You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington

by Alexis Coe

I was constantly reminded of this when I was asked what I was working on.4 The conversation often went like this: “What’s your book about?” “George Washington.” “His marriage?” “No.” “His wife?” “No.” “His . . . social life?” “No. It’s a biography. Like a man would write.”

Tanacharison, the Seneca chief, knew just what to call the twenty-one-year-old upstart who summoned him in 1753. His Christian name might have been George Washington, but Tanacharison, known to Europeans as the “Half-King,” would call him “Conotocarious.” In English, it translated to Town Taker, or Devourer of Villages.

If the American Revolution had not taken place, Washington would probably be remembered today as the instigator of humanity’s first world war, one that lasted seven years.