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Oct 28, 2011

Abigail rated it:

A magisterial book, one which deserves a far more magisterial review than I am capable of giving it, Ron Chernow's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of George Washington is as well written as it is informative, and, despite its length, never once fails to keep the reader involved in its unfolding story. And what a story it is! The name of Washington needs no introduction - memorialized in our history, in the very name of our capital city, as well as the name of one of our fifty states, it is ever More...

18 comments like (6 people liked it)

Feb 06, 2012

Richard rated it:

This was the fourth (and thickest) book I've read about George Washington, and the third book I've read by Chernow (I previously read his Rockefeller and Hamilton books) so I knew what to expect going in. It's slow moving at times and it took me a little while to get traction, but I found that the pace picked up around the time that the Revolution got underway. Very well researched, and a lot of depth. Chernow covers Washington the farmer, the soldier, the general, the President, and the patriar More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 09, 2011

Curtis rated it:

This reading has enabled me to become more intimately acquainted with this larger-than-life hero of mine. I am able to more fully appreciate the drudgery of war that Washington endured over the months and years. His ability to deal with the paradox of his situation is what in my mind makes him the true hero. It becomes clear that he was conforming to a divinely appointed roll. As he himself believed, providence worked in his and the new counties behalf.

As the new government works out More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 24, 2011

Ronald rated it:

I am up to the point of Washington's first Presidency. I am especially enjoying the way Chernow has presented the very human side of GW and the people with whom he associated. Makes one realize that human nature has not changed over generations. Too bad we do not have leaders such as GW today. I doubt that he would have survived the brutal political process that modern day Presidents must run the gauntlet. I sense that GW suffered in his presidential role. I believe that he may have been in More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 09, 2012

Ben rated it:

I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the book, especially the revolutionary war bits, but as the book went on, and on, and on, my enjoyment waned. Still, I feel I learned a few useful things, such as the sour relationship between Jefferson, Adams, and Washington as time went on, and his post-farewell change of attitude towards party--or at least, his embracing of the Federalist Party as a matter of practical opposition to the Republican party's ideals.

I was also a touch surprised t More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Jim rated it:

How many biographies can offer a fresh, three-dimensional portait of an historical icon who has been dead more than two centuries? Ron Chernow has done just that with this masterful work on George Washington. Thanks in large part to an immense, one-of-a-kind Washington archive at the University of Virginia, Chernow brings to life the stoic figure we all think we know from the many paintings and sculptures of our most important founding father. He was vain, an incurable perfectionist, and even a More...

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Nov 26, 2011

Chandler rated it:

History is my weak point. So when I found out the country club book club was reading this book, I signed on eagerly!! Fascinating to read about his military campaigns and his desire to better himself in so many arenas. This book is clearly written although I found parts of it redundant. How times do you have to say that George Washington was humble? However written between the lines is that George was always working to get ahead socially, financially and politically. All are trappings of p More...

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Nov 05, 2011

Kelley rated it:

What a spectacular biography! Chernow wanted to write a comprehensive book about George Washington's life, and he certainly did accomplish that. This book goes well beyond the myth of Washington and delves deeply into what made him the greatest American of his age. A man of phenomenal stature (militarily and politically), who was one of the first superstars of his era, he was also a man who was deeply flawed (owning hundreds of slaves and consistently in debt). Yet, he was also a man who was More...

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Sep 13, 2011

Chad rated it:

Chernow's biography of Washington is more thorough and comprehensive than Joseph Ellis's His Excellency, and I would certainly recommend it over that slimmer account. It was interesting to compare them, however, and Chernow wasn't above quoting Ellis here and there to expand his discussion of America's first president. A Life is far more detailed in its coverage of Washington's family, friendships, and possible romantic involvements (which included Sally Fairfax and Elizabeth Powell). Chernow More...

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Aug 24, 2011

Courtney rated it:

Since I began this book, and it took me a few weeks to read, I have talked about it countless times to anyone who will listen. It was extremely well-written and read like a story, almost historical fiction. Chernow incorporates a huge amount of primary texts, both from Washington, who was a prolific letter writer, and from his contemporaries - friends and random admirers and critics. He begins the book with a prologue about Gilbert Stuart's very staid portrait of Washington, about how America More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 21, 2011

Andy rated it:

This great biography of George Washington deserves its critical and popular praise. At the end I felt that I knew both the man and the country he helped create.

