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Read "Surprising Facts About George Washington" from Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow From Pulitzer-prize winner Ron Chernow, a landmark biography of George Washington.
In Washington: A Life celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one-volume life of Washington, this crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian War, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president.
Despite the reverence his name inspires, Washington remains a lifeless waxwork for many Americans, worthy but dull. A laconic man of granite self-control, he often arouses more respect than affection. In this groundbreaking work, based on massive research, Chernow dashes forever the stereotype of a stolid, unemotional man. A strapping six feet, Washington was a celebrated horseman, elegant dancer, and tireless hunter, with a fiercely guarded emotional life. Chernow brings to vivid life a dashing, passionate man of fiery opinions and many moods. Probing his private life, he explores his fraught relationship with his crusty mother, his youthful infatuation with the married Sally Fairfax, and his often conflicted feelings toward his adopted children and grandchildren. He also provides a lavishly detailed portrait of his marriage to Martha and his complex behavior as a slave master.
At the same time, Washington is an astute and surprising portrait of a canny political genius who knew how to inspire people. Not only did Washington gather around himself the foremost figures of the age, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, but he also brilliantly orchestrated their actions to shape the new federal government, define the separation of powers, and establish the office of the presidency.
In this unique biography, Ron Chernow takes us on a page-turning journey through all the formative events of America's founding. With a dramatic sweep worthy of its giant subject, Washington is a magisterial work from one of our most elegant storytellers.
Review
Praise for Napoleon
and#8220;Is another long life of Napoleon really necessary? On three counts, the answer given by Andrew Robertsand#8217;s impressive book is an emphatic yes. The most important is that this is the first single-volume general biography to make full use of the treasure trove of Napoleonand#8217;s 33,000-odd letters, which began being published in Paris only in 2004. Second, Roberts, who has previously written on Napoleon and Wellington, is a masterly analyst of the French emperorand#8217;s many battles. Third, his book is beautifully written and a pleasure to read.and#8221;
and#8212;The Economist
and#8220;A compelling biography of the preeminent French general that stands apart from the rest, owing to the authorand#8217;s thoroughness, accuracy, and attention to detail. Roberts relies on his military expertise, Napoleonand#8217;s surviving correspondence (33,000 items in all), and exhaustive on-site studies of French battlegrounds. . . . This voluminous work is likely to set the standard for subsequent accounts of and#173;Napoleonand#8217;s life.and#8221;
and#8212;Library Journal (starred review)
Review
Praise for Napoleon
and#8220;An epically scaled new biography . . . Roberts brilliantly conveys the sheer energy and presence of Napoleon the organizational and military whirlwind who, through crisp and incessant questioning, sized up people and problems and got things done. . . . His dynamism shines in Robertsand#8217;s set-piece chapters on major battles like Austerlitz, Jena, and Marengo, turning visionary military maneuvers into politically potent moments.and#8221;
and#8212;The New York Times Book Review
and#8220;Roberts is a masterly storyteller. . . . I would recommend his book to anyone seeking an accessible chronicle, rich in anecdote, of Napoleonand#8217;s fantastic story.and#8221;
and#8212;Max Hastings, The Wall Street Journal
and#8220;With his customary flair and keen historical eye, Andrew Roberts has delivered the goods again. This is the best single one-volume biography of Napoleon in English for the last four decades. A tour de force that belongs on every history lovers bookshelf!and#8221;
and#8212;Jay Winik, bestselling author of The Great Upheaval and April 1865
and#8220;Is another long life of Napoleon really necessary? On three counts, the answer given by Andrew Robertsand#8217;s impressive book is an emphatic yes. The most important is that this is the first single-volume general biography to make full use of the treasure trove of Napoleonand#8217;s 33,000-odd letters, which began being published in Paris only in 2004. Second, Roberts, who has previously written on Napoleon and Wellington, is a masterly analyst of the French emperorand#8217;s many battles. Third, his book is beautifully written and a pleasure to read.and#8221;
and#8212;The Economist
and#8220;Napoleon remade France and much of Europe in his fifteen years in power and proved himself one of historyand#8217;s greatest military commanders. Robertsand#8217;s access to Napoleonand#8217;s thirty-three thousand letters, only recently available, allowed him to create a fully human portrait of this larger-than-life figure.and#8221;
and#8212;The Wall Street Journal, Holiday Gift Guide
and#8220;A huge, rich, deep, witty, humane and unapologetically admiring biography that is a pleasure to read. The Napoleon painted here is a whirlwind of a manand#8212;not only a vigorous and supremely confident commander, but an astonishingly busy governor, correspondent and lover, too. . . . To dive into Robertsand#8217;s new book is to understandand#8212;indeed, to feeland#8212;why this peculiarly brilliant Corsican managed for so long to dazzle the world.and#8221;
and#8212;Dan Jones, The Telegraph
