Washington: A Life (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

There is general consensus about this book: it is the magisterial biography of GW, meticulously researched and beautifully written. It is a great bargain because of its length but simultaneously a large commitment, perhaps just south of 400,000 words or four sizeable volumes. Everyone is agreed that it humanizes Washington. This is a fair and balanced biography, not hagiography or legend/fantasy. Parson Weems’s cherry tree story is debunked; the ‘wooden’ teeth story is corrected and we learn about the real challenges of our first president who was elected unanimously but still suffered the slings and arrows of the ‘factions’ he deplored. We learn as much about his private life as the evidence will permit and we learn a great deal about his psychology, his interpersonal skills and the reasons for his success in dealing with leaders foreign and domestic (and traitors, though, curiously, we learn very little about Hamilton’s fateful duel, which is simply mentioned in passing). We also learn a great deal about his finances, which are reminiscent of Churchill’s in their ‘fast and looseness’. The most encouraging thing is perhaps the fact that the book has drawn some 9,000 reviews on Amazon. That indicates a very large and still dedicated readership, prepared to read a very long book in an age of sound bites, film clips and ‘history’ drawn predominantly from social media. Bottom line: a must-read. Also, great food for thought—is it simply an accident that our greatest presidents (Lincoln, Truman, Washington) were not college graduates?

In his 2010 Washington: A Life, historian Ron Chernow became the latest author to write the authoritative single-volume biography of George Washington. It's certainly an impressive work, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Biography and weighing in at a hefty 948 pages or 42 hours on audio. Does this massive tome live up to all of this and bring something new to those who've read up on Washington? Yes, yes, it does. Much like Joseph J. Ellis' 2004 His Excellency: George Washington, the cornerstone of Chernow's approach is the recent (in historical perspective) Papers of George Washington Project at the University of Virginia. Using these papers, modern authors are able to dig into Washington's inner thoughts in a way that previous biographers like James Thomas Flexner, whose 1974 single volume biography Washington: The Indispensable Man was a previous champion of the single volume Washington bio genre, could not. But while Ellis settles for a mere 352 pages, Chernow goes to the limits of what a single volume can hold in nearly tripling that total. As a result, Chernow delves very deeply into Washington's life and thoughts, and covers both the man and his times as extensively as is likely possible between the confines of two covers. As one might expect between the now available original sources and the page count, Chernow covers Washington's life in great detail. Both by time frame - early life, French and Indian War, pre-Revolution, Revolution, private life between generalship and the presidency, presidency, and retirement - and subject - military, political, personal, economic, slavery - Chernow covers the man as well as many books focused on any single one of those subjects. I've read a lot on Washington and his times, and Chernow managed to illuminate each of those periods and subjects for me in some way even with my solid background. There are two main themes that Chernow uses to good effect. He focuses on Washington's relationships and his finances to get to his inner self. There are a large cast of secondary characters in this biography, and Chernow does an excellent job of getting the reader to know them on their own and in the context of their relationship with Washington. The major personages given this treatment are Martha Washington, Alexander Hamilton (not surprising, since Chernow previously wrote a massive 2004 biography of him, which is now high on my to-read list), the Marquis de Lafayette, Thomas Jefferson, Henry Knox, Nathanael Greene, John Adams, Sally Fairfax, and Washington's step-children and step-grandchildren. Chernow clearly demonstrates the impact Washington had on each of these people, and their impact on him. Chernow's focus on Washington's finances is another interesting approach. By following the old adage to follow the money, the reader gets a real sense of Washington's situation. His efforts to turn a profit on Mt. Vernon, the financial weight of slavery, his debt, the true costs of the land rich but cash poor Washington serving as Commander in Chief without pay, the costs of entertaining the multitudes who made the pilgrimage to Mt. Vernon, constant dental bills, and most importantly the devastating effects of his prolonged absences on his business interests, all combine to shine a light on a less glamorous but vital part of Washington's life. This last is especially vital, as in seeing how much Mt. Vernon suffered every time he was off serving his country, the reader gets a much better understanding of Washington's love of his country and his sense of public service. The period of Washington's life that Chernow expanded the most for me was his second term as president. A lot of attention is usually placed on the first term and the crucial precedents set then. While Chernow does indeed cover that well, the beginning of rough and tumble politics in his second term is fascinating, and seeing the increasingly fractious country begin to consider even Washington a fair game for political sniping is a major turning point in American politics. All of this effort - focusing on relationship and finances - does an amazing job of humanizing a man who often seems more monument than someone who actually lived. Chernow lets the reader really get to know Washington, both in his impressive patriotic context but also in the personal and sometimes flawed intimate details of so large a life as well. Chernow doesn't try to explain away the imperfections, either, instead letting them stand as equally valid parts of the man who often was indeed as great as he's been made out to be. I listened to Penguin Audio's 2010 production of the book, narrated by Scott Brick. The production was very well done, Brick delivers a powerful performance, giving the reading weight while still keeping a brisk pace, a necessity given the length of the book. The unabridged production runs approximately 42 hours. I highly recommend Chernow's Washington: A Life, even to those well-read on the man and his times. Chernow does a great job of providing new angles and insights, and it's the most complete picture of the Father of Our Country I've yet read. It's more of an investment in time than slimmer volumes, but it's well worth it. As mentioned previously, Chernow's biography of Hamilton is now high on my list and I plan to read that soon.

