Book Description

While most scholars agree that Robert E. Lee's loyalty to Virginia was the key factor in his decision to join the Confederate cause, Richard McCaslin goes further to demonstrate that Lee's true call to action was the legacy of the American Revolution viewed through his reverence for George Washington. Like Washington, Lee wore a colonel's uniform. He rode a horse named for one of his idol's mounts, Traveller, and carried one of Washington's swords. On January 19, 1861, his fifty-fourth birthday, Lee sat alone in his room at Fort Mason and faced the prospect of war by reading the latest book by his hero.

In his thematic biography of the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, McCaslin locates the sources of Lee's devotion to Washington and shows how this bond affected his performance as a general in battle. He argues that Lee used the strategy of attrition to attempt to persuade the North to quit just as Washington had wearied the British. But reliance on Washington as a role model led to tragic irony: in 1864 it was Lee's Confederates who became trapped like the British in the Yorktown campaign. After his surrender Lee could no longer emulate Washington the revolutionary, and he became the president of a small college that bore Washington's name, surrounding himself with mementos of his hero.

Challenging conventional interpretations, McCaslin's absorbing book lays to rest the argument that a posthumous "Lee cult" superimposed Washington symbolism onto Lee's life to link it with the Revolution. Rather, Lee himself created the association, which yielded an enduring paradox: Washington earned his reputation as a statesman, whereas Lee never escaped his self-imposed image as a revolutionary in Washington's shadow. ... Read more

Book Description

As a young man, George Washington admired and copied into a little notebook 110 rules for civil behavior that originated from a Jesuit textbook. Washington took these rules very much to heart, and that handwritten list remained with him throughout his life, serving as inspiring guidance from his military days at Valley Forge and Yorktown to his two terms as president.

Guidance that at first sounds archaic, it is in fact just as relevant as--indeed, possibly more necessary than--it was nearly three hundred years ago. Richard Brookhiser makes clear the pertinence of these rules for modern readers and proposes that now more than ever we will be wise to follow the modest example of such a great man. Witty and insightful, Brookhiser’s commentary offers real-world instruction in the lost art of self-discipline, and his new preface provides a compelling and timely context in which to employ these guidelines today. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Those Dignified Gentlemen
I bought this book about six years ago because I had been told that George Washington had used these rules of civility to guide his own life and actions. I cherish this book. There are a few rules that are dated, but they are entertaining. The rest is pure gold and timeless.

A few examples:

5. If you cough, sneeze, sigh, or yawn, do it not loud but privately; and speak not in your yawning, but put your hankerchief or hand before your face and turn aside.

65. Speak not injurious words neither in jest nor earnest; scoff at none although they give occasion.

82. Undertake not what you cannot perform but be careful to keep your promise.

If you can't figure out what to give that new graduate who already has everything, I highly recommend this book. I recommend it for everyone.

Should Be Standard Issue
If I win the lottery I am buying the entire supply and handing them out on the street corners. Our society would be a lot more tolerable if everyone followed these simple rules of manners and courtesy. What would Washington have written about inconsiderate cell phone use? A must read for everyone. Buy this as a gift for your teenager or college student. Start your own revolution against boorish behavior.

recipe for decency
Though certainly the most ubiquitous, George Washington has also always been the most mysterious of the Founding Fathers; the one whose greatness is most difficult for us to comprehend. Here was a man who was less well spoken and less brilliant than many of his peers. He was not a great philosophical or political thinker. He lost most of the military engagements he led. And yet, the men of whom we think more highly in these regards almost universally revered him. What quality was it that made men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton and the Marquise de Lafayette defer to him ? The answer must surely lie in the character of the man, and character seems to be a uniquely difficult quality to convey in writing. Perhaps it is actually impossible to describe the quality itself; instead the effects of it must be described.

One example from Washington's life seems to me to stand out above all others : his handling of the Newburgh Conspiracy. When, after the War, disgruntled officers, led by Horatio Gates, circulated a letter suggesting that the Army march on Congress to demand back pay and hinted at taking control of the government, Washington used a simple but elegant ploy to defuse the crisis. Having summoned the men to his tent so that he could read a letter meant to dissuade them from their proposed course of action, he paused, reached into a pocket, and withdrew a pair of glasses, which, thanks in large part to his vanity, few knew he even required. As he unfolded them and put them on, he said :

Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray, but almost blind in the service of my country.

It is reported, perhaps with some hyperbole, that men wept; but at any rate, the insurrection crumbled.

It is hard for us, jaded as we have become about our leaders, to imagine the drama of this scene and the effect it must have had on his comrades, but then again, we are unfortunate enough to have a recent Commander in Chief whose preference in underwear, bizarre sexual proclivities, and genital deformities were all common knowledge. It is perhaps instructive that when he was at Boys' State as a teenager (as related in David Maraniss's excellent biography First in His Class), Bill Clinton devoted himself to one single purpose and achieved it : to have his picture taken with President Kennedy. At a similar age, sixteen year old George Washington copied by hand 110 maxims from a guidebook on manners originally compiled by Jesuits in 1595. Both men were trying to improve themselves, but there's a key difference : Clinton sought a photo opportunity that would be personally gratifying and which he might use to advance his political career down the road; Washington sought out those precepts which would help him to discipline himself, to develop his character, and to make himself more presentable to society. The fundamental object of Clinton's effort was personal aggrandizement, of Washington's, to make himself a better person.

In this little book Richard Brookhiser, who wrote a terrific biography of Washington, reproduces the 110 "Rules of Civility" in a much easier form to read than the original text (for example, check out an online version), along with a brief introductory essay and explanatory, often amusing, comments on many of the rules. Here are some examples (with Brookhiser's comments in italics where applicable) :

(1) Every action done in company ought to be done with some sign of respect to those that are present.

(4) In the presence of others, sing not to yourself with a humming noise or drum with your fingers or feet.

Don't carry a boom box either.

(13) Kill no vermin, as fleas, lice, ticks, etc., in the sight of others. If you see any filth or thick

spittle put your foot dexterously upon it, if it be upon the clothes of your companions put it off privately, and if it be upon your own clothes return thanks to him who puts it off.

Useful advice on the frontier. In 1748, when Washington was sixteen, he went surveying in

the Blue Ridge mountains and was obliged to sleep under "one thread bare blanket with double its weight of vermin." The last two clauses are useful anywhere: Don't embarrass those you help, and however embarrassed you may be to discover that you have been in a ludicrous or disgusting situation, don't forget to thank those who helped you out of it.