and#8220;Roberts in his Napoleon achieves the near impossible by writing on this extravagantly well-covered subject with a freshness and excitement that makes readers think they have stumbled on something entirely new.and#8221;
and#8212;Philip Ziegler, The Spectator, Books of the Year
and#8220;Truly a Napoleonic triumph of a book, elegantly written, epic in scale, novelistic in detail, irresistibly galloping with the momentum of a cavalry charge, as comfortable on the battlefield as in the bedroom. Here, at last, is the full biography.and#8221;
and#8212;Simon Sebag Montefiore, Evening Standard, Books of the Year
and#8220;Andrew Robertsand#8217;s Napoleon is a brilliant example of and#8216;great manand#8217; history, brimming with personality and the high-octane Bonapartist spirit.and#8221;
and#8212;John Bew, New Statesman, Books of the Year
and#8220;Entertaining, even addictive . . . Roberts writes with great vigor, style, and fluency.and#8221;
and#8212;Sunday Times (London)
and#8220;Magnificent . . . Robertsand#8217;s fine book encompasses all the evidence to give a brilliant portrait of the man. The book, as it needs to be, is massive, yet the pace is brisk and itand#8217;s never overwhelmed by the scholarly research, which was plainly immense.and#8221;
and#8212;Mail on Sunday
and#8220;Roberts not only brings the Napoleon story up to date but, with new evidence from the archives and an original spin on the present, makes a compelling case for why we should all read anew about the little Corsican in the 21st century.and#8221;
and#8212;The Observer (London)
and#8220;Magisterial and beautifully written . . . A richly detailed and sure-footed reappraisal of the man, his achievementsand#8212;and failuresand#8212;and the extraordinary times in which he lived.and#8221;
and#8212;Standpoint
and#8220;A definitive account that dispels many of the myths that surrounded Napoleon from his lifetime to the present day.and#8221;
and#8212;Publishers Weekly
and#8220;A compelling biography of the preeminent French general that stands apart from the rest, owing to the authorand#8217;s thoroughness, accuracy, and attention to detail. Roberts relies on his military expertise, Napoleonand#8217;s surviving correspondence (33,000 items in all), and exhaustive on-site studies of French battlegrounds. . . . This voluminous work is likely to set the standard for subsequent accounts.and#8221;
and#8212;Library Journal (starred review)
Review
“
Truly magnificent… [a] well-researched, well-written and absolutely definitive biography” –
Andrew Roberts, The Wall Street Journal “Superb… the best, most comprehensive, and most balanced single-volume biography of Washington ever written. [Chernow’s] understanding of human nature is extraordinary and that is what makes his biography so powerful.” –Gordon S. Wood, The New York Review of Books
“Chernow displays a breadth of knowledge about Washington that is nothing short of phenomenal… never before has Washington been rendered so tangibly in such a smart, tenaciously researched volume as Chernow's opus… a riveting read...” –Douglas Brinkley, The Los Angeles Times
“Until recently, I’d never believed that there could be such a thing as a truly gripping biography of George Washington…Well, I was wrong. Ron Chernow’s huge (900 pages) Washington: A Life, which I’ve just finished, does all that and more. I can’t recommend it highly enough—as history, as epic, and, not least, as entertainment. It’s as luxuriantly pleasurable as one of those great big sprawling, sweeping Victorian novels.” –Hendrik Hertzberg, The New Yorker
“[Ron Chernow] has done justice to the solid flesh, the human frailty and the dental miseries of his subject—and also to his immense historical importance… This is a magnificently fair, full-scale biography.” –The Economist
Review
“Gripping. . . . splendid history. A brilliantly clear and accessible account of the war in all its theaters. Roberts’s prose is unerringly precise and strikingly vivid. It is hard to imagine a better-told military history of World War II.” —New York Times Book Review on The Storm of War
Review
"With his new book . . . Roberts has not only written the single best history of that conflict but has also claimed his place as one of our top historians." —Daily Beast on The Storm of War
Review
“Roberts is a masterly storyteller." —Wall Street Journal on Napoleon: A Life
Synopsis
The definitive biography of the great soldier-statesman by the New York Times bestselling author of The Storm of War winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography and theGrand Prix of the Fondation Napoleon
Austerlitz, Borodino, Waterloo: his battles are among the greatest in history, but Napoleon Bonaparte was far more than a military genius and astute leader of men. Like George Washington and his own hero Julius Caesar, he was one of the greatest soldier-statesmen of all times.
Andrew Roberts s Napoleon is the first one-volume biography to take advantage of the recent publication of Napoleon s thirty-three thousand letters, which radically transform our understanding of his character and motivation. At last we see him as he was: protean multitasker, decisive, surprisingly willing to forgive his enemies and his errant wife Josephine. Like Churchill, he understood the strategic importance of telling his own story, and his memoirs, dictated from exile on St. Helena, became the single bestselling book of the nineteenth century.
An award-winning historian, Roberts traveled to fifty-three of Napoleon s sixty battle sites, discovered crucial new documents in archives, and even made the long trip by boat to St. Helena. He is as acute in his understanding of politics as he is of military history. Here at last is a biography worthy of its subject: magisterial, insightful, beautifully written, by one of our foremost historians.
