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A Life
Penguin Press
October 2010
On Sale: October 5, 2010
904 pages
ISBN: 1594202664
EAN: 9781594202667
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Biography
In Washington: A Life celebrated biographer Ron Chernow
provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our
nation. With a breadth and depth matched by no other
one-volume life of Washington, this crisply paced narrative
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. Despite the reverence his name inspires, Washington remains
a lifeless waxwork for many Americans, worthy but dull. A
laconic man of granite self-control, he often arouses more
respect than affection. In this groundbreaking work, based
on massive research, Chernow dashes forever the stereotype
of a stolid, unemotional man. A strapping six feet,
Washington was a celebrated horseman, elegant dancer, and
tireless hunter, with a fiercely guarded emotional life.
Chernow brings to vivid life a dashing, passionate man of
fiery opinions and many moods. Probing his private life, he
explores his fraught relationship with his crusty mother,
his youthful infatuation with the married Sally Fairfax, and
his often conflicted feelings toward his adopted children
and grandchildren. He also provides a lavishly detailed
portrait of his marriage to Martha and his complex behavior
as a slave master. At the same time, Washington is an astute and surprising
portrait of a canny political genius who knew how to inspire
people. Not only did Washington gather around himself the
foremost figures of the age, including James Madison,
Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, but he
also brilliantly orchestrated their actions to shape the new
federal government, define the separation of powers, and
establish the office of the presidency. In this unique biography, Ron Chernow takes us on a
page-turning journey through all the formative events of
America's founding. With a dramatic sweep worthy of its
giant subject, Washington is a magisterial work from one of
our most elegant storytellers.
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