Much has been written in the past two centuries about George Washington the statesman and “father of his country.” Less often discussed...
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Mar 26, 2009
Robert
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Since biographies of George Washington seem to suffer from his infamous inscrutability, instead of focusing on the person we may never know, Lengel writes a biography of Washington the military man, whose exploits are well recorded. Readers will not require a working knowledge of strategy and tactics to be able to follow the author's narrative or his assessment of Washington as a military commander. At the risk of spoiling the book, the conclusion is that he made some astonishing blunders and ap
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Jan 21, 2009
Jeff
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I really enjoyed this book. It was a portrait of George Washington’s life as a military commander and especially focusing on his role as the commander in chief of the continental army during the revolutionary war. This book was insightful and thoughtful. I am not an expert in military history so I wondered about some of the analysis of the battles and actions of the army during the war. The one word that kept coming to my mind while I was reading this book was vision. George Washington had
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Dec 16, 2009
Grumpus
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A great biography of his military life. You always think of George being flawless and successful. Not true in his military career. As he learned his craft, he made mistakes along the way and they are all documented here. The descriptive battle scenes are disturbing but realistic.
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Apr 03, 2008
Adam
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This isn't really a biography, it's more of an assessment of how good or bad a general Washington was, based mostly on analyses of individual battles with lots of evidence thrown in from personal correspondence and the like. Near as I can make out, the conclusion is that he wasn't the best general in the world by a long chalk, but he happened to be really good at doing a few things that really needed to get done at that time and place. The arguments are solid enough, the guy makes sense, I guess
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Jan 12, 2011
Bryn
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A very readable analysis of George Washington's military career, this book is not for the casual reader but for those more interested and appreciative of 18th century warfare tactics. I found the detailed descriptions of the battles interesting but it got confusing when the author gave detailed troop manuevers regarding terrain and topography. If I was already more familiar with the battlefields I might appreciate and understand the descriptions of the battles. Overall it was pretty good and ver
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Jul 07, 2009
David
rated it:
Much like "Washington’s Crossing" (see my reivew). No truly new information, but a more detailed look at Washington’s major battles and a frank assessment of the man, both militarily and in general (no pun intended).
Nov 07, 2009
J
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This is the fifth Washington biography I have read in the last ten years of so. I found new material here that I had not run into before. It is an excellent work if you have an interest in Washington the man and Washington the general. There is also some interesting material about the generals who served under him. I recommend it for people interested in the Revolutionary War period in particular.
Jul 12, 2008
Jason
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I've always been fascinated with Revolutionary War-era history and military history in general. By focusing on Washington's history through the glass of his military life the author's able to color and explain all of his decisions in his ultimate roles throughout the revolution and his Presidency. It's an illuminating and well-written look at a man who is the most deserving of any historical American figure to be studied.
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Feb 07, 2009
TJ
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Very good book. Extremely detailed and fair to the subject and the time period. This is the man most responsible for our independence and our way of life. Democracy would never have spread around the globe without this "experiment" in the USA and the USA would never had remained a country if not for the bravery, wisdom, and hard work of this man.
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Sep 02, 2008
Thomas
rated it:
Focuses on Washington's military leadership. Labors somewhat and omits some of the most interesting details of Washington's career, but overall not bad.
May 26, 2008
Kate
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I read this for a class, but really enjoyed learning about George Washington the General. He wasn't perfect and that was a relief.
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