"Washington - A Life" by Ron Chernow is a Pulitzer prize winner. It's very interesting and informative, and long, very long. 817 pages. I felt it was certainly worth the investment in time, but I also felt it easily could have been pared by at least 100 pages. More on that later. Fortunately, Chernow's writing is very relaxed and extremely readable, laced with well placed anecdotes and excellent analysis. Coming into this book, I knew very little about our first President besides some 4th grade history instruction and a number of visits to nearby Mount Vernon. Not much time was spent on GW's early years, and very soon we learn of George's adventures as a very young officer in the militia, teamed with England in the French and Indian War. As revolution began to simmer in the colonies, Washington's role was primarily military, and the events that unfolded during those years dealing with the Declaration and Constitution were mainly left to others. Though Washington attended the initial Congressional sessions and expressed his viewpoints, he was never a confident orator and his lack of education led many of his founding brothers to pay him less attention. So Chernow's focus during those years deals more with the eight years (yes, EIGHT years) that he led his rag tag army against the British; in the background we are given snippets of events in Philadelphia. And maybe rag-tag is too kind a descriptor. This was an army that was not only poorly clothed but ill-fed as well. Often local farmers sold their produce and livestock to the better financed British. Then there was the issue of many American troops returning to their families every December 31 as annual commitments expired. Washington's "army" would shrink to a few thousand. Washington lost a number of battles - he was not surrounded by an experienced military-educated team of officers and staff, but he kept the army together. Eventually the Brits made the Big Mistake at Yorktown, and with the very timely help of the French, the Revolutionary War was over. My major disappointment with this portion of the book was that Chernow elected not to use maps. There were several battles described in some detail which would have been much easier to visualize with a single map. Five years later Washington was our first President. He was unopposed, and his intention was to serve one term, perhaps less if possible. He yearned to retire to Mt. Vernon but did not have that opportunity for another eight years. There were two interesting learnings for me in this section of the book. The first is that Washington as President was now in a position to set precedent since not every detail of governing was clearly defined in the founding documents. Many of those issues dealt with the specific duties o the Executive and Legislative branches. The second was the birth o political parties, each with different viewpoints on the kind of country America was to become. For example, while Washington (and Hamilton) believed in a strong executive role, others felt it would be too easy for the United States to morph into a monarchy-like government too reminiscent of the British royatly from whom we had just separated.. This section of the book made clear that while many of our forefathers may have been "founding brothers" they did not always get along all that well and at various points in our early history, relationships broke off and were never repaired. It is interesting to see so many parallels with governing the US in 2015. In addition to the War years and the first Presidency years, the book covers a lot of other ground central to Washington's life. All of it is very important and I would not want any of the subjects deleted. But I think most could have been abbreviated. These include the ongoing changes at Mount Vernon over the years from crop selection to building additions to draperies, the relationship with George's mother, his dental problems, all of the portraits he sat for, slavery, George's eye for the ladies, and his delightful relationship with Lafayette. The material dealing with slavery alone could have yielded a separate book. As a matter of fact, I think a book dealing with the issue of slavery and American presidents from Washington to Lincoln could be a winner. Nevertheless, five stars all the way. Highly recommended.

