The Exquisite Siren: The Romance of Peggy Shippen and Major John André

by Edwin Irvine Haines

The most glamorous story in the annals of American history is that of the lovely Peggy Shippen, arch-conspirator of the Revolution, of her love for the gallant young Major John Andre, and of the part she played in the treason of West Point. This novel, which is based on a new and authentic interpretation of the events leading up to that treason, is one of great dramatic intensity. Young, beautiful, ambitious, Peggy Shippen was inevitably drawn into the web of intrigue, of plots and counter-plots woven by Major John Andre, the man she loved, and by Colonel Aaron Burr, his adversary. Benedict Arnold, Peggy's husband, is revealed as a selfish, unscrupulous scoundrel to whom gold was the only god. Major Andre appears, not as the hated spy of orthodox history, but as a brave and talented young man, who placed honor above everything else, and for it sacrificed love, happiness, even his life. Mr. Haines brings the hectic, dramatic background of the Revolution vividly to life in this brilliant historical novel.

444 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1938