Chernow does a better job than any other book I've read in depicting Washington's courage during battles and how his presence and leadership stopped many American retreats and inspired many American advances during key moments in the Revolutionary War. However, this is not a fawning biography, Chernow discusses strategic mistake More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 17, 2011

Sario rated it:

You mean, the leaders of our country have never gotten along? You mean, we've been bickering and criticizing each other since day one? You mean, our Founding Fathers were just as flawed and conflicted as our current leaders are? Hu! Who would have ever known?!

This biography of George Washington was fascinating and incredibly thorough. I learned so many details - like his teeth weren't really wooden, they were human possibly bought from the slaves that George Washington reluctantly ow More...

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Aug 03, 2011

Richard rated it:

Ron Chernow, known for his epic and exhaustive biographies has found the perfect epic subject for his talents: George Washington. The result is a spectacular portrait of a great man rendered more human than ever before. Chernow's goal is not new: to recover the man from the myth, but never has it been done with greater success. Here we meet the many George Washingtons: the young, brash, 20-year old up-start, the devoted family man, the canny political leader, the businessman, the indomitable com More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 16, 2011

Ryan rated it:

I've never read anything about the Revolutionary War or this time period in the U.S. The story of Washington's command of the Revolutionary War is certainly a good yarn, spanning the entire first half of the book. Washington really wasn't a great war strategist, but he kept his cool. It's amazing to learn how close we came to losing to the British (in the Battle of New York, for example). Throughout the book, the author speaks to the slavery question, which Washington was never able to satis More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 14, 2011

Alan rated it:

Superb book. An interesting biography of our best known, but least understood founding father. George Washington is probably one of the greatest leaders of any country in history. He willingly gave up power on multiple occasions. He resigned as general of the Continental Army at the end of the Revolutionary War, and he left office after two terms of the presidency. Peaceful transitions of power did not occur then and they do not happen today. Even today, leaders all across the globe refuse to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 31, 2011

Mark rated it:

Very thorough but it just seemed so long.
Pros: Well researched and unbiased. This seemed like an honest biography - willing to consider Washington and his greatness along with his weaknesses and challenges. Extremely thorough - if you really want to know Washington, this is a great book. The portion of the book that covers the period of time leading up to the Revolutionary War through the end of war is masterfully done. I was fully engaged through that section of the biography.
C More...

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Jan 18, 2011

Chris rated it:

Obviously this is a book about George Washington and it's a good one, but it is so much more than that. Here's a chance to see America at a critical time in our history from roughly 1750 to 1800 through the eyes of a man at the center of it all. As a member of the Virginia aristocracy, Washington gradually came to appreciate the northern, free state perspective coming out of his Revolutionary War experience and this ability to appreciate the entire country became a defining characteristic. Of More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Oct 27, 2010

Matt is currently reading it

I'm not reviewing this book, but in my recent review of "The Whites of Their Eyes" for Willamette Week, I described Jill Lepore's new book as "a welcome change of pace from the 900-page biographies of George Washington now straining bookstore shelves across the country"--an oblique reference, of course, to Ron Chernow's new book. I was merely making the point that Lepore's book is a lot shorter, and therefore perhaps a bit more accessible to readers, than Chernow's. It was ki More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 20, 2010

Steven rated it:

A wonderful biography of George Washington. The author, Ron Chernow, is an accomplished biographer, having already penned lengthy tomes on John D. Rockefeller and Alexander Hamilton. This work is another triumph for him.

The book is written in a literate fashion. It begins at the beginning, examining Washington's childhood and his family background. It discusses some of the enduring characteristics of his nature and when these began to manifest themselves (e.g., trying to quell his am More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 24, 2011

Cheryl rated it:

Long, meaty, very interesting.

For a biography, I was amazed with the flow and consideration of what the characters were thinking. Sometimes there was a suggestion of the person's point of view. I don't know if I bought everything. Heck, I don't know if I even noticed some of the suggestions. It seemed very logical to me.

Interesting points - George Washington started the French Indian War. Hamilton and Jefferson appeared to work together at the beginning of Washingt More...