As the last example demonstrates, many of the rules seem at first to be hopelessly antiquated, but on further reflection, in the concern they display for personal dignity and humility, thoughtfulness of and respect for others, maintenance of civil standards, they are truly timeless. The final precept is the most famous and allows Brookhiser to sum up all that have come before :

(110) Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

The only open reminder of what has been implicit all along: Petty morals and large morals are linked; there are no great spirits who do not pay attention to both; these little courtesies reflect, as in a pocket mirror, the social and the moral order.

And this is the significance of Washington's attention to these seemingly petty rules, that the conscience is only a spark and that it may be extinguished unless one labors to maintain it. Because Washington did take that labor seriously throughout his life, he had the reserve of respect and honor built up with others which enabled him to cow the rebellious officers at Newburgh and had the personal moral fiber which enabled him, at the vital moments in the life of the new republic, to refuse political power, both when it was there for the taking and when it was freely offered. In some sense, these 110 maxims helped to create the man of whom King George III said, when he heard that General Washington planned to surrender command of the Continental Army to retire to his farm :

If he indeed does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.

That assessment, from a humiliated enemy, was accurate then, and the bloody course of every subsequent revolution, suggests that it may understate the case.

GRADE : A

Gone But Not Forgotten
Your reaction to this short booklet depends on your expectations. Overall I found the precepts that guided our first president still applicable for today. There are a few precepts that you and I would be hard pressed to put to use but for the most part we would do well to remember their counsel.

I did not find Mr. Brookhiser's comments too tedious and for the most part he gave Washington's rules modern application. However, I would agree with my cohort in review that a more in-depth discussion of the original context behind the precepts would have been helpful. If you are at all interested in building a library devoted in part to our first president I would recommend this little book. It would be well worth review at the beginning of every year and would go as a nice compliment to Benjamin Franklin's 13 virtues. On a scale of 12 I would give this an eight. Although not as high on the scale as other works, I am glad I have it in my library. Good reading!

Semper fi & agape, Ed D.

Not much choice
The most unfortunate aspect of this book, like many classical reprints, is the commentary by the editor. His so called "incisive and witty commentary" adds nothing to the value of the text, and is more a distraction than anything else. Some of his comments border on ridiculous. I would have liked to have seen more explanation of the meaning behind each of Washington's precepts, rather than Brookhiser's unsuccessful attempt at humor. Still, in today's world more than ever before, we need guidance on how to behave in public. The handy pocket size format of the book allows it to be carried on the person and used as a constant reminder of how to act towards others. Washington put these rules to action throughout his life, and they apparently served him well. If it were not for the commentary, I would give it five stars. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Other Side Of The Story
This book is kind of an oddity in the world of Hank Williams oriented literature. The earlier chapters (the ones about Hank Williams) are sketchy, in places, and though one senses a real affection for Mr. Williams in Lycretia's narrative, there are few new details to surprise the more than casual reader. Where this book comes to life and becomes a good read is in the second two-thirds, as the focus shifts to Audrey. Audrey has generally gotten a bad deal, both in life and in print, and this is the first book that has even attempted to humanise her. That it succeeds in doing so makes it all the more likeable, although the picture it paints of her final ten years is a bleak and depressing one, and the comment that it makes about Nashville and the music establishment deserves to be expanded to book length. Although only the most "completist" of Hank Williams collectors (or masochists) would want to hear Audrey's "greatest hits collection" (formerly available on Bear Family Records), most would do well to read this book, to get the full story of the oft-maligned "first" Mrs. Williams, and the horrible sad turn her life took.

I am looking for Dale Vinicur, the contributor of this book
I am looking for the contributor of this book, Dale Vinicur...Does anyone know how to reach her? ... Read more

Amazon.com

When golf phenom Tiger Woods won the 1997 Masters with a tournament scoring record, he burst onto the national scene with what seemed like a storybook beginning to a great career. But what looked like an overnight success had actually begun years and years before, when as a toddler he was coached by his father. This video, appropriately subtitled Son, Hero, and Champion, prominently features Tiger's father, Earl Woods, a former Green Beret who essentially put his son through a psychological boot camp designed to make him a mentally tough player. One of the highpoints of this documentary is a detailed look at how Tiger Woods and his father developed strategies to win tournaments, focusing on a specific amateur championship where the Woods family brain trust had to quickly devise a way to come from behind to win the tournament in a playoff round. The role of race is also dealt with here, as well as Tiger's position as a role model for youngsters who may wish to play golf, perhaps as a career. Only time will tell whether Tiger Woods will take a place in golf history as one of the all-time greats, but this video does a very professional job of showing how he came to be considered one of the best players of the game today. --Robert J. McNamara ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Great insight
This video is an outstanding overview of the life and times of Tiger Woods. It is a must have for any Tiger/golf fan at any level. It starts out with Tiger as a little boy on the Mike Douglas show to when he wins the Masters in Grand style. You hear todays top pros opinions of the young phenom. Excellent!!! While I'm here, I might as well say that John Stege's biography on Tiger is a must read as well. Superbly done!!

Tiger is The Man
This Video does a Great Job Showing The Many Faces Of TIger.different things he has gone through Race,Respect&Handling Pressure.as a Golf Player The World Hasn't seen Nothing Yet.He has Worked Very Hard To reach his Goals.He is The Modern Day Jackie RObinson of Golf.Their Has Been Other Black Golfers, but Tiger is Taking The Game unto a Whole Different Level.He Will only get better with time&that Golf isn't an Exclusive area anymore.He is Breaking alot of Ground.

great bio
fascinating look at the personality, the athlete, the son. lots of exclusive interviews and beautiful production. it was very moving. ... Read more

Book Description

"Parsifal" was Richard Wagner's last opera, and many consider it his most beautiful and moving work.It is concerned with the belief that human salvation is to be achieved not through the satisfaction of worldly desires, but through compassion.The story reflects Parsifal's inner journey towards his own "enlightenment through compassion" and his consequent ability to ease the moral burdens of others.It is set amongst a Christian religious military order of knights at about the time of the Crusades.To convey the work's subtle and mystical ideas, Wagner wrote music that was decades ahead of its time and influenced many great composers -- Mahler, Bruckner, Debussy and Richard Strauss among them.Peter Bassett has made a special study of "Parsifal" looking particularly at the relationship between Wagner's sources and his text.It has become fashionable in recent times to interpret "Parsifal" in terms of twentieth-century politics and late nineteenth-century theories about race.The author shows that Wagner's text owes more to his sources than many people suspect, and he identifies important thematic connections with other works, namely "Der Ring des Nibelungen."This guide, which includes a translation of the libretto, will be invaluable to those new to "Parsifal" but will also provide fresh insights for readers who are already familiar with Wagner's final work. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Highly recommended
I cannot recommend this too highly as an introduction to what many regard as Richard Wagner's most problematic work. Peter Bassett's book restores balance to modern perspectives on Wagner's "stage dedicating festival-drama"; a balance that has been missing from (most significantly) Robert Gutman's eccentric interpretation and Lucy Beckett's interpretation from a narrowly Christian perspective.

