Reviews for George Washington: A Biography

The average rating for George Washington: A Biography based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-08-09 00:00:00 carlos rodriguez I started this and wasn't very impressed, then after a year started it again and though I see a lot of flaws in it, I don't regret listening. It is informational in nature and I felt like it presented some information that I hadn't gotten (or maybe retained) from previous reading. Overall Alden's style isn't my favorite. He matter of factly presents what happened and more importantly why it happened, with very little discussion of any sources or why/how we know that to be true. Occasionally he alludes to letters, but often he just states things without discussion. It could be that because I listened to this, I missed foot or end notes that the written version may have, which may have been helpful. The thing that is worst about Alden's writing is the racism about Native Americans. Alden is fond of using nicknames for groups of people and the Native American ones were slurs, he especially likes the term "redskins" and also, "savages." Beyond the name-calling, he doesn't address their humanity as he does other groups of people; though he investigates motivations and personalities of other opponents, he usually does not with the Native American groups. Another racism issue is that He devotes as little time possible to the subject of slavery and to the people that Washington held enslaved. I felt like the Ellis biography does better at investigating the complexity of that subject. I felt like this was in the admiring side of neutral, but not to an extent that I didn't trust the content. Overall, I felt like this was a good source of information on a topic I find interesting and worthwhile, it's just that it has become dated, and there are some aspects of history people do better now. What I particularly liked were the parts about before the Revolutionary War during the 7 years war and the lead-up to the revolution, and the parts in the later part of his presidency and after when tensions and troubles with the British and the French are discussed. I find the interconnectedness of history very interesting and I found additional information here to illuminate the areas between the "big events." As I mentioned I listed to this, it was a Blackstone Audio production with Grover Gardner reading. There seemed to be quality issues with the production, primarily that the reader sounded like he had been sped up slightly through most of the book, from time to time a shift would happen and the sound quality would be different for a while. Also from time to time I could hear background voices. Overall I would say if you are looking for a biography of Washington, out of the two that I have read, I would recommend the Ellis one instead of this one. If, instead, you have read somewhat and looking for more, this one is good.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-11-30 00:00:00 Koko Jent It was ok. Left a lot out. Had some psychological analysis.