Illuminating. ... Profound, even affectionate, scholarship infuses every graceful sentence.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Larson’s compulsively readable history shines new light on a little-discussed period of Washington’s life, illustrating his role as the indispensable American.” — Publishers Weekly
“A fascinating account. ... This is an important book, elegantly written, which adds greatly to our understanding of the way in which one man’s personality and popularity helped create a strong new country out of the fragments of the old colonial system.” — Lawrence M. Friedman, Marion Rice Kirkwood Professor of Law at Stanford University and author of A History of American Law
“A fresh and elegant portrait of the hero we thought we knew, but didn’t, quite. ... An indispensable book about America’s ‘indispensable man.’” — Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale University, and author of America's Constitution: A Biography
“One of the best illustrations of the ability of individuals to change the course of history.” — Andrew O'Shaughnessy, Professor of History, University of Virginia
“Ed Larson - with his signature wit and light touch - delivers a living, breathing man, who is revealed to be a true visionary leader, but who also possesses the political savvy and ability to get things done. ... An important addition to the literature on the founding of the United States.” — Douglas Bradburn, PhD, Founding Director, The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon
“Highly readable. ... Clears away the naive myths that have so long obscured Washington’s ideas and role during the 1780s.” — Kenneth R. Bowling, Co-editor of Documentary History of the First Federal Congress and Adjunct Professor of History, George Washington University
“Larson is a skilled storyteller combining scholarly research with a flair for relating historical events and personages to general readers. Recommended for those who enjoyed Ron Chernow’s Washington: A Life as well as biography hounds and history buffs.” — Library Journal
“Fine and engrossing. … Larson engagingly argues that the stretch between 1783 and 1789 was as important to Washington-and to America-as all that preceded and followed it. … [A] splendid account.” — Wall Street Journal
“Utterly fascinating. ... Very readable and highly recommended.” — Journal of the American Revolution
“A detailed and elegantly written account of leadership at the most pivotal moment in our nation’s history.” — Philadelphia Inquirer
“Larson is an exceptionally fine and engaging writer. ... He has taken up what might seem to be a niche in this great man’s life and career, and found there the core of his personality and his greatness.” — Dallas Morning News
“Larson is a sure guide through the complexities of writing and ratifying the Constitution. ... Dramatic. … Restoring the politics to Washington’s rise adds motive and depth to the nationalist who rose north to the rescue.” — New York Times Book Review
“Fantastic... The Washington who emerges in these pages is always human, flaws and all, and yet he still manages to be a figure worth revering for his unwavering sense of duty.” — Daily Beast
“Eloquently written. ... Larson synthesizes a vast amount of primary source material with great aplomb. ... Serious scholarship presented in an engaging and concise manner.” — Washington Times
“Astonishes with continual revelations of a Washington deeply engaged in national affairs and concerned for the floundering United States on the verge of collapse.” — Mental Floss
A fresh and elegant portrait of the hero we thought we knew, but didn’t, quite. ... An indispensable book about America’s ‘indispensable man.’
One of the best illustrations of the ability of individuals to change the course of history.
Utterly fascinating. ... Very readable and highly recommended.
Journal of the American Revolution
A fascinating account. ... This is an important book, elegantly written, which adds greatly to our understanding of the way in which one man’s personality and popularity helped create a strong new country out of the fragments of the old colonial system.
Highly readable. ... Clears away the naive myths that have so long obscured Washington’s ideas and role during the 1780s.
Ed Larson - with his signature wit and light touch - delivers a living, breathing man, who is revealed to be a true visionary leader, but who also possesses the political savvy and ability to get things done. ... An important addition to the literature on the founding of the United States.
Fine and engrossing. … Larson engagingly argues that the stretch between 1783 and 1789 was as important to Washington-and to America-as all that preceded and followed it. … [A] splendid account.
Fine and engrossing. … Larson engagingly argues that the stretch between 1783 and 1789 was as important to Washington-and to America-as all that preceded and followed it. … [A] splendid account.
Fantastic... The Washington who emerges in these pages is always human, flaws and all, and yet he still manages to be a figure worth revering for his unwavering sense of duty.
Astonishes with continual revelations of a Washington deeply engaged in national affairs and concerned for the floundering United States on the verge of collapse.
Larson is a sure guide through the complexities of writing and ratifying the Constitution. ... Dramatic. … Restoring the politics to Washington’s rise adds motive and depth to the nationalist who rose north to the rescue.
New York Times Book Review
Larson is an exceptionally fine and engaging writer. ... He has taken up what might seem to be a niche in this great man’s life and career, and found there the core of his personality and his greatness.
Eloquently written. ... Larson synthesizes a vast amount of primary source material with great aplomb. ... Serious scholarship presented in an engaging and concise manner.
A detailed and elegantly written account of leadership at the most pivotal moment in our nation’s history.
08/04/2014 After eight years of leading the fledgling colonies in their war for independence, George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief in order to return to private life. Yet the difficulties of establishing a new nation drew Washington back, and historian Larson, Pulitzer Prize–winner for Summer for the Gods, vividly recounts those events that led to Washington’s election as the first president of the United States. Washington spent the first two post-revolutionary years tending to Mount Vernon and his western lands, but kept close watch on the young confederacy’s political growing pains. Initially ambivalent about returning to politics, his sense that division among the states threatened national liberty caused him to join the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Larson brings to life the founders’ daily struggles to draw up a document that would preserve individual liberty while ensuring the new government’s supreme power and sovereignty. During the next year, with the Constitution in place, Washington articulated “three main objectives for America under the Constitution: respect abroad, prosperity at home, and development westward.” On May 1, 1789, Americans awoke under their first full federal administration, and “neither they nor their President would ever be the same.” Larson’s compulsively readable history shines new light on a little-discussed period of Washington’s life, illustrating his role as the indispensable American. (Oct.)
★ 2014-07-22 Illuminating history of an overlooked period in the life of our first president. During the years between the end of the American Revolution and the commencement of his first term as the first president, George Washington remained a busy farmer, slave owner, behind-the-scenes political figure and national hero. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larson (Law and History/Pepperdine Univ.; An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton, and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science, 2011, etc.) returns with a focused look at some years that many other historians have eschewed in favor of covering the more fiery Revolution and the more storied presidency. Larson shows us a Washington who craved being home, a man who only reluctantly allowed politics or necessity to draw him away. Larson begins with Washington's resignation of his command and his journey home to Mount Vernon from New York (it took him two weeks—with much cheering and celebration along the route). He then traveled west to inspect some of his holdings and had to decide whether to attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Of course, he did choose to go, and he chaired the proceedings. In the central chapters, the author deals with the Convention, with Washington's quiet though essential role, and with the battles and compromises between federalists and antifederalists that the document demanded—and very nearly did not achieve. Larson also reminds us of Washington's medical and dental problems and his decision to have some implants using the teeth of slaves (who were paid for the privilege). Following ratification (which did not happen immediately or easily), pressure grew for Washington to stand for president—which, of course, he did, despite his numerous protests. Larson identifies Washington's three goals—"respect abroad, prosperity at home, and development westward"—and includes an account of an inaugural dish that makes turducken seem unambitious. Profound, even affectionate, scholarship infuses every graceful sentence.