As Peter Bassett makes clear "Parsifal" is a work that can be meaningful to adherents of any religion or none. He discusses the roots of Wagner's drama in the Grail legend as it appears in medieval romances; he also explains how the work relates to Wagner's interest in Buddhism.

The book includes a prose translation of Wagner's 1877 German text into modern English. This translation is more literal than rhyming translations such as those made by Andrew Porter or Lionel Salter. The reader will find Bassett's "free translation" useful both for study of the text alone and when listening to a recording of "Parsifal". ... Read more

Book Description

One of America's greatest Christmas stories and also one of its very first -- from the period between the end of the Revolutionary War and the ratification of the Constitution -- was a creation of none other than George Washington. The story isn't just about Washington coming home for Christmas for the first time since the war began, but about the character of our most important Founding Father and about the precedent he set for democratic leadership. It is the story of a loving husband, a beloved military leader, and above all, a humble and great man.

In late November 1783 when Washington finally received formal notice of the signing of a peace treaty with England he had little more than a month to accept the transfer of power from British troops in New York; to bid farewell to his troops; and to resign his commission to Congress if he hoped to make it to Mount Vernon for Christmas. He could have remained in charge of the army and become a virtual king to the Americans who loved him. Control of the newly forming government was his to take -- yet he chose to resign. It was that decision, coupled with his later decision to step down from the presidency after two terms, that rendered him "the greatest character of the age" (according to none other than King George III).

Washington's homeward journey is one of the most moving and inspiring stories from his great and eventful life. When he bade farewell to his troops at Fraunces Tavern in New York City there were no dry eyes. When he reached Congress and gave a retirement speech, it cemented his greatness more fully than had his victory over the British. When he made it to Mount Vernon, finally, on Christmas Eve, it could not have been a happier homecoming.

General Washington's Christmas Farewell is a deeply moving Christmas story as well as a great American story. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Okay, but I ain't staying up late to finish it.
When the American Revolutionary war ended in November 1783, George Washington made up his mind that he was going to make it home to Mount Vernon by Christmas. But first he had to accept the transfer of power from the British, say his farewells to his troops, and resign his commission to Congress; only then could he begin his homeward journal. Washington barely made it home by Christmas, arriving on Christmas Eve.
This is a good story and well-written, but I can't imagine why it is given so many 5-star ratings. Some books are good because of action and some because of a build-up to an action-kind of like the calm before the storm. This story, on the other hand, is like the calm after the storm. There is no build up to anything really; everything exciting has already happened. Yes, it is good history, and somewhat of a touching story, but it isn't a 5-star book by any means.
It is a good book, and I am glad I read it; but after reading such glowing recommendations, I was somewhat disappointed. To those who already know a good deal about George Washington, there will probably not be anything presented in this book that they do not already know. To those that know little of George Washington, this book will offer some information they probably didn't' know.
But this is not a ground-shaking book. It is a well-written story about George Washington's desire to get home before Christmas. It is a story of a time of sorrowful farewells. And it is a story of a great man who could have been a king but walked away from it.
But don't go out and buy "General Washington's Christmas Farewell" thinking it is a book you will stay up at night reading because you can't put it down. It just isn't one of those books.
I would say that this book is better written than average, but the subject is less interesting than average, and it seems as if the author included some material just to increase the length of the book, so overall it equals out to a middle-of-the-road rating of 2-stars. I would have given it a 2-1/2 if I could, but I can't justify a three. Really, this isn't a book I recommend to someone to get them interested in history or George Washington. I would borrow this book from a library, not buy it.
I must learn to beware of those who write book reviews because they are paid by the publishing company to do so. It tends to distort the opinion, you know!

Washington Astonishes the World
Eight years of warfare finally over, in 1783, George Washington wanted to go home for Christmas. It seems the most unsurprising of desires. Washington's army had defeated that of the British Empire, and the thirteen American colonies which had declared themselves independent in 1776 had fought to make the independence real rather than merely declared. Washington saw his job as complete, and he wanted nothing more than to resign his commission and become again a Virginia gentleman farmer. The very idea was inconceivable to many. To give up all power, to become a mere citizen when he could quite easily have become king, was simply not the way the game of power was played. We are accustomed to veneration of the Father of Our Country, so Washington's service and humility might not seem so remarkable to us. But in _General Washington's Christmas Farewell: A Mount Vernon Homecoming, 1783_ (Free Press), Stanley Weintraub has, if not made us surprised at Washington's desire for retirement, then made us feel the wonder that Washington's contemporaries felt about it, and has invited us to admire a particularly likable aspect of Washington the man.

Weintraub's small, concentrated book follows Washington as he proceeds south into New York City, to Annapolis, Maryland, where Congress was in session and could accept his resignation, and finally to his home. Everywhere he went, citizens who already knew him as Father of His Country were eager to see him. He would leave one village to go to the next, only to find that riders had preceded him to alert the next village to prepare for celebration. There were fireworks and dancing; Washington was an enthusiastic dancer and the ladies eagerly sought their turn with him. Many citizens wrote their compliments to him, and he had an aide to write replies. There was longwinded oratory. There were bad commemorative verses. Manliness at the time did not include an aversion to tears, and many manly tears were shed; an observer of the final farewell wrote, "And many testified their affectionate attachment to our illustrious Hero and their gratitude for his Services to his country by a most copious shedding of tears." Barrels of ale and wine were drunk, as in each gathering thirteen toasts (for the thirteen colonies) were dutifully and gleefully swallowed down.

The world was astonished at Washington's self-removal from the national stage. When King George III was told in 1783 that Washington declined further power and wanted only to return to his farm, he declared, "If Washington does that, he will be the greatest man in the world." Washington would have been astonished that we have developed a governmental system where people are politicians as a lifetime occupation and profit handsomely thereby. He clearly believed in his life outside of public service, and in his privacy. His modesty is evident in that we know almost nothing of his 1783 Christmas itself. He did successfully return on Christmas Eve, but his "family Christmas remained private and almost entirely unrecorded." It was his business, and his family's, and he had gloriously, successfully, and merely temporarily, become a private man again.

It takes chaos to create something new
Let's start on a personal note: I was in Cuba in January 1959, when the brutal dictator Fulgencio Batista fled in the middle of the night and Fidel Castro began making his way across the country to Havana.

