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Young Washington: How Wilderness and War Forged America's Founding Father
A vivid and groundbreaking portrait of a young, struggling George Washington that casts a new light on his character and the history of American independence, 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. Naive and self-absorbed, the twenty-two-year-old officer accidentally ignited the 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.
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. Naive and self-absorbed, the twenty-two-year-old officer accidentally ignited the 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.
528 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
May 25, 2022
With the vast majority of books about George Washington focusing mostly or exclusively on either his time as general of the Continental Army or as the first U.S President, it is refreshing to read one that is concerned almost solely with his early years. Peter Stark has written a compelling account of an incredibly vain, self-absorbed young man who slowly grows and learns from his mistakes while also - perhaps more importantly - learning how to control his emotions and his volatile temper. At times Stark takes us step-by-step with Washington as he journeys through mountainous terrain in the dead of winter or the heat of summer, trying to establish outposts to protect again French and or Indian invasion of British settlements, or - at the beginning - simply delivering a message.
Stark specifically focuses on the decade of the 1750s - a momentous one for Washington as he exited his teenage years, a momentous one for the American colonies, a calamitous one for both the British and the French given so many lives lost on each side, and ultimately a sad one for the many Indian tribes who found themselves caught in a tug-of-war between the two global empires on the North American frontier. The Indians suspected - and sadly rightly so as it turned out - that ultimately it would not matter which country they sided with: whichever one came out the victor would - despite vehement protestations and promises to the contrary - quickly look to allow their settlers onto the lands that had belonged to the Native American Indian tribes for centuries, pushing them out in the process.
Washington here is painted with dual brushes. One brush depicts him as an immature, vain glory hound, preoccupied with his standing in Tidewater plantation Virginia society. He was in love with Sally Fairfax, who was married to one of his friends therefore making her off-limits to him. That did not stop him from corresponding with her and constantly trying to impress her with battlefield exploits. She was not the only one that he was so eager to make his mark on. Washington spent a great deal of time trying to puff himself up in front of his superiors such as VA Governor Robert Dinwiddie. Washington wrote so frequently to Dinwiddie complaining about a laundry list of things that he and his VA colonial regiment needed that it is a wonder that Dinwiddie didn't revoke his colonel's commission at some point. I actually think he was tempted to and probably would have but he didn't have anyone else to take Washington's place.
The other brush at work here shows Washington learning how to control himself, both in writing and on the battlefield. His impulsiveness and lust for glory cost men their lives and helped kick off a global war, although Washington at the time did not care much outside of what was going on beyond Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Washington's correspondence very gradually takes on a less peevish and whiny tone, although that side of him was still present by the end of the events in this book. He began to look beyond military glory, deciding to marry the wealthy widow Martha Custis. One trait that was apparent at this time in Washington's life and remained so was his deep concern for the men under his command. As he grew older, he came to appreciate their sacrifices more and thus he made stronger attempts to exert his influence in their favor when it came to things such as supplies and pay.
If you are looking for a dissection of Washington as a slaveholder, and all of the mixed messaging that he sent by owning other human beings while simultaneously demanding freedom from Great Britain, you will not find that here. That is not Stark's focus. Slavery is only occasionally mentioned - not in a positive light by any means. In fact, Stark notes that Washington usually had enslaved people with him who suffered the same hardships as he did, but had the added responsibility of looking after his welfare and seeing to his every need.
One area where I would have liked Stark to delve into much more was Washington's relationship with his mother, Mary Ball Washington. Given that this book is specifically about his early years, I was hoping that Stark would examine the root of the troubles that marked Washington's stiff, distant relationship with his mother. He alludes to it once in awhile but never really goes deep into the causes (or possible causes, given how much time has elapsed since then). I do not consider it a failure; I see it more as a missed opportunity to further enrich story of a young Washington.
