Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | 923 Washington, George | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
A New York Times Bestselling Author. A National Book Award-winning Author. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one-volume life of Washington celebrated biographer Ron Chernow s richly nuanced portrait carries the reader through his troubled boyhood his precocious feats in the French and Indian War his creation of Mount Vernon his heroic exploits with the Continental Army his presiding over the Constitutional Convention and his magnificent performance as America s first president.
Author Notes
Educated at Yale and Cambridge University in England, Ron Chernow is a biographer who specializes in hard-hitting exposes on historical business figures. Among Chernow's early accomplishments was his unmasking of corruption in Chinatown for New York magazine in 1973.
In the book The House of Morgan, winner of the National Book Award in 1990, Chernow outlines the extraordinary path of J.P. Morgan's empire and its influence on the American banking industry. Chernow is also the author of Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, which chronicles the life and times of the richest man in the United States in the early 1900s. His other work includes The Warburgs, The Death of a Banker, Alexander Hamilton, Washington: A Life, and Grant.
Chernow is regular guest on the National Public Radio programs Fresh Air with Terry Gross and All Things Considered.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
An unabridged edition of Chernow's acclaimed biography of America's patriarch, on its face may not seem an obvious selection for general audiobook listeners who are not avid history buffs, but Scott Brick's talented performance makes the hours fly by. As Chernow chips away at larger-than-life myths while exploring the practical qualities that shaped Washington's success, Brick provides compelling vocal inflection in portraying the narrative's many personal and political dramas. Some of the most emotionally powerful renderings include the passages related to Washington's struggles with the issue of slavery and the experiences of daily life in the slave community on his plantations and in the family household. Brick's reading of the later sections of the book focused on the depth of animosity between Washington and Thomas Jefferson also pack an especially effective bite. A Penguin Press hardcover. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* With so much that can be said and said positively about this magisterial biography, it is difficult not to write a review as long as the book itself. Given the distinction of the author, who wrote, among other single and collective biographies, the glowingly reviewed Alexander Hamilton (2004), readers can safely assume from the outset that what lies ahead of them is a vastly enlightening, overwhelmingly engaging treatment of a great man. The subject of the book needs only, by way of identification, the one word that Chernow uses as his title: Washington. Another book on Washington? is a question rendered pointless by this one, which happens to be the author's masterpiece. Definitive Washington is the point and effect of this biography. Our first president is thought of as more marble statue than living, hurting, loving human; however, Chernow's Washington stands not in the opposite corner as hot-blooded and animated. Washington spent a lifetime practicing control of his passions and emotions; his innate virtues, undenied and even celebrated here, were sharpened and focused by the man's suppression of a natural volatility. His gift of silence and of inspired simplicity, as the author so aptly terms Washington's strongest suits, supported his consequent leadership as general and as president.--Hooper, Brad Copyright 2010 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
GEORGE WASHINGTON'S corpse was scarcely a month in its grave when an enterprising minister from Maryland named Mason Locke Weems made a pitch to a Philadelphia publisher. "I've got something to whisper in your lug," Weems wrote in January 1800. "Washington, you know is gone! Millions are gaping to read something about him. ... My plan! I give his history, sufficiently minute" and "go on to show that his unparalleled rise & elevation were due to his Great Virtues." Weems was on to something. His sentimental and often fictional biography became a best seller, the first in a seemingly endless stream of studies of the man who led the Continental Army to victory in the American War for Independence and who as the first president of the United States did more than anyone else to establish the legitimacy of a national government merely outlined in the Constitution of 1787. Today, books about Washington continue to appear at such an astonishing rate that the publication of Ron Chernow's prompts the inevitable question: Why another one? An obvious answer is that Chernow is no ordinary writer. Like his popular biographies of John D. Rockefeller and Alexander Hamilton, his "Washington" while long, is vivid and well paced. If Chernow's sense of historical context is sometimes superficial, his understanding of psychology is acute and his portraits of individuals memorable. Most readers will finish this book feeling as if they have actually spent time with human beings. Given Chernow's considerable literary talent and the continued hunger of some Americans for a steady diet of tales of Washington and his exploits, what publisher could resist the prospect of adding "Washington: A Life" to its list? A more complicated answer lies in considering why we still long for news of