The Cuban celebrations of the collapse of tyranny and terror were much like the events described in this book, a continuing rum-fueled celebration that lasted days and days in a nation at last free after years of terror. Castro made a triumphal procession across the country as a godlike liberator, just as Washington was hailed as the greatest man of his times. It is nice to celebrate the end of a war -- think of George Bush strutting across the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, wearing a borrowed flight suit with the banner 'Mission Accomplished' in the background. But, freedom is much more; it generates an ecstasy that stirs every emotion the heart, not merely the limited glory of victory, but also an unbounded hope for a better and brighter future without fear, fright or futility.

Washington, with a knowledge and wisdom rare among revolutionary leaders, went back to his farm. The ultimate tribute came from King George III, who personally knew something about the temptations and dangers of power, when he said that if Washington actually did return to his farm "he will be the greatest man in the world."

Think of Cuba today had Castro retired to a little rancho and learned how to cut cane instead of crushing gusanos. In Haiti, Jean Bertrand Aristide should have gone back to the priesthood after he tossed out the Duvalier regime. The list of "liberators" who seize power and try to impose their own rules is almost universal; Washington patterned his retirement after the Roman hero Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus "who, victorious, left the tented field, covered with honor, and withdrew from public life, to enjoy civium cum dignitate."

Unlike Cincinnatus, who was twice recalled from his farm to become dictator, Washington was recalled from his farm only to establish an enduring legacy of democracy. It is a rare quality. Weintraub describes those perilous times with painful detail.

Painful? It was a time of chaos in America, much to the satisfaction of the English who thought the independent colonies would collapse of internal confusion. Congress was even flakier then than now. A third of Americans were loyalists who had supported King George; Washington understood the power of reconciliation rather than the retribution of describing anyone who had not supported him as an enemy.

In 1783, Washington kept urging greater power for the central government. He could have become dictator and imposed his own regal solution; instead, he stepped back and let the people and Congress, however slow in their many imperfections, gradually work out the system that now exists. Everyone was slow to listen, waiting until 1787 to even begin writing a new Constitution. But, after trying all other solutions, they finally listened to Washington. The old boy may have had wooden (or ivory) teeth, but there was no wood between his ears.

Weintraub has written a masterful book outlining the chaos, confusion and cupidity of the time; explaining how from the primordial soup of American independence a resolute democracy emerged. This book helps explain the resolute independence of the American spirit, nicely summed up by a departing British officer, "These Americans are a curious, original people; they know how to govern themselves, but nobody else can govern them."

It was a wonderful tribute to an exceptional people, and this book nicely explains the mood of the times.

Excellent light reading. Good introduction.
The book is short, light, and a pleasure to read. I especially recommend it to anyone with little background in the issues faced by the new nation at the end of British occupation.

The format is narrative and the organization chronological. It tells the story of George Washington and his reception by both his former foes and his (literally) adoring public from his last headquarters in Newburgh, New York, through the reoccupation of New York City, his farewell to his officers, his progress through Philadelphia to Annapolis, Maryland - where he resigned his commission and relinquished military power - and his return home to Mt. Vernon barely in time for Christmas.

Along the way the reader is treated to fascinating vignettes of individuals who had played and would again play crucial roles in the formation of the United States. There are glimpses of life and customs during the colonial and early federal era. Also, as we follow Washington's progress we are introduced to the political and economic issues that would bedevil the early republic -- unstable currencies, war debt, restitution of or compensation for confiscated royalist property, national reconciliation, western lands, and trade and commerce.

Most importantly, the author describes, through Washington's views and pronouncements, the critical tension between the sovereignty of thirteen new states and the need for a national government capable of providing common defense, a uniform commercial environment, and consistent foreign policy. This was to be among the most important themes in Washington's future.

Finally, and most movingly, the author highlights the "Cincinnatus theme" -- Washington's determination to relinquish his command and his commission and to return to private life. When, between the conclusion of the peace treaty and the British evacuation, George III observed that the rule of America was at Washington's disposition, a companion informed him of the General's plan to resign and return to private life. More than two hundred years later, we may be pardoned if we agree with His Majesty's response that, if Washington were to take such an action that he would be "by damn, the greatest man of the age."

The scholar or the afficionado will not find here profound analysis or groundbreaking research. This is a pleasure trip.

"Wild Surmise" and the Long Road to Mount Vernon
Don't be put off by the seemingly trivial subject matter of this delightful book, namely: The story of a journey made by George Washington from West Point to his home at Mount Vernon between the conclusion of the peace treaty with Britain and Christmas 1783.

It was official: The United States of America was now recognized as a sovereign nation -- or was it thirteen nations? It becomes very apparent as the Father of Our Country crosses New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia on his way home that Americans were not all that sure what they had on their hands. The cobbled-together Articles of Confederation took the easy way out by giving all rights to the states and virtually none to a central government.

As Washington bid farewell to the officers who had served him so well, many times he had to reach into his own pocket to allow them the luxury of returning home safely to their loved ones. Who was there to ask for money? The states simply weaseled out of any fiscal responsibilities when they involved another state. Even in 1783, this structure was teetering on the edge of collapse; and it continued for several more years until the Constitution was adopted.

There is a sense of newness in Weintraub's America in the Winter of 1783. The only thing the people had in common was their love of and reverence toward George Washington. Wherever he stopped on his trek, people emerged from all sides to honor him with balls and ceremonial dinners. They came together to marvel in the strangeness of their freshly-won independence. It is like Cortez and his companions in Keats' "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer": "And all his men / Look'd at each other with a wild surmise..."

I like this book most for giving me a feeling of what it was to be an American at a time that most historians have seen fit to ignore. Stanley Weintraub saw a psychological moment in the history of a people and shrewdly built his story around the character of the man who held the whole shooting match together: General George Washington.

Don't expect penetrating scholarship here. Just enjoy this sparkling gem of a book and use it to point you in other directions for the big picture. ... Read more

Book Description

This compelling account reveals much that was previously unknown or hidden about Hank Williams's life and takes its place as the authoritative biography of this country music legend. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Pure Hank
In his short life, Hank messed up plenty. But as Escott writes, "Through it all, Hank never messed up in the recording studio. He was charmed like a man walking through a minefield." It's the songs, those beautiful and aching songs, that get the most attention in this balanced biography. While he can't avoid the binges, backaches, and bust ups with Miss Audrey that left the legend little more than a crumpled heap, Escott concentrates on the music. He includes tales of the first acetates, of the rise from honky tonk obscurity to vindication on that stage of stages. The tone never becomes maudlin, not even when the author describes that cold and mysterious night when a hired car takes Hank's lifeless body on into West Virginia. In the end, the music helps dispel the myths. Escott aptly notes that Hank "left a life diarized in verses sung with such a conviction that we feel as though we know him well." This fine book gets us a little closer too.