The ending of the book is strong. Stark provides a well-argued Epilogue that both sums up the events that we have just finished reading about that Washington experienced and shows how Washington used those events moving forward, especially from 1775 on as he became a national figure. He then follows up with a Postscript about the larger picture conflict that Britain was having with the Colonies, and also with France. Stark was good about this throughout: providing needed context of what was going on outside of Washington's world. He struck a good balance of not straying too far away to where Washington gets lost in the mix but also of diverting for just a few pages here and there to help contextualize how events elsewhere were shaping Washington's life.
Also included were several easy-to-read maps that helped depict routes into and out of the wilderness and where Washington had to travel. These included some maps depicting important battles such the Jumonville Glen, which triggered more calamity than Washington could ever have imagined, and Braddock's Defeat near present-day Pittsburgh.
The final few pages are devoted to brief summaries of the fates of the major characters in the book. I loved this, and wish many more authors did this. Few things annoy me more as a reader than when someone who was an integral person in a story just disappears without any final word on what happened to that person.
This book is essential to helping understand Washington and the forces that shaped him early in life. With an easily readable style, it will appeal to even casual readers interested in Washington or colonial America.
Grade: A
Stark specifically focuses on the decade of the 1750s - a momentous one for Washington as he exited his teenage years, a momentous one for the American colonies, a calamitous one for both the British and the French given so many lives lost on each side, and ultimately a sad one for the many Indian tribes who found themselves caught in a tug-of-war between the two global empires on the North American frontier. The Indians suspected - and sadly rightly so as it turned out - that ultimately it would not matter which country they sided with: whichever one came out the victor would - despite vehement protestations and promises to the contrary - quickly look to allow their settlers onto the lands that had belonged to the Native American Indian tribes for centuries, pushing them out in the process.
Washington here is painted with dual brushes. One brush depicts him as an immature, vain glory hound, preoccupied with his standing in Tidewater plantation Virginia society. He was in love with Sally Fairfax, who was married to one of his friends therefore making her off-limits to him. That did not stop him from corresponding with her and constantly trying to impress her with battlefield exploits. She was not the only one that he was so eager to make his mark on. Washington spent a great deal of time trying to puff himself up in front of his superiors such as VA Governor Robert Dinwiddie. Washington wrote so frequently to Dinwiddie complaining about a laundry list of things that he and his VA colonial regiment needed that it is a wonder that Dinwiddie didn't revoke his colonel's commission at some point. I actually think he was tempted to and probably would have but he didn't have anyone else to take Washington's place.
The other brush at work here shows Washington learning how to control himself, both in writing and on the battlefield. His impulsiveness and lust for glory cost men their lives and helped kick off a global war, although Washington at the time did not care much outside of what was going on beyond Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Washington's correspondence very gradually takes on a less peevish and whiny tone, although that side of him was still present by the end of the events in this book. He began to look beyond military glory, deciding to marry the wealthy widow Martha Custis. One trait that was apparent at this time in Washington's life and remained so was his deep concern for the men under his command. As he grew older, he came to appreciate their sacrifices more and thus he made stronger attempts to exert his influence in their favor when it came to things such as supplies and pay.
If you are looking for a dissection of Washington as a slaveholder, and all of the mixed messaging that he sent by owning other human beings while simultaneously demanding freedom from Great Britain, you will not find that here. That is not Stark's focus. Slavery is only occasionally mentioned - not in a positive light by any means. In fact, Stark notes that Washington usually had enslaved people with him who suffered the same hardships as he did, but had the added responsibility of looking after his welfare and seeing to his every need.
One area where I would have liked Stark to delve into much more was Washington's relationship with his mother, Mary Ball Washington. Given that this book is specifically about his early years, I was hoping that Stark would examine the root of the troubles that marked Washington's stiff, distant relationship with his mother. He alludes to it once in awhile but never really goes deep into the causes (or possible causes, given how much time has elapsed since then). I do not consider it a failure; I see it more as a missed opportunity to further enrich story of a young Washington.