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Jan 17, 2012

Michael rated it:

Chernow's life of Washington is, first and foremost, an eminently readable biography of an essential American political and military figure who has been shrouded in the Parson Weems platitudes since the day he died. Chernow melts the granite facade of the father of our country and makes him human and understandable.

Notes:

Washington's early life is less the story of a self-mad man and more the story of a lucky and skillful social climber. Chernow writes Washington's youn More...

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Feb 19, 2011

Darlene rated it:

I have been a political junkie for most of my life. I realized, however, that outside of the presidents in my lifetime, I have little or no knowledge of the earlier presidents. My goal is to read a biography of every president (if possible). I started with this one.. Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow. It is a tome.. over 800 pages but I am so happy I stuck with it.Outside of the folklore, I realized I knew nothing of the person who was George Washington. This book changed that for me. Chernow' More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 11, 2011

Wendall Paul rated it:

The subject matter of this book is simple enough to discern. What a reader will discover within the pages of this book is elementary. Washington: A Life. The Life of George Washington. Surveyor of western territory in the disputed Ohio Valley. Lieutenant Colonel in the French-Indian War. Commander-in-Chief of the American Revolutionary Continental Army. President of the American Constitutional Convention. First President of the United States of America. Frontiersman. Farmer. Stat More...

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Feb 23, 2011

Garrett rated it:

Every author writing on George Washington leads the preface with the same sentence: "The reason the world needs another Washington biography is because..." Chernow claims that newly discovered papers and insight from recent research justifies a new comprehensive single volume. In other words, he thinks he can out-do the reigning Washington biography: James Flexner's Washington: The Indispensable Man, which has been the gold standard since 1974. Many good "Washingtons" since t More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Feb 04, 2011

Linda rated it:

I always seem to start the year with big biographies: TR, Sinatra, now GW, and the library says my name has come up for the Keith Richards autobio! Chernow is a great writer: engaging, with an easy flowing style that makes the past come alive. Lots of detail but not so much that the story gets bogged down. Just read about Washington's Christmas victories at Trenton in 1777 during the Revolutionary War. Every page makes it more incredible that the Americans ever managed to win independence and be More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Feb 09, 2012

Roger rated it:

With this comprehensive biography of Washington, Chernow has taken precedence as the foremost authority of chronicling the life of our nation’s first president. He provides incredible details and insight that, at times, made the narrative read like fiction. He presents Washington as a man of commitment, sacrifice, and discipline. It is the combination of these outstanding qualities that enabled Washington to answer the hero’s call of history. In Chernow’s estimation, Washington was the sole reas More...

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Nov 05, 2010

Zohar - ManOfLaBook.com rated it:

“Washington: A Life” by Ron Chernow is an encompassing biography of George Washington. This marvelous book breaks the wooden image of Washington and brings out the character of the man we all learned about with all his charm and personality.

“Washington: A Life” is divided into six parts:

The Frontiersman:
starts with a quick history of the Washington family all the way to the time young George left the British Army for the life of a happily married Virginia planter. Alo More...

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Nov 09, 2011

Corny rated it:

A monumental study of our First President meticulously written by Ron Chernow, this book leaves little to be desired. Never has Washington appeared so lifelike to me!! I had always thought of him as aloof, without emotion, and somewhat larger than life. Here he lies exposed for all his warts, bad teeth and incredible temper. He is still the great man, but somehow his frailties make him so much more real. It is almost irresistible to deify Washington, since his contribution to our history was wit More...

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May 30, 2011

Anna rated it:

After reading Alexander Hamilton I was looking forward to this book. It was very comprehensive and mostly insightful. Washington was a man of great character. A huge contrast with our leaders today. It saddens me to think how far our country has fallen. Chernow makes light of Washington's faith but just reading the quotes in the book contradicts that. Washington was a skilled politician and really held the army together while enduring many personal hardships.

“The blessing and protec More...

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Apr 27, 2011

Christopher rated it:

There are lots of reasons it took me 3 weeks to read this book, but most of them boil down to the book. Immense and unfocused, it is a slow read, if fairly interesting.
Two things bothered me about this book. First, it falls into the "new discoveries about this famous person" genre, which might be interesting if you've read lots of books about someone already, but lengthy arguments disproving a view that you don't have or exposing something that differs with prior histories is o More...

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