GEORGE WASHINGTON: The Forge of Experience- 1732-1775

by James Thomas Flexner ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Ever since the prim Parson Weems dreamed up the cherry tree, biographers of George Washington have with few exceptions depicted him as a stuffed shirt draped on a wooden dummy. A different Washington, a human being complete with warts, emerges from this fascinating study by a leading authority on America's Colonial past. The book, Vol. I of a longer biography, deals only with the first 43 years of Washington's life, from his birth in 1732 to 1775, when he reluctantly assumed command of the Continental Army. Analyzing the impact of Washington's early experiences on the development of his character, the author tells of his unhappy childhood and meagre education, his friends and his family, his unloving and resentful mother, and his forays into the wilderness as a self-taught surveyor. An an officer with the Virginia Regiment campaigning against the French and Indians, he made many blunders, now conveniently overlooked, but from them he learned ""the unflagging attention to small detail"" that helped win the Revolution. Innately courteous, ""six feet high ... with pretty long arms and legs. ""Washington"" drank like a gentlemen,"" loved gambling, dancing and cockfighting, bought lands and slaves, and fell in love with his best friend's wife, continuing to love her in spite of his extremely happy marriage to the rich and charming Martha Custis. As a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Colonial Congress, he took little part in political debate, but in 1775, after Lexington and Concord, Congress remembered his early military career and unanimously elected ""the beloved Col. Washington"" to the command of the non-existent Continental Army -- with results that changed the course of the world. This book is one for all Americans with even a remote interest in the beginnings of this country, and is obligatory for all American historical collections.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 0316285978

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1965

Categories: NONFICTION