Lots of detail in this story of country legend
I just finished reading this biography of Mr. Williams, and came away feeling very sad for Hank and his son Hank, Jr. Although the book chronicles the real contributions that Hank's mother and wife Audrey made in starting his career, the two women seemed to use Hank as a gravy train, with little love shown for this sad, lonely man. Particularly disgusting was the vulture like behavior exhibited immediately following his tragic death. Thank heaven he had Billie Jean, if even for a short while. She seems to be the only woman in his life that really loved him. Between his back pain and loneliness, it's no wonder he drank.

There was a lot of interesting detail in the book, sometimes too much info for my taste. Mr. Escott went into exhausting detail giving the background of practically every soul Hank ever met. It also seemed Mr. Escott disliked Roy Acuff, which I found interesting, since he has always been portrayed as a virtual saint. Also, Mr. Escott's descriptions of what would have become of Hank and his career had he lived were very interesting, and probably true.

I wish Hank, Jr. could have known his father, it was obvious that Hank loved him, but addictions and circumstance kept them apart.

I'll listen to Hank's music with a much deeper knowledge of the pain that influenced his songs.

Ole Hank: From rags to riches to rags to hillybilly heaven
Hank Williams (aka Luke the Drifter) lived 29 hard years from his hardscrabble youth in Alabama to his tragic death in the backseat of a car on Jan. 1, 1953. Along the way Hank managed to
live in what was often an alcholoh induced haze.
Williams was raised by his tough as nails mother Miss Lillian
who was oft married, ruled the roost and tried to control the erratic genius of her wayward son. Hank had an affinity for strong minded women. His first wife Audrey and second wife Billie were women who lived with the mecurial genius who wrote like an angel but lived the devil of a life.
Colin Escott is a British writer who draws a nuts and bolts portrait of Williams. His portrait is that of a poor boy from a poor part of southwest Alabama who from 1949-1953 dominated post World War II country music or hillybill music as it was called in those distant days.
Williams wrote such classics as "Cold Cold Heart, "YourCheating Heart" and others. Along the way he was helped by Fred Rose of Acuff-Rose publishing company along with the friends in the business from Ernest Tubb to Minnie Pearl.
Hank could not deal with fame and retreated into his booze and died an early death.
He is the greatest country music singer. Escott has done a good job but some readers may be bored by all the verbiage dedicated to record deals and the politics of the recording industry.
Nevertheless, I loved this book. It is a vivid snapshot of life lived along the lost highway of a lost soul who has blessed our culture with great music.
Everyone who loves Hank Williams and enjoys country music history will benefit from this fine book.

A good followup to Roger Williams' SING A SAD SONG
Except for Jesus Christ and Robert E. Lee, no other person has affected the conscious and unconscious mind of the average Southerner as has Hank Williams.

Colin Escott's biography is less sentimental and more sensationalized than Roger Williams', but is it really more detailed? After all, you can only get so much material within a given number of pages. Nevertheless, every time you re-read this book, you pick up facts and suggestions you never noticed before.
Of course, this is necessarily true with such a complex man, a genius in his field, and whose life and death were mysterious.

My favorite anecdote concerning Hank is missing from both books and is related by his steel guitarist, Don Helms: Once, playing an outdoor venue, it began to rain on Hank and his band. Hank and the band retreated to a covered stage area, where they continued the show. Looking over the audience, who were getting soaked, Hank had compassion on his musical followers, and returned to the rain. "If you're good enough to listen to me in the rain, I'm good enough to play for you in the rain!" And he did.

There you have it--a man with godlike qualities but yet a complete lack of pretense and who cared for his listeners like no one ever has. This is why you should pick up a copy of this for yourself and a copy to pass down to your grandchildren. We should never let this man's memory die.

Did you ever see a robin weep...
Giving this book 5 Stars is as big an understatement as saying Hank could sing a heartbreak song.After all these years he is still the person who had the biggest impact on Country Music.I miss greatly the great music we used to hear on our radios we got from Hank and many others for so many years.This music which was written by,loved by,lived by and told about the hopes,struggles,sorrow,happiness and every other aspect of life of the people came from the singers and songwriters themselves.It is such a shame that the Industry has hijacked this music of the people and while forcing it aside,replaced it with studio tripe.The stuff that comes out today is a pretty sad subsitute for what Country Music really is--Hank,Robbins,Haggard,Jones,Carters,Cash Sovine,Nelson,Bare,Snow, Arnold,Lewis,Wynette,Cline ,Miller,Loretta,Anderson,Campbell,Boxcar,just to name a very few.Do you get my point? These people and their music would just never be heard if starting out today.It's time to forget about the studios and go back to the people--the roots of Country Music.
"Did you ever see a robin weep,
When leaves began to die,
Like me,he's lost the will to live,
I'm so lonesome I could cry."

How about Mansion on the Hill,Cold,Cold Heart,I saw the Light;that was Country Music at it's finest.

Escott as covered Hank with all the passion few others would be able to.I remember the New Year Hank Williams specials that lasted for four hours on radio here in Toronto hosted by Escott and Bill MacEwan and miss them as well.If you like Country Music and Hank;you'll love this book,as well as "Hank Williams Snapshots from the Lost Highway" by Escott and Kira Florita ;it is a great companion to this book. ... Read more

Book Description

Introducing Smart About Scientists! These books feature fascinating biographical information about the world's greatest scientists, ideas on scientific thinking, and real science experiments kids can try at home.

Annie Marcus is just nuts about peanut butter! When Annie finds out that George Washington Carver was responsible for the popularity of peanuts, she picks him for her scientist report. Annie learns all sorts of fascinating info-George Washington Carver was born into slavery, but his dedication and unquenchable thirst for knowledge drove him to become a professor at a time when most institutions of higher learning were closed to blacks. This title explores Carver's brilliant career and discoveries, as well as his triumph over segregation to become one of the world's most renowned plant experts.

Illustrated by Jill Weber. ... Read more

Amazon.com

When Friedrich Nietzsche first met Richard Wagner in 1869, the magisterial composer was more than twice the age of the fledgling philologist. Wagner had also just been banished from the royal court of Bavaria for his adulterous affair with Cosima von Bülow. Although the friendship between the two men began rather well, it would famously degenerate into a bitter intellectual and emotional feud, over which Nietzsche would continue to obsess even after Wagner's death in 1883 (but then, Cosima--who'd married Wagner as soon as possible after her divorce--was more than happy to keep up her late husband's end of the battle, and Nietzsche's own death in 1900 did nothing to change that).

