Reviews for George Washington

The average rating for George Washington based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-02-28 00:00:00 Cari Wolk This is an excellent, one volume, scholarly approach to the life of George Washington. Writing about Washington, and even reading about him, has its difficulties. You immediately are confronted with the myth of the man, THE founder, who seemingly overlooks the shoulder of every leader since then. You are also confronted with the idea that maybe he is not as great as he has been described, that Washington was simply a poor military leader, slave owner, who happened to be at the right place at the right time. What this 450+ page biography attempts to do is to show why and how Washington became the singular colossus of the United States, while showing him as a complex individual. In this sense, what makes this book different is that Randall has come up with a third way to understand Washington. He shows why some of the early biographers would write of Washington in almost mythological terms, for what he achieved, both personally and professional was so unique. And Randall shows why some of the 20th century's early biographers would have an interest in de-mythologizing Washington. What Randall pieces together, with a fine, and inviting writing style, is a study of who Washington was, in as close a portrait as possible. He does this by relying heavily on primary sources such as letters, to and from Washington. So the reader will get a fair representation of what Washington was like, put into context of his time, his family, the social expectations on him, and as much as can possibly be ascertained, what Washington's views of himself were. Washington was a very private individual. This made the type of leadership that he wanted to project: quiet, calm, confident and organized; easier to follow and to believe in. Unfortunately, Washington's private personality has made interpreting him much harder for the generations that have passed, hence why he has been mythologized into someone greater than he could be, and at times, debunked by critical scholars. Randall simply, and effectively writes of a man, above his peers, of his time. This book was written in 1997. Since 1969, the University of Virginia has been editing Washington's papers. As of 2008, most of Washington's post Revolutionary papers, including his two terms as President, have not been edited. Because Randall's book relies heavily on primary sources, the reader will be able to tell a marked difference in the quality of the sections dealing with Washington's early adult hood and as a General, than his later life. So in many ways, this is half a book, a great detailed, one volume account of Washington's early life. But because the biographical community is still years away from having access to much of the primary sources of Washington's later life, the important Presidential years in this book have little to add to a general understanding of his life. That said, this is a fine, one-volume biography for the general reader who especially wants to understand why Washington's leadership worked so effectively. The reader will come away with a greater understanding of Washington as a driven businessman, military leader, politician, and family man; in many ways ashamed of his lack of formal education compared to his peers; but with unique character and understanding of his age, meshed with his personality, that no one else was capable of putting together on a personal level. The reader will see, probably because of the importance that Washington placed on personal character, why he picked subordinates so poorly at times, either in the military or in politics, for at times Washington valued loyalty over competence or trustworthiness. But Randall also does an effective job of telling why Washington's early life, his development of self control and work to understand and respect so many different types of people made him uniquely qualified to lead the first real Republic in nearly 2000 years.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-12-27 00:00:00 Scott Francis If you are looking for the definitive Washington biography, look elsewhere. In 560 pages Randall covers Washington's entire life from boyhood through the presidency. By packing 60+ years of critical American history into a biographical narrative, many fascinating figures such as Ethan Allen and Henry Knox are given only passing descriptions. Randall avoids cumbersome detail and leaves the reader curios to learn more about the man and the time. By that measure, it is a great biography. I would recommend it to anyone who feels like they don't know the Father of Our Country as well as they should. This book is a perfect jumping off point from which to dive into more detailed histories of the early Republic, the Revolutionary War, the Constitutional Convention, the French and Indian War or the crises of the late colonial period. The author is at his best describing the precarious and dangerous pre-Revolutionary decade.