The ending of the book is strong. Stark provides a well-argued Epilogue that both sums up the events that we have just finished reading about that Washington experienced and shows how Washington used those events moving forward, especially from 1775 on as he became a national figure. He then follows up with a Postscript about the larger picture conflict that Britain was having with the Colonies, and also with France. Stark was good about this throughout: providing needed context of what was going on outside of Washington's world. He struck a good balance of not straying too far away to where Washington gets lost in the mix but also of diverting for just a few pages here and there to help contextualize how events elsewhere were shaping Washington's life.
Also included were several easy-to-read maps that helped depict routes into and out of the wilderness and where Washington had to travel. These included some maps depicting important battles such the Jumonville Glen, which triggered more calamity than Washington could ever have imagined, and Braddock's Defeat near present-day Pittsburgh.
The final few pages are devoted to brief summaries of the fates of the major characters in the book. I loved this, and wish many more authors did this. Few things annoy me more as a reader than when someone who was an integral person in a story just disappears without any final word on what happened to that person.
This book is essential to helping understand Washington and the forces that shaped him early in life. With an easily readable style, it will appeal to even casual readers interested in Washington or colonial America.
Grade: A
November 4, 2018
I saw this book in the new releases section of the library, and decided to pick it up. A big reason for that is I really liked Stark’s book Astoria.
This book on George Washington is quite interesting, focusing on the events of 1754 and 1755, when Washington was a 21-year-old.
Stark describes our young first president as:
“ambitious, temperamental, vain, thin-skinned, petulant, awkward, demanding, stubborn, annoying, hasty, passionate. This Washington has not yet learned to cultivate his image or contain his emotions. Here, instead, is a raw young man struggling toward maturity and in love with a close friend’s wife. This is the Washington of emotional neediness, personal ambition, and mistakes – many mistakes.”
Stark does a good job giving us a look at Washington’s inland journey from the Tidewater region of Virginia, over the Appalachians, and into the Ohio River Valley.
Here the French are expanding, and though Britain and France are in an uneasy peace, Washington’s foray into the interior changes all that.
We get an excellent look at the arduous journey for Washington’s militiamen, one that saw a serious lack of food and good clothing.
I thought I’d pick this book up and read a hundred pages or so, but I found myself moving through it pretty quickly and getting it done.
I’d recommend getting it at your library like I did.
This book on George Washington is quite interesting, focusing on the events of 1754 and 1755, when Washington was a 21-year-old.
Stark describes our young first president as:
“ambitious, temperamental, vain, thin-skinned, petulant, awkward, demanding, stubborn, annoying, hasty, passionate. This Washington has not yet learned to cultivate his image or contain his emotions. Here, instead, is a raw young man struggling toward maturity and in love with a close friend’s wife. This is the Washington of emotional neediness, personal ambition, and mistakes – many mistakes.”
Stark does a good job giving us a look at Washington’s inland journey from the Tidewater region of Virginia, over the Appalachians, and into the Ohio River Valley.
Here the French are expanding, and though Britain and France are in an uneasy peace, Washington’s foray into the interior changes all that.
We get an excellent look at the arduous journey for Washington’s militiamen, one that saw a serious lack of food and good clothing.
I thought I’d pick this book up and read a hundred pages or so, but I found myself moving through it pretty quickly and getting it done.
I’d recommend getting it at your library like I did.
June 20, 2020
Solid history book, I learned a lot. But it had some real problems in my opinion. I'll preface my review by saying that I'm pretty new to non-fiction, especially historical non-fiction, so I'm sure I have a lot to learn about what a good history book looks like.
On the positive end, Peter Stark does a good job describing the setting of the wilderness, and I really did feel like I was there in the frozen or muddy or tangled woods with Washington. He also did a good job evoking intimate personality traits of Washington's that I never felt I had access to before, in my dry history lessons in school. The twenty-something Washington felt like a twenty-something I might have known, or been, and that's a refreshing feeling to have about someone who's been dead for hundreds of years.