Joachim Köhler's densely compact Nietzsche and Wagner draws heavily upon available correspondence from all parties--and Nietzsche's early writings--to examine this turbulent relationship. The point is not so much that Wagner was a manipulative jerk (although he certainly was that) or that Nietzsche and Cosima, who both suffered miserably in youth, were psychologically vulnerable to Wagner's seductive but emotionally abusive behavior; rather, the idea seems to be an examination of the effects of the relationship on the philosopher's thinking, both before and after their breakup. It's an academically rigorous account, so while it is fraught with traces of melodrama, they are buried under careful analytic prose, making this book far more suitable for scholars than general readers interested in biographical data on any of the principals involved. --Ron Hogan ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Ecce Homo(cough, you know what).
A great sage once said, "All history's a lie" and this book only further enhances that point. Which is why I am recommending it.

Kohler not only contends that Nietzsche was a homosexual, but an uber-sissy who was lowered to menial tasks of propaganda and undershorts buying for the heavy-handed Master Wagner. Drawing largely from the diaries and personal correspondence of three megalomaniacs, which we know are highly accurate accounts of objective reality and history, Kohler paints a picture of a menage a trois of ascetic bondage: Nietzsche to Cosima and the Maestro, Cosima to the Master, and Wagner himself to the libidinous gods of hedonism. To top this off, the Dionysian Nietzsche in his final stages of dementia and mustachio maximus, calls out to Cosima, his spiritual Ariadne and soul-bride to come save his tottering soul from the labryrinth of the Wagnerian oppression that continued even after their reknowned split. Thus proclaiming, "C-o-s-i-m-a, you are the only MAN for me." Well Kohler didn't say that, but in saying that Wagner was "a woman" in Nietzsche's eyes and that Nietzsche himself, the constant companion of man-worshippers and man-worship was feminine in affection and mannerisms towards his friendths[sic], we can deduce from Nietzsche's admiration for her as an intellectual equal(remember his MISOGYNY!), that she was the only masculine personality in the triumvirate and thus Nietzsche's love and his homosexuality are validated. Not to mention that Herr Wagner is a dead ringer for Redd Foxx!

All facts and fictions aside, the book made me laugh quite a few times. Maybe the truth was lost somewhere in the translation from German to English but it didn't stop my enjoyment. Why let history and truth get in the way of that? I mean, Nietzschean lore has purported that the young man, while serving in the German calvary during a riding exercise had fallen from his saddle and was dangling upside down under the belly of the horse(Perhaps it was the same horse that he witnessed being flogged and this was what sparked his madness!) and said, "Oh Schopenhauer, where are you now?" Who's buying that but the ghost of Schopenhauer and me?

Esthetic monstrosities
The author of _Zarathustra's secret_ takes us through the period encounter between Nietzsche and Wagner in a quite graphic tale of one of the first of the modern celebrity farces, that of Wagnerian ego and its hangers on. Although the account is well done, I should wonder if a clever cutpurse like Nietzsche was ever really subjugated and whether he didn't, despite an series of emotional shocks, achieve the net equivalent of going undercover as a Wagner disciple, to his profit or loss in unclear. For all the background music of the philosophic, more than musical, leitmotiv (Schopenhauer gave it away with fake hint, the 'will') this account of artistic overdrive twice over is a remarkable tale of psychological helplessness, in Wagner and Nietzsche. Anyway, worth reading.

if your interested in these two, buy it.
NW is not the most academic of books in form, but readability and lack of footnotes do not make a book worthless. Köhler may not have enough evidence to convince the critical, but the material provided is well worth the read. Homosexuality/onanism/anti-semitism: these elements are simply not central to either individual (Wagner's anti-semitism may be the exception). Some of Köhler's conclusions may be questionable, but his observations are not what make the book. The content itself is very interesting, and the intelligent and familiar (with RW/FN) will come away with a great degree of insight. To anyone sincerely interested in either, it is requisite. Perhaps you will not agree with Köhler, so what? The book is simply worth the read. My opinions didn't change from the book, but I have a much richer picture of both men. (I am honesty surprised that anyone could find this book upsetting [see review below]. It's a fun little book, if you hate it, you really ought to relax a bit. Not for tyros: if you've only read a bit of FN or seen an opera, and you want a key to understanding either, forget it. But if you are deep into either, you skip it at your peril.

Incoherent, ignorant, incompetent
Once in a lifetime a book comes along ... that is so arm-wavingly silly that it's almost Pythonesque. This book, "Nietzsche and Wagner: a Study in Subjugation" is actually less reliable than Robert Gutman's or Marc Weiner's Wagner books, which were previously the record-holders. But Kohler beats them hollow. I'm sorry to say that this book has the scholarly merit of a UFO abduction memoir.

Kohler doesn't even bother to try to substantiate his various untrue and silly claims. One of these claims is that Nietzsche was homosexual, for which Kohler (as several critics have pointed out) adduces no evidence at all. Maybe Kohler thinks that Nietzsche calling a book "Die Froeliche Wissenschaft" (The Gay Science) makes Nietzsche "gay" in the current sense. (The meaning of "gay" seems to be changing again, but that's another story.) But we have plenty of evidence of Nietzsche's heterosexuality and no evidence at all of same-sex desire or practice. Nietzsche was a misogynist, hostile and contemptuous towards women, also clearly afraid of them, but that doesn't make him homosexual. Kohler seems to think that claiming something is the same as making it so.

Kohler also claims that after the Nietzsche-Wagner split Wagner conducted a relentless and vindictive campaign against Nietzsche on the grounds that he (Nietzsche) was homosexual. Again, Kohler doen't support this claim of a homophobic campaign by Wagner with any evidence. But then, how could he? There was no such campaign. Instead there was the famous letter from Wagner to Nietzsche's doctor, expressing concern for the health of "our young friend N."and suggesting that Nietzsche's nervous problems might be caused by excessive masturbation.

Wagner's letter is splendidly dotty, but it also brings Kohler's claims crashing to the ground. (1) Masturbation is not the same thing as homosexuality. Wagner did not think Nietzsche was homosexual; instead, prescient in so many things, Wagner was the first major thinker to call Nietzsche a wanker (just kidding, Nietzsche fans). (2) A kindly meant, if eccentric, letter to Nietzsche's doctor is not quite the same thing as persecution. It's clear from Cosima Wagner's Diaries that Wagner's private reaction to the split with Nietzsche was regret, a wish to have the breach healed, and an undoubtedly patronising pity for "that poor young man" Nietzsche. These are not the sort of feelings that lead to persecution or a campaign of vilification, as Kohler claims.

