Writing Science Fiction” to “The Literature of Travel and Adventure.” He has published fiction, travel stories, essays, poems, and nonfiction in dozens of online and print journals and magazines. His books include “A History of Connecticut Wine,” “Bridgeport: Tales From the Park City,” and “The Insiders Guide to Connecticut.”
Lehman’s talk starts at 2 p.m. Suggested donation is $5; copies of Lehman’s book will be available for sale. The Hempsted Houses are at 11 Hempstead St. in New London. Both houses survived Arnold’s raid.