On the negative end, while he was evoking these personality traits, it sometimes felt a bit harsh and overdone. There was more speculating going on than I would have liked. I do think the speculating was part of how Washington's personality was displayed so accessibly, but because Stark was portraying such negative traits (self-centeredness, rash decision-making, petulance, excessive concern for appearance, easily offended) it sometimes felt unfair. The suggestion that Washington might have been these things when he was twenty-three is something I can easily believe, but it often felt these conclusions were drawn on scant evidence, or at least were over-emphasized, as if Stark was repeatedly shoving the reader's face in Washington's less desirable characteristics rather than displaying facts and letting those facts speak for themselves. I still feel torn about whether this is a good thing for a history book to do, because without this added color the book was in danger of being boring at times. But I will add that it's nice to see our founding fathers, who are often portrayed so perfectly in history class, had some unpleasant traits, just like we do.
Stark probably had a difficult job to do, trying to realistically illustrate the shaping of the Washington we all know from the history books in an entertaining way, based off his surviving correspondence and journals. As far as I could tell, not that much happened during this time period of the French and Indian War, so that made his job even harder. It definitely helped to visualize scenes from the movie The Last of the Mohicans, and I felt a much better understanding of the historical background of that movie after reading this book.
Overall, I would only recommend to people who already like history books and have an interest in this time period and/or George Washington.
On the positive end, Peter Stark does a good job describing the setting of the wilderness, and I really did feel like I was there in the frozen or muddy or tangled woods with Washington. He also did a good job evoking intimate personality traits of Washington's that I never felt I had access to before, in my dry history lessons in school. The twenty-something Washington felt like a twenty-something I might have known, or been, and that's a refreshing feeling to have about someone who's been dead for hundreds of years.
On the negative end, while he was evoking these personality traits, it sometimes felt a bit harsh and overdone. There was more speculating going on than I would have liked. I do think the speculating was part of how Washington's personality was displayed so accessibly, but because Stark was portraying such negative traits (self-centeredness, rash decision-making, petulance, excessive concern for appearance, easily offended) it sometimes felt unfair. The suggestion that Washington might have been these things when he was twenty-three is something I can easily believe, but it often felt these conclusions were drawn on scant evidence, or at least were over-emphasized, as if Stark was repeatedly shoving the reader's face in Washington's less desirable characteristics rather than displaying facts and letting those facts speak for themselves. I still feel torn about whether this is a good thing for a history book to do, because without this added color the book was in danger of being boring at times. But I will add that it's nice to see our founding fathers, who are often portrayed so perfectly in history class, had some unpleasant traits, just like we do.
Stark probably had a difficult job to do, trying to realistically illustrate the shaping of the Washington we all know from the history books in an entertaining way, based off his surviving correspondence and journals. As far as I could tell, not that much happened during this time period of the French and Indian War, so that made his job even harder. It definitely helped to visualize scenes from the movie The Last of the Mohicans, and I felt a much better understanding of the historical background of that movie after reading this book.
Overall, I would only recommend to people who already like history books and have an interest in this time period and/or George Washington.
March 25, 2019
3.5 Stars (I couldn't decide on whether to give it 3 and round up or 4 and round down because my take isn't quite as glowing as the other 4 star reviews.)
This book was packed full of fascinating info! In school you learn a little about Fort Necessity and Washington serving with Braddock but that's about all. You really only learn those things to show that he was the only one with military experience to lead the continental army. So this book was great because it fills in so much of what you don't know about our first president. It is one of those books that brings the founding fathers back down to earth. It was also interesting to think about those brave souls who ventured away from civilization to the outer edges of the known world with untold dangers. I appreciated that there were plenty of maps.
I had 2 problems with the book, hence the 3.5 rating.
First, sometimes the author does a little too much speculating for me. Sure, I understand that this was a long time ago, and I'm fine with pertinent speculating. What I'm not fine with is sentences like "Perhaps the cold rain resumed, hissing on the glowing coals and producing little puffs of steam from the white ash that ringed the campfire, an ancient circadian signal sending the men off toward their tents." That is totally not necessary in a legitimate history.