I greatly enjoyed reading a biography of Washington that reveals him as a whole man, with ambitions, sorrows, frustrations, occasional bursts of ego, but always a vision of what was possible and fierce determination to see it through to fruition. We see his genius and we also see his weaknesses and how he overcame or compensated for them. We see his confidence and his humility and uncertainty. We see the interplay of politics in a manner I have not seen in other biographies of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin and others of our founding Fathers. Washington as a legend has always been impressive. Washington as a complete human being is more so -- to overcome one's own nature to achieve a vision for the future of an entire continent is the epitome of greatness. The only weakness, in my point of view, was that in Chernow's veneration of Washington, he showed both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in distinctly negative light. While their interactions with Washington may deserve harsh treatment, it must be remembered that it is the combination of all of these incredible men that made America what it became. The fact that the nation was founded by men dedicated to such disparate points of view is, in part, what led our fledgling country to be one where opposition is considered healthy. To demonize any of these men is to demean what their differences accomplished. Luckily, Chernow does not go this far, but if one has not read more about Adams and Jefferson and the early days of our nation, it might be more difficult to see the importance of the discussion (however nasty it got) between the Federalists and the Republicans. Chernow tells the story of Washington through anecdotes, references to letters, documents, and other histories of the era, which I found interesting and fun and compelling. Overall, this is an excellent biography that shows Washington the man as well as the General and the President. I highly recommend it!

It is quite a commitment by the reader to literally pick up and hold Ron Chernow's heavy (800+ pages) WASHINGTON and read it cover to cover. Chernow loves to write long books that are very readable, and yet surround you with many historical antidotes, character studies, and yet the length scares you from making the time commitment needed. I will admit I had to stop about midway to read another book before returning to Washington. Not that I was not enjoying Washington but the Washington personality can be a bit boring and repetitive at times. Maybe this is the type of book the Kindle was born for. I do agree that the book certainly deserves its Pulitzer Prize. It is written for the most part in a series of short chapters that almost stand alone as short stories. This enables one to read a chapter or two a day and still have a fulfilling reading experience. Chernow has done a masterful job of painting a complete picture of the Washington's personality and accomplishments. He is able to break into Washington's inner thoughts who's discovery is the result of research into the many newly located documents and letters. Chernow includes how concerned Washington was over money issues, that everyone thought rich and yet he had financial failure after failure and was land poor (and Washington would also say slavery poor, he owned over 300 with almost 100 under 12 years old and he discussed how unprofitable they were to maintain considering their low output. He freed his slaves after his death and the death of Martha. It was his hope others in the South would follow. No other founding father did however.) Washington was the right man and personality at the right time in America's history. He was the lease educated among a group of peers that were the educated elites of their time no doubt. Washington was a good listener and tired to build bridges, heard all sides of debate and was a strong advocate for the new constitution, a national army (vs state militias) and for a strong centralized national government. Despite being a Southerner most of his opposition came from his home state of Virginia. This because he was always a Federalist and sided with Hamilton on issue after issue, enough so that Jefferson and Madison became serious political rivals, mounting many attacks and forming the Republicans. Chernow shows how even in the late 1700's Washington had to deal with the South's fears and jealousy of the North and Washington's fear that it threatened the future of the union. The book is full of stories and adventures and accomplishments. But its real interest lies in relationships and how Washington managed them. He covers them all from his extended family (he had no children) to his marriage to his slaves to his political and military supporters and rivals. Washington was rather consistent and stoic when faced with life and death. So many died around him in combat and through disease that Washington seems to have lived a life of good fortune. (Although his death was quickened by a series of doctors that had only one cure, that was to bleed him to the point that he had lost half of his bodies volume of blood when he died.) Chernow spends a lot of time talking about artists who painted Washington and the results of these sessions. It would have been nice if these resulting portraits would have been shown on the page adjacent to the text discussing the picture. After you have finished the book you have a strong feeling that you have come to know this man, Washington. He is no longer some marble figure or infallible genius who became the father of his country. Which got me to thinking that when US History is taught in our schools the curriculum should spend more time on the conflicts, disagreements, and regional and economic issues fought over (peacefully up to the civil war) between the various "founding fathers" rather than foster that all was genius and agreement. For example Jefferson did not think much of the constitution and Washington saw it as a "living" document that could not possibly answer every question as the country grew and changed. Washington understood the nation's greatness would be determined on how things were implemented for good or bad. For the good Washington was there to set the way.

