A new, brash, and unexpected view of the president we thought we knew, from the bestselling author of Astoria
Two decades before he led America to independence, George Washington was a flailing young soldier serving the British Empire in the vast wilderness of the Ohio Valley. Naïve and self-absorbed, the twenty-two-year-old officer accidentally ignited the French and Indian War—a conflict that … French and Indian War—a conflict that opened colonists to the possibility of an American Revolution.
With powerful narrative drive and vivid writing, Young Washington recounts the wilderness trials, controversial battles, and emotional entanglements that transformed Washington from a temperamental striver into a mature leader. Enduring terrifying summer storms and subzero winters imparted resilience and self-reliance, helping prepare him for what he would one day face at Valley Forge. Leading the Virginia troops into battle taught him to set aside his own relentless ambitions and stand in solidarity with those who looked to him for leadership. Negotiating military strategy with British and colonial allies honed his diplomatic skills. And thwarted in his obsessive, youthful love for one woman, he grew to cultivate deeper, enduring relationships.
By weaving together Washington’s harrowing wilderness adventures and a broader historical context, Young Washington offers new insights into the dramatic years that shaped the man who shaped a nation.
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Stark brings to vivid life a series of critical turning points in the career of a youthful George Washington in search of himself and his role in history. A portrait of greatness in the making.
A provocative, inspiring, and disarmingly honest examination of how the character of America’s greatest general and president was forged, tempered, and polished inside the crucible of what defined America during its dark and promising moment of emergence: the wilderness, the land itself.
Very well researched. My only complaint is that the author speculated as to what might have possibly been happening in severs sections of the book. Personally I don’t care if the discussion took place around the campfire or in tent. Seems a ploy to up the work count. But overall a very informative study on Washington’s development into the man he became.
Great History of Young George Washington and and his accomplishments and his mistakes and
how he learned from them
and became the George Washington that
we know from our History Books
Very well written and interesting abo the GWs early years.
Forget the idea of a musty history tome; this is a gripping, cinematic adventure tale that made me envious of not just young George Washington’s exploits, but Peter Stark’s ability to make them so real and immediate.
Overall, a good book. It was especially good on the French and Indian War, of which I knew very little. I would recommend it.
Lots of details I had not known of Washington from about age 15 to 30, but Stark’s constant speculation as to what Washington was thinking was more than off-putting. The historian’s job is to inform, not play armchair psychic or psychologist.
Stark is also carried away by Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces, determined to make Washington into a figure of archetypal myth. Don’t push it so hard! Yes, it’s an interesting theory, but the Hero of Myth becomes the Procrustean Bed that Stark is determined to force every incident into. Not everything has to “fit” your pet theory.
Finally, I was concerned that Stark is out of touch with the basic conventions of eighteenth-century epistolary art. When a man wrote to a superior and subscribed himself with “I Am, Sir, Your Humble Servant” or “Sir, I Am Yours to Command” or something similar, he was simply signing off. It meant no more than a man in the twentieth century closing a letter with “Sincerely yours.” Was the latter truly sincere? Frequently not, often decidedly not. These are mere social conventions. The eighteenth century was a more formal age than ours. Don’t read more into it than is there.
The quotations in original spelling are delightful. However, in some quotations spelling has been modernized, showing an over-reliance on secondary sources. Look up the original.
Because of these flaws, I think I am being generous in assigning three stars.
Overall I enjoyed learning about Washington as a young man before he became the great General and first president of our nation. I strongly disagree with the author’s historical revisionist perspective of Washington triggering the French and Indian War. I also feel he was rather harsh in his opinion of Washington the young man: who among us has not looked at one’s own youth and thought, “How could I have thought…”
Technically this work is well written with very few errors or lack of proof reading.
very informative. learned many new facts about Washington and how he developed into the great leader he became.
Excellent book that explains in detail how the French and Indian War help made George Washington into a great general and the father of our country.
I knew little about GW early life. This filled that void.