As well, Wagner's actual attitude to homosexuals (there were no gays in the 19th Century) is suggested in an earlier letter to a homosexual friend. Wagner suggests that his friend "try to cut down a little, on the pederasty"... The attitude is one of amused tolerance, which won't do now, but it was progressive and liberal by the standards of his time. Wagner wasn't a homophobe.

In fact Wagner didn't respond in public to Nietzsche's repeated attacks (except once, a very indirect reference in one of his essays, without mentioning Nietzsche's name); contra Kohler, the abuse was very much a one-way street, and not in the direction that Kohler suggests.

Kohler also presents a Nietzsche who wrote antisemitic passages in his works during the alliance with Wagner, but who stopped after the split. This is simply and flagrantly untrue. The post-Wagner Nietzsche attacked antisemites, but he also continued to attack and insult Jews. There are many, many antisemitic passages in Nietzsche's work - Nietzsche fans, like Kohler and the reviewer from Kirkus Review quoted above, like to overlook Nietzsche's antisemitism, but antisemites find Nietzsche a useful supporter and resource. You'll find plenty of antisemitic quotes from Nietzsche on proud display on the Web's neo-Nazi sites, and the vast majority of these antisemitic passages were written AFTER the split with Wagner.

And there's Nietzsche's attack on Wagner in which he claimed that Wagner had a Jewish father. There is irony, of course, in claiming an antisemite has Jewish parentage. But it reflects what Wagner himself seems to have believed, that the man who was almost certainly his real father, Ludwig Geyer, was Jewish. For this attack Nietzsche must have drawn on his private conversations with Wagner, in which Wagner poured out personal fears to a man he believed was his friend. The nastiness in Nietzsche's attack is in the betrayal of confidence, not in the claiming that Wagner had a Jewish parent.

I mention this attack by Nietzsche, couched in antisemitic terms and involving personal betrayal, because Kohler skips blithely over it. Imagine what he'd said if it had been the other way round; Wagner attacking Nietzsche in antisemitic terms while betraying an intimate confidence. But in fact there are suspiciously few quotes of any kind from Nietzsche in Kohler's book. Given the book's profound ignorance of the details of Nietzsche's or Wagner's life and philosophies, I suspect this is not so much because Kohler wants to keep it simple, but because he is not particularly familiar with his subjects' work. Given the sort of book he's written, he didn't need to be.

By the way, an earlier book by Kohler, that's only just been translated into English, "Wagner's Hitler", is now available. Friends who've read the German edition tell me that it's even more fanciful, nonsensical, dishonest and incoherent than this book. I'll look for it in a remainder bin.

Laon ... Read more

From the Publisher

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Grades 3-7; 7 x 9; 64 pages; Sturdy library binding; Glossary; FurtherReading; Index; More than 30 color and black-and-white illustrations ... Read more

Reviews (9)

best overall biography; best biography of a writer
I have never written a review for amazon.com before but I had to add my two cents to the few reviews listed here. This book changed my life. I was already familiar with Burroughs' writing and had read several of his books before I found Morgan's excellent biography. I've read this lengthy tome several times, but I remember the feeling after I finished the first reading: I was inspired to write, write, write. The book cleared up my writer's block and has continued to do so every time I read it. His life really was as strange or stranger than his fiction, and it reminds me always to write what I know. I can't believe this is out of print. Highly recommended to all writers and all fans of biographies.

The World of William Burroughs
After a failed attempt to read "Naked Lunch" I turned to this book to gain some insight into William Burroughs that might aid me with future reading. I did not find that the book went into great detail about Burroughs ideas, except for ones that I find either trivial or even "wacky", like his interest in some aspects of Scientology and Reich's "Orgone Box". In fact, I might have given up on my plans of reading Burroughs after reading this biography; I could have easily concluded that Burroughs was a man who had led an interesting, albeit tragic, life but who, because of his heroin use and open homosexuality, had just become a "trendy" author. I might have concluded that he was a precursor to the cultural revolution of the 60s but of little importance today. Quite frankly I persist in my quest of getting to know Burroughs because of the importance attributed to him by one of my favorite philosophers, Gilles Deleuze, who claims that Burroughs has a lot to teach us about the "society of control". Only my future readings of Burroughs' novels will reveal rather I am right to persist in my study of him.

If this book failed in being an intellectual biography, it certainly succeeded in portraying the world of William Burroughs in an interesting fashion. Burroughs life seems for the most part
a series of tragedies. It appears as though he was molested as a youth and one is tempted - perhaps due to the saturation of "pop psychology" in our day- to conclude that somehow his future misfortunes (and brilliance) were rooted in that event. Subsequently driven from the United States, then Mexico (where he committed the infamous "William Tell" fatal shooing of his wife) he spends the greater part of his life wandering between Tangiers, Paris, London and New York. Oddly enough, he only seems to find some kind ofhappiness at the end of his life in Lawrence, Kansas.

His meeting with the other members of the "Beat Movement", Allen Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso, seemed fated, and unlike the others he did not become a "Beat Stereotype but remained authentically himself, behaving in many ways like a conservative midwesterner. Perhaps this authenticity is what appealed to his groupies who could not manage to retain their own identity separate from the various trends in which they participated.

Whether I will find anything intellectually stimulating in the works of Burroughs remains to be seen. Despite his many shortcoming, he was a key cultural force in undermining the foundation of the narrow, cocktail sipping, coutnry club 50s generation.

FIND THIS BOOK!
When I read this book in 1990, or thereabouts, I had only read William Burroughs' book Junky, and I had read nothing by Jack Kerouac or Allen Ginsberg.

After I finished reading Literary Outlaw, by Ted Morgan, I was so fascinated that I read all of Burroughs' novels, and several books by Kerouac and Ginsberg. I also read two more Burroughs biographies, just to get more information on this weird old guy.

Literary Outlaw is just that good.

There are newer biographies of Burroughs by Barry Miles and also Graham Caveney. Nevertheless, Literary Outlaw remains the definitive Burroughs biography written to date.

This is a fascinating biography that reads like a pageturning novel. Burroughs grew up in a privileged St. Louis family, spent some time at a rough ranch-style boarding school in New Mexico, attended Harvard, travelled in Europe, and lived in New York, Mexico, New Orleans, Texas, Tangier, London, New York (again), and finally Kansas. Along the way he became the most scandalous figure in modern letters. His adventures and misadventures are related in this marvelous book.