My second complaint is that sometimes I think the author pushed his agenda a little too far. He wants us to know that the young George is not the more mature George we know. He spends a lot of time pointing out that he was vain, ambitious, self centered, whiny, spoiled, and a variety of common attributes of 21 year olds. He stressed over and over that George started the French and Indian war, almost single handedly (and then added the annoying speculative statements like "Did GW reflect on his guilt in this?"), ignoring his own statements about the circumstances around GW. Yes, GW made some pretty big mistakes. But he was put into a situation where he really couldn't win. GW had never commanded any sort of military expedition. The author pointed out often how Gov Dinwiddie was constantly on GW to hurry, hurry, hurry! He talked about the French actually amassing troops to come into the Ohio. They had already expelled an English trader and was using his outpost as their military post. It wasn't paranoia. The government did not provide the number of troops or supplies that GW needed to accomplish the mission, no matter how often he requested it. So, yes, GW made some mistakes but I feel like the author put a little too much on GW's young shoulders in order to prove a point.
So, while I do have the problems with the book, I still feel like it was a worthwhile read. I enjoyed it and learned a lot. And wilderness and war did help make GW into the man we admire today.
This book was packed full of fascinating info! In school you learn a little about Fort Necessity and Washington serving with Braddock but that's about all. You really only learn those things to show that he was the only one with military experience to lead the continental army. So this book was great because it fills in so much of what you don't know about our first president. It is one of those books that brings the founding fathers back down to earth. It was also interesting to think about those brave souls who ventured away from civilization to the outer edges of the known world with untold dangers. I appreciated that there were plenty of maps.
I had 2 problems with the book, hence the 3.5 rating.
First, sometimes the author does a little too much speculating for me. Sure, I understand that this was a long time ago, and I'm fine with pertinent speculating. What I'm not fine with is sentences like "Perhaps the cold rain resumed, hissing on the glowing coals and producing little puffs of steam from the white ash that ringed the campfire, an ancient circadian signal sending the men off toward their tents." That is totally not necessary in a legitimate history.
My second complaint is that sometimes I think the author pushed his agenda a little too far. He wants us to know that the young George is not the more mature George we know. He spends a lot of time pointing out that he was vain, ambitious, self centered, whiny, spoiled, and a variety of common attributes of 21 year olds. He stressed over and over that George started the French and Indian war, almost single handedly (and then added the annoying speculative statements like "Did GW reflect on his guilt in this?"), ignoring his own statements about the circumstances around GW. Yes, GW made some pretty big mistakes. But he was put into a situation where he really couldn't win. GW had never commanded any sort of military expedition. The author pointed out often how Gov Dinwiddie was constantly on GW to hurry, hurry, hurry! He talked about the French actually amassing troops to come into the Ohio. They had already expelled an English trader and was using his outpost as their military post. It wasn't paranoia. The government did not provide the number of troops or supplies that GW needed to accomplish the mission, no matter how often he requested it. So, yes, GW made some mistakes but I feel like the author put a little too much on GW's young shoulders in order to prove a point.
So, while I do have the problems with the book, I still feel like it was a worthwhile read. I enjoyed it and learned a lot. And wilderness and war did help make GW into the man we admire today.
October 6, 2018
Peter Stark weaves an action packed journey through the dense jungle of Western Pennsylvania. It is the 1750's. Lieutenant Colonel George Washington, proud Colonial officer, is constantly berated and mocked, even by lower ranking English and Scottish officers deployed from Britain.
The British mission: run the French from the Ohio Valley and ally with native tribes to secure America as part of Empire. Washington does not hold a regular Royal commission. He was commissioned by Virginia lieutenant governor Robert Dinwiddie. George Washington seethes with passion to show the regular officers what an American can do in this guerrilla French and Indian War.
One of the first items of Washington's persona we learn is his boots. Washington has an Alexandria cobbler fashion riding boots that are taller, glossier than British standard issue. He shines them nightly. He is first to mount up in the morning. He leads.
