“The only Washington biography you need.”—Wall Street Journal As editor of the award-winning Library of America collection of George Washington’s writings and a curator of the great man’s original papers, John Rhodehamel has established himself as an authority of our nation’s preeminent founding father. In this “crisply written, admirably concise, and never superficial” biography (Fergus M. Bordewich, Wall Street Journal) Rhodehamel examines George Washington as a public figure, arguing that the man—who first achieved fame in his early twenties—is inextricably bound to his mythic status. Solidly grounded in Washington’s papers and exemplary in its brevity, this approachable biography is a superb introduction to the leader whose name has become synonymous with America.
John Rhodehamel is the former archivist of Mount Vernon and curator of American historical manuscripts at the Huntington Library. He is editor of George Washington: Writings and The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence, 1775–1783. He lives in Newport Beach, CA.
Table of Contents
1 Look Around You 1
2 Powerful Ambitions, Powerful Friends 11
3 War for North America 31
4 The Rise of George Washington 61
5 "Because We Are Americans" 101
6 Winter Soldier 123
7 Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth 147
8 The Great Man: Yorktown, Newburgh, and Annapolis 173
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