Literary Outlaw is more exhaustive than either Caveney's or Miles' biographies. Chapters with titles like "Tangier: 1954-1958" and "The London Years: 1966-1973" make for easy navigation. As the book's coverage ends in 1988, there is no information on Burroughs' life in the 1990s, but the essays in the book Word Virus (by James Grauerholz) act as a good supplement, for biographical information.

Morgan did a good job. He wrote a page-turning biography, but not at the expense of Burroughs' literary reputation. Burroughs' value as a writer is challenged throughout, and it holds up. Biographical detail is linked to popular criticism of the texts. There is an extensive section of notes. There is an index.

You can't go wrong with this biography. If you've never read a biography of William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, or Allen Ginsberg, I advise you to try Literary Outlaw. This book is very well written, and is probably the most fascinating biography I have ever read.

ken32

Burroughs Explained
The only book of, or by, William Burroughs that I have read twice. His life was stranger than his fiction.

The amazing life of a junkie genius
The late William S. Burroughs was one of the most compelling and frustrating writers of our times. For every work of dryly humorous genius like Junky and Naked Lunch, there were dozens of frustrating, obscure works that seemed to be more the product of Burroughs' infamous heroin addiction than his own imagination. As others have stated, to truly understand much of Burroughs' work, one has to first understand the man himself and, to my knowledge, there is no better resource than Ted Morgan's long, detailed, but never boring biography. In Literary Outlaw, we get the details of Burroughs' seminal friendships with such future literary icons as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac and we also explore the most controversial aspect of the man's life -- the shooting death of his wife, Joan. (After shooting her in the head, Burroughs claimed they were simply playing a game of "William Tell.")

If just for this information, this book would be a valuable resource but Morgan goes further. He details Burroughs' life after his fame as one of the original beat writers faded. He explains what was actually going on in Burroughs'head when he created the later works that left so many readers not only confused but often rather angry at this man they'd previously clutched to their own artistic souls (perhaps a bit too quickly, as Morgan reveals with an unflinching candor).

The Burroughs who emerges in this book is neither the decadent bohemian of the literary imagination nor the devil incarnate that so many of his critics imagined him to be. Instead, William S. Burroughs comes across as nothing less than the Forrest Gump of modern literature. Somehow, this quiet, rather reserved midwesterner manages to pop up at just about every important underground cultural event of recent history -- often, it seems, just by chance. In Literary Outlaw, Morgan not only gives us a revealing look at the usual suspects -- Kerouac, Ginsberg, Corso, and the other Beats -- but also draws sharp portraits of figures ranging from Terry Southern to Dennis Hopper to James Baldwin to John Houston to thousands of others. Some are famous, some obscure, but all prove to be as fascinating as Burroughs himself.

This is an amazing book, a must for anyone with any interest in the Beats, American literature, world history, or who just wants a chance to relive a truly fascinating life. Be warned though -- Burroughs was both very open about his homosexuality and his drug addictions. Morgan, to his credit, doesn't shy away from detailing these aspects of Burroughs' life. Also to his credit, Morgan neither condemns nor celebrates. In short, prudes need not apply. For the rest of us though, this is a valuable book to be cherished. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Well Done One-Volume Biography
George Washington is probably a pretty tough person to write a biography about. He wasn't really an intellectual and there are not voluminous writings by Washington with insights into his personality like historians have for a Thomas Jefferson, or a James Madison.

This biography is very even and insightful about the personality and life of George Washington from his upbringing, his early military career, the Revolution, and of course his Presidency. Washington emerges as a somewhat vain man but one who, over time, appears to have gained wisdom with age and experience.

The primary quibbles I have with this biography is the author at times may make too many leaps of judgement about Washington's motivations and personality without enough evidence to support it. Secondly, there is not a lot of in-depth analysis about Washington's generalship or his decision making process as an army commander and President.

For example, did the wily Alexander Hamilton manipulate an overmatched President to get his way on economic policy, or was Washington, if not fully understanding Hamilton's scheme, fully in charge and in agreement with it? While the author seems to think it's the later-evidence suggests it could just as well be the former.

Also at times it appears Washington was a bumbling over achiever who things ended up working out well for in then end, especially his early military career and early in the Revolutionary War (sometimes by Washington deflecting blame on to others). The same could be said about his Presidency. At the same time Washington appears to have become more mature and a better decision maker as he grew older and gained more experience. More could have been said on these matters.

But overall, this is a well done one-volume biography.

Washington On The Couch
In an apparent attempt to present a balanced view of Washington, Ferling attempts to psychoanalyze the first president and goes far afield of the materials he has. Often his conclusions are pure conjecture and he frequently criticizes "other historians" for thier conclusions and then draws his own unsubstantiated conclusions.

Ferling does provide a nice historical accounting of events and details during Washington's life. However, he frequently tries to determine the mindset of Washington and here he repeately fails. Often these attempts are little more than cheap shots. He even criticizes the President for not writing his feelings in his diary when he found that a relative was dying, saying that Washington was afraid to appear "unmanly." This is little more than the insertion of 20th century thoughts and values into an 18th century mind. It does little to shed light on Washington and much to shed light on Ferling's mindset.

Undoubtedly there are biographies which are equally detailed without the repeated and distracting psychoanalysis.

Well-Balanced and Informative
This book was an assigned text in one of my college classes, and that's how I came to read it. I originally wanted to read Flexner's or Randall's biography of Washington, but Ferling's version didn't disappoint me.

What struck me about this biography is its objectivity. Ferling neither romanticizes about Washington as a demi-god, nor does he try to debase him. In the first hundred pages or so, I felt that Ferling was rather harshly critical of Washington, but by the end of the book, I felt that Ferling had highlighted many of Washington's good qualities as well. Ferling doesn't sugar-coat Washington's faults, but he doesn't ignore Washington's remarkable achievements, either. I liked how Ferling contrasts the brash young Washington of Fort Necessity with the mature Washington of Valley Forge. The father of our country certainly wasn't born with the dignity that later was his trademark, and it was interesting to see how Washington developed his character over the years. This gave me a more realistic admiration of Washington than I previously had.

An excellent biography about a tremendous historical figure.

Captivating account of our first president's life
This book is an excellent account of a man who learned from his mistakes in his early life and used those experiences to control himself and attain recognition as one of the most accomplished men in history.

complete and interesting story of one of the greatest men
Ferling writes a comprehensive story of one of the greatest persons in history. Although it is long (500 pages) it is well-written and very readable. He avoids the tendency in recent years to drag Washington down to a common level, and yet the author is honest with his subject's faults. The book contains a helpful index and not a few illustrations. This reviewer holds a graduate degree in history and currently teaches college history. ... Read more