So, saddle up for this gripping history of what made George Washington great.
The British mission: run the French from the Ohio Valley and ally with native tribes to secure America as part of Empire. Washington does not hold a regular Royal commission. He was commissioned by Virginia lieutenant governor Robert Dinwiddie. George Washington seethes with passion to show the regular officers what an American can do in this guerrilla French and Indian War.
One of the first items of Washington's persona we learn is his boots. Washington has an Alexandria cobbler fashion riding boots that are taller, glossier than British standard issue. He shines them nightly. He is first to mount up in the morning. He leads.
So, saddle up for this gripping history of what made George Washington great.
May 29, 2018
I have always valued George Washington as a great general. I have even visit d obscure sites to see obscure Washington letters, like the Lilly library and his letter accepting the presidency.
Over all this book is wonderful.
That being read, me personally, I struggled with the man I have always admired in how he was FACTUALLY portrayed in this book. It is not the fault of the author for presenting the truth as it is, and the author did. Rather it was my fault for holding Washington above all others.
In short he wasn’t great. He was a self centered, whiny, greedy, jealous, envious, sensitive, immature man who happened to be the most experienced in warfare when someone was needed to fight a war. He actually started the seven year war himself, out of avarice.
I will never look at him the same way.
The book is good. You should read it.
Over all this book is wonderful.
That being read, me personally, I struggled with the man I have always admired in how he was FACTUALLY portrayed in this book. It is not the fault of the author for presenting the truth as it is, and the author did. Rather it was my fault for holding Washington above all others.
In short he wasn’t great. He was a self centered, whiny, greedy, jealous, envious, sensitive, immature man who happened to be the most experienced in warfare when someone was needed to fight a war. He actually started the seven year war himself, out of avarice.
I will never look at him the same way.
The book is good. You should read it.
December 8, 2019
A well-researched, engaging work.
Stark does a great job providing a picture of what it would have been like to be present at the time. He does a great job providing insight into such contextual matters as the Virginia aristocracy and the lifestyle of people in London. Stark also does a great job humanizing Washington, showing his thin skin, insecurity, self-doubt, mood swings, vanity, pride, ambition, self-promotion, and concern about his own reputation, as well as the lessons he took from his experiences.
The book doesn’t have much new to say about the topic, though, and the parts about what Washington was thinking at certain times seems speculative. Also, it is still unclear how Washington’s experience here “forged” him; one of Stark’s points is how Washington could change roles throughout his life. He also accepts the story of James Wolfe reciting “Elegy in a Country Churchyard” while rowing to Québec, even though Wolfe had issued strict orders for silence. Stark also annoyingly switches to the present tense at random times.
A lively, well-written, informative work.
Stark does a great job providing a picture of what it would have been like to be present at the time. He does a great job providing insight into such contextual matters as the Virginia aristocracy and the lifestyle of people in London. Stark also does a great job humanizing Washington, showing his thin skin, insecurity, self-doubt, mood swings, vanity, pride, ambition, self-promotion, and concern about his own reputation, as well as the lessons he took from his experiences.
The book doesn’t have much new to say about the topic, though, and the parts about what Washington was thinking at certain times seems speculative. Also, it is still unclear how Washington’s experience here “forged” him; one of Stark’s points is how Washington could change roles throughout his life. He also accepts the story of James Wolfe reciting “Elegy in a Country Churchyard” while rowing to Québec, even though Wolfe had issued strict orders for silence. Stark also annoyingly switches to the present tense at random times.
A lively, well-written, informative work.
July 9, 2018
Interesting information on his early life
September 27, 2020
"Character is Key for Liberty!"
This book is an oustanding work about how George Washington came to be who he was, and especially how his character was forged during his five years in the French and Indian War.
The book includes very well done maps, which aid in understanding the routes of Washington’s travels. The author also did excellent background research involving camping at and hiking to various sites related to the action. He builds on this with outside research shown, for example, on page 208 when discussing exactly how chiggers attack the human body, and so how one