"
Synopsis
The definitive biography of the great soldier-statesman by the New York Times bestselling author of The Storm of Warand#151;winner of the Grand Prix of the Fondation Napoleon 2014 Austerlitz, Borodino, Waterloo: his battles are among the greatest in history, but Napoleon Bonaparte was far more than a military genius and astute leader of men. Like George Washington and his own hero Julius Caesar, he was one of the greatest soldier-statesmen of all times.
Andrew Robertsand#8217;s Napoleon is the first one-volume biography to take advantage of the recent publication of Napoleonand#8217;s thirty-three thousand letters, which radically transform our understanding of his character and motivation. At last we see him as he was: protean multitasker, decisive, surprisingly willing to forgive his enemies and his errant wife Josephine. Like Churchill, he understood the strategic importance of telling his own story, and his memoirs, dictated from exile on St. Helena, became the single bestselling book of the nineteenth century.
An award-winning historian, Roberts traveled to fifty-three of Napoleonand#8217;s sixty battle sites, discovered crucial new documents in archives, and even made the long trip by boat to St. Helena. He is as acute in his understanding of politics as he is of military history. Here at last is a biography worthy of its subject: magisterial, insightful, beautifully written, by one of our foremost historians.
Synopsis
Winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography Celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation and the first president of the United States. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one volume biography of George Washington, this crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his adventurous early years, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president. In this groundbreaking work, based on massive research, Chernow shatters forever the stereotype of George Washington as a stolid, unemotional figure and brings to vivid life a dashing, passionate man of fiery opinions and many moods.
andldquo;Truly magnificentandhellip; [a] well-researched, well-written and absolutely definitive biographyandrdquo; andndash;Andrew Roberts, The Wall Street Journal
andldquo;Superbandhellip; the best, most comprehensive, and most balanced single-volume biography of Washington ever written.andrdquo; andndash;Gordon S. Wood, The New York Review of Books
andldquo;A truly gripping biography of George Washington... I canandrsquo;t recommend it highly enoughandmdash;as history, as epic, and, not least, as entertainment. Itandrsquo;s as luxuriantly pleasurable as one of those great big sprawling, sweeping Victorian novels.andrdquo;and#160; andndash;Hendrik Hertzberg, The New Yorker
Synopsis
and#147;A thrilling tale of military and political genius . . . Roberts is an uncommonly gifted writer.and#8221; and#151;The Washington Post and#160;
Austerlitz, Borodino, Waterloo: his battles are among the greatest in history, but Napoleon Bonaparte was far more than a military genius and an astute leader of men. Like George Washington and his own hero Julius Caesar, he was one of the greatest soldier-statesmen of all time.
Andrew Robertsand#8217;s New York Timesand#150;bestsellingand#160;Napoleonand#160;is the first single-volume, cradle-to-grave biography to take advantage of the recent publication of Napoleonand#8217;s thirty-three thousand surviving letters, which radically transform our understanding of this extraordinary man. At last we see him as he was: protean multitasker, inspired leader, passionate romantic, and visionary builder of the first modern state who cracked jokes in even the direst situations. Roberts, an award-winning historian, visited fifty-three of Napoleonand#8217;s sixty battle sites and St. Helena and made crucial discoveries in archives around the world. Here at last is a biography worthy of its subject: magisterial, insightful, and beautifully written by one of our foremost historians.
Synopsis
The New York Times-bestselling author of Napeoleon: A Life and The Storm of War tells the shattering story of the blackest day in the history of British army: the first day of the Somme Offensive, July 1, 1916 On July 1, 1916, after a five-day bombardment, 11 British and five French divisions launched their long-awaited "Big Push" on German positions on high ground above the Rivers Ancre and Somme on the Western Front. Some ground was gained, but at a terrible cost. In killing-grounds whose names are indelibly imprinted on 20th-century memory, German machine-guns—manned by troops who had sat out the storm of shellfire in deep dugouts—inflicted terrible losses on the British infantry. The British Fourth Army lost 57,470 casualties, the French Sixth Army suffered 1,590 casualties, and the German 2nd Army 10,000. And this was but the prelude to 141 days of slaughter that would witness the deaths of between 750,000 and 1 million troops. Andrew Roberts evokes the pity and the horror of the blackest day in the history of the British army—a summer’s day turned hell on earth by modern military technology—in the words of casualties, survivors, and the bereaved.
About the Author
Andrew Robertsand#160;is the bestselling, award-winning author of
and#160;The Storm of War,
Masters and Commanders,
Napoleon and Wellington, andand#160;
Waterloo, among other books. A fellow of the Napoleonic Institute, his books have won the Wolfson History Prize and the British Army Military Book Award.
Napoleon won the Grand Prix of the Fondation Napoleonand#151;the first time the prize was ever given for a work by a foreign historian.