Really long and detailed account of the life of Washington, but I would leave out nothing. Chernow's prose and choice of detail is so interesting it is not difficult to read the 800+ pages. It. ought to be required reading for every senior in high school. Especially the shop kids.

Carefully researched and the most detailed series of events and incidents involving General and later President George WAshington. It is so exacting that over 800 pages are provided as text. This is a very scholarly work and it is truly worth reading and accordingly richly deserving the the Puliter Prize.

"Washington-A Life" - Ron Chernow The following comments are for the abridged CD audio book version of "Washington-A Life " by Ron Chernow. Edward Herrmann reads the book. Penguin Audio markets this item. This listener found the narrator, Edward Herrmann, an excellent speaker whose clear pronunciation and moderate pacing a pleasure to listen too. Mr. Herrmann has an admirable talent for subtly projecting the emotion context of a passage with a modest inflection his voice. In the recent past I have listened to Mr. Herrmann read "No Ordinary Times", "Einstein" and "John Adams". He is clearly one of the foremost readers of audio books. This abridged audio book consist 12 compact disks with a total playtime of approximately 14 and one half hours. The disks are secured in two standard cardboard multi CD holders. These two inserts slide into the external packaging box. The CD holders do not have identifications on the spine listing the CD numbers. I mention this minor point because a numbering feature is very useful when you're looking for the next CD. To make life easier for myself I add an identifying sticky note on the CD holders. I had purchased this audio book on Amazon. My local Barnes and Noble has a copy of the unabridged version with 33 compact disks and a playtime of 42 hours. The reader is not Edward Herrmann. You can listen to a short passage from this version on Amazon. I am greatly in favor of unabridged versions BUT the reader better have a voice you want to listen to for 42 hours! I will let you be the judge. For several years I did a significant amount of business travel. I filled those hours listening to numerous non-fiction audio books most of them in the history-biography category. Now that I'm retired I still find myself behind the wheel several hours a week and continue to make audio books my companion. Many of the books I have listened too were ok, some are very good and a very few compelling listening. "Washington - A Life" was a very good book and kept my interest. There are two reasons for this personal judgment. I found the subject matter interesting and the author has a brilliant knack for bringing to life historical events and personalities. I did not find the book compelling perhaps because I was familiar with the life of George Washington from other audio books "His Excellency" by Joseph Ellis and "An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America" by Henry Wiencek. The authors stated goal is that by using the recent "explosion of research," he wants to render George Washington "real" and "credible," to replace "frosty respect" with "visceral appreciation." I believe the author has achieved his goals and the abridged audio book version is recommended to all interested listeners. I would also recommend the excellent video of author Chernow discussing his book filmed at actual historical locations pivotal the Washington's story. This short video is posted on the Amazon book page for "Washington-A Life".