Washington. To be sure, his life reflected, if it didn't epitomize, the once unimaginable transformation of several British colonies into an imperial Republic whose dominion extended to the Mississippi River. But Chernow and, I suspect, most of his readers are less interested in how the United States became the United States than in how George Washington became George Washington. Accepting the inevitability of our nation, they remain perplexed by the pre-eminence of this man. Chernow is far subtler and far more sophisticated than Weems. Yet there is a familiar ring to his desire to "elucidate the secrets" of Washington's "uncanny ability to lead a nation" by detailing his acquisition of such "exemplary virtues" as "unerring judgment, sterling character, rectitude, steadfast patriotism, unflagging sense of duty and civic-mindedness." What, we still wonder, was the secret of his success? Contemporaries, even those rivals who deeply resented him, observed that Washington seemed to be blessed by Divine Providence - or just plain luck. How else to explain the many bullets that whizzed around but never into his body? Or his emergence from a string of catastrophic military disasters in the French and Indian War and the War for Independence with a reputation enhanced rather than ruined? Over the past two centuries, scholars have detailed more prosaic explanations of Washington's "unparalleled rise & elevation," including his acquisition of thousands of acres through fortuitous inheritance and relentless speculation; his marriage to the wealthy widow Martha Dandridge Custis; his connection with members of the powerful Fairfax family, who became important early patrons; his struggle to master his body and his passions within the language and conventions of 18th-century Anglo-American republicanism; and most recently, his creative conflation of his personal ambition with the cause of the Republic. Chernow acknowledges all these interpretations of Washington's life. But because he tends to slide into the biographer's quicksand of identifying too closely with his subject, his particular contribution is to argue for the critical role Washington himself played in becoming George Washington. Few human beings have ever lived a life more self-conscio sly devoted to proving he merited his fame. In retrospect, Washington seems profoundly insecure. Given to dark moods and angry outbursts, especially at those who questioned his intentions, he compensated by studying rules of etiquette, mimicking successful older men, cultivating the loyalty of younger men and displaying an extraordinary sensitivity to what others thought of him. Nothing was more likely to provoke his legendary rage than accusations that he was motivated by a base motive. Like many of his peers, he made a great show of resisting public office, if only to demonstrate the absence of ambition. Washington fretted at length about the performance he would give from the balcony of Federal Hall in Lower Manhattan when he became president on April 30, 1789. What should he wear? How should he behave? Knowing that "the first of everything in our situation will serve to establish a precedent," he wanted to avoid acting like a king while respecting the dignity of his office and the Republic it represented. Months earlier, he had decided he ought to say something, thereby inventing the presidential Inaugural Address. In an early draft, of which only fragments survive, Washington, Chernow writes, "spent a ridiculous amount of time defending his decision to become president, as if he stood accused of some heinous crime." This prickliness rarely surfaced in public. Indeed, he tirelessly cultivated an impassive demeanor that suited to perfection his preferred role as a remote, stoic figure towering above the sordid business of ordinary politics. BUT of course George Washington was anything but an uninterested observer. He didn't just learn from events; he shaped them to his own purposes. Throughout his career he wanted the gentlemen of Virginia and then the United States to master the landscape and peoples of North America as well as their bodies and emotions. Where Thomas Jefferson spent much of his life defying power, Washington imagined using power to improve transportation, encourage education, develop commerce, establish federal authority and unite the diverse regions of the sprawling Republic into an imposing whole that transcended the sum of its parts. "The name of AMERICAN," he said, must override any local attachments. To command respect and inspire emulation throughout the world, the United States had to balance liberty with order. This breathtaking imperial vision informed virtually everything Washington did. When he decided to provide for the freedom of most of his enslaved Africans upon the death of Martha Washington, he acted in good measure out of a conviction that "nothing but the rooting out of slavery can perpetuate the existence of our union, by consolidating it in a common bond of principle." Washington was concerned with his reputation and that of the nation he helped to found because he wisely understood that he could improve both through close attention to the expectations of others. But we are mistaken if we think he offered himself as a democratic example of how an ordinary person could succeed. The Washington who fashioned his public image did not believe he created the core of his character. To the contrary, his rise, he thought, served as proof that he was an extraordinary man who had always possessed exemplary talent and integrity. If he fretted about what posterity would think of him, it was probably because he doubted our willingness to acknowledge his greatness. On that score, at least, he needn't have worried. Few people have ever lived a life more self-consciously devoted to proving their fame was merited. Andrew Cayton teaches history at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Choice Review
