3 ms·
This was an interesting endeavour and I have to say a good initiative by someone who could have just stayed in luxury and not seen the realities of most poor tr
by Agentlien 9y ago
This was an interesting endeavour and I have to say a good initiative by someone who could have just stayed in luxury and not seen the realities of most poor travellers.
- ggg9990 9y agoWashington was an exceptional man who walked away from near-total power. It’s only been done a few times in human history.
- chris_wot 9y agoWhat would the best book be on him? I'm an Australian and my grasp of U.S. history is, to be frank, almost non-existent.
- adventured 9y agoHis Excellency, by Joseph J. Ellis, is very good. I strongly recommend it. Founding Brothers, by Ellis, is also very good (and short). David McCullough has several tremendous US history books, including John Adams, 1776, The Wright Brothers, The Path Between the Seas.
- waynebaswell 9y agoHis Excellency is a great book.
- sparky_z 9y agoI haven't read it yet (will soon), but I've heard nothing but good things about the Ron Chernow biography. I'm reading his biography of Hamilton right now, and I'm really impressed. I think he strikes just the right balance between academic rigor and narrative storytelling.
- jeremyvaught 9y agoCan confirm. I read them both last summer. Amazing people, fantastic writing.
- chris_wot 9y agoThanks, appreciate the info, I'll get the book and have a read.
- muro 9y agoIt only partially covers Washington, but I found the revolutions podcast great: http://www.revolutionspodcast.com/ http://www.revolutionspodcast.com/ the American revolution starts here: http://www.revolutionspodcast.com/2014/02/017-the-new-world.html http://www.revolutionspodcast.com/2014/02/017-the-new-world....
- jamiesonbecker 9y agoI really enjoyed Seven Men, by Metaxas. It profiles the substantial legend and actual known history behind one of the most amazing men in U.S. history (along with six others). It explains the roots of Washington's incredible ambition and some of his worst decisions, and contrasts them against his amazing decision to not assume the throne in the immediate post-war period, even at a crucial point: when his army needed him to and actually painted him into a corner to force him to do so, and when the nascent Republic was crumbling and he could have taken the reins with the best of intentions and restored order after a bitter and divisive war. That he didn't assume power, even for a 'short' period, is simply astounding. I also enjoyed Washington's Secret Six, about his (even today) little-known spy ring and how they communicated, even in the midst of fashionable (Tory/loyalist/pro-British) New York society at the time. Capture would mean torture, imprisonment, and likely execution as a spy, even in the civilized world of the eighteenth century. The opsec and infosec that they practiced was, well, revolutionary. (ahem) It's also amazing that Washington, after serving as a Colonel in His Majesty's army, was effectively a traitor against the King and so would have probably been executed had the Revolutionary War been lost, and yet it's obvious that he was never fighting for his own life: he was fearless. He was fighting for something greater.
- rajacombinator 9y agoWhat are some other times?
- pigeons 9y agoWashington admired the popular representation of Cato the Younger, and founded a society with his name, and his refusal to assume permanent absolute power is seen as analogous to Cato's.
- rajacombinator 9y agoThanks. Shameful how poorly educated we are in this era compared to the era of the founders, that I should not know this example, or of GW's admiration of it.