This is the best of recent Washington biographies, but it still comes up short of exposing the whole man. Although judiciously weighing in on some foibles, the book continues the hagiographic tradition. Chernow clearly depicts family life, plantation management, and slaves. Less satisfying are Washington's relationships with men of his officer corps, which are very revealing to anyone who cares to investigate this area. There are significant gaps--for example, in analysis of the politics of command, Washington's role in the French and Indian War, and the war of attrition in New Jersey (winter and spring 1777). The author is too apologetic of the few not so brilliant military decisions, such as at the Battle of Monmouth. Chernow is given to rounding off and overgeneralizing his evaluations, of which in-depth research would have afforded more sharp edges. A fertile field pertaining to Washington's great disdain for the common soldier awaits researchers. The real Washington still demands a diligent and objective biographer. Meanwhile, this large volume has enlightening moments and is entertaining. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels, general and academic. H. M. Ward emeritus, University of Richmond
Library Journal Review
In this cradle-to-grave biography of the Founding Father, notable biographer Chernow (Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller) thoroughly recounts how Washington rose to prominence in the French and Indian War, parlayed that early heroism into international fame as general of the Continental army during the American Revolution, and, as America's first President, unified a young nation and shaped its government-and he offers deeper explorations of, for example, Washington's cold relationship with his mother, his heavy reliance on younger devotees such as Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette, and his contradictory actions regarding slavery. Chernow's Washington is a reluctant celebrity who perpetually tries to retire from national service but refuses to turn his back on an embryonic republican country struggling with its newfound freedom. The narrative relies heavily on Washington's papers, but Chernow also liberally cites other primary sources and previous biographies. While objective for the most part, he occasionally offers well-grounded opinions on Washington's character and political and military actions. VERDICT This broadly and deeply researched work is a major addition to Washington scholarship-every era should have its new study of him-and it should appeal to informed lay readers and undergraduates interested in stepping beyond the typical textbook treatment.-Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Author's Note | p. 13 |
| Prelude: The Portrait Artist | p. 15 |
| Part 1 The Frontiersman | p. 23 |
| 1 A Short-Lived Family | p. 25 |
| 2 Fortune's Favorite | p. 46 |
| 3 Wilderness Mission | p. 70 |
| 4 Bloodbath | p. 88 |
| 5 Shades of Death | p. 110 |
| 6 The Soul of an Army | p. 129 |
| 7 A Votary to Love | p. 152 |
| 8 Darling of a Grateful Country | p. 172 |
| Part 2 The Planter | p. 183 |
| 9 The Man of Mode | p. 185 |
| 10 A Certain Species of Property | p. 206 |
| 11 The Prodigy | p. 227 |
| 12 Providence | p. 238 |
| 13 A World of His Own | p. 254 |
| 14 The Asiatic Prince | p. 282 |
| 15 A Shock of Electricity | p. 305 |
| Part 3 The General | p. 329 |
| 16 The Glorious Cause | p. 331 |
| 17 Magnificent Bluff | p. 354 |
| 18 Land of Freedom | p. 375 |
| 19 The Heights | p. 402 |
| 20 All London Afloat | p. 424 |
| 21 Disaster | p. 442 |
| 22 An Indecisive Mind | p. 465 |
| 23 The Crossing | p. 485 |
| 24 The Busy Scenes of a Camp | p. 513 |
| 25 Darkness Visible | p. 539 |
| 26 Rapping a Demigod over the Knuckles | p. 561 |
| 27 A Dreary Kind of Place | p. 580 |
| 28 The Long Retreat | p. 605 |
| 29 Pests of Society | p. 623 |
| 30 The Storm Thickens | p. 641 |
| 31 The Traitor | p. 664 |
| 32 Mutiny | p. 695 |
| 33 Plundering Scoundrels | p. 712 |
| 34 The World Turned Upside Down | p. 727 |
| 35 Man of Moderation | p. 759 |
| 36 Closing the Drama with Applause | p. 783 |
| 37 Cincinnatus | p. 801 |
| Part 4 The Statesman | p. 821 |
| 38 American Celebrity | p. 823 |
| 39 Gentleman Farmer | p. 848 |
| 40 Devil's Bargain | p. 863 |
| 41 The Ruins of the Past | p. 885 |
| 42 A Masterly Hand | p. 903 |
| 43 A House on Fire | p. 923 |
| 44 Rising Sun | p. 945 |
| 45 Mounting the Seat | p. 960 |
| Part 5 The President | p. 985 |
| 46 The Place of Execution | p. 987 |
| 47 Acting the Presidency | p. 1014 |
| 48 The Cares of Office | p. 1036 |
| 49 Rays of Genius | p. 1050 |
| 50 The Traveling Presidency | p. 1073 |
| 51 The State of the President | p. 1091 |
| 52 Capital Matters | p. 1110 |
| 53 Southern Exposure | p. 1133 |
| 54 Running into Extremes | p. 1158 |
| 55 A Tissue of Machinations | p. 1182 |
| 56 Citizen Genet | p. 1209 |
| 57 Bring Out Your Dead | p. 1237 |
| 58 Hercules in the Field | p. 1257 |
| 59 Crowns and Coronets | p. 1277 |
| 60 Mad Dog | p. 1287 |
| 61 The Colossus of the People | p. 1306 |
| 62 The Master of Farewells | p. 1328 |
| 63 Exiting the Stage | p. 1350 |
| Part 6 The Legend | p. 1365 |
| 64 Samson and Solomon | p. 1367 |
| 65 A Mind on the Stretch | p. 1397 |
| 66 Freedom | p. 1410 |
| 67 Homecoming | p. 1420 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 1443 |
| Bibliography | p. 1453 |
| Books | p. 1453 |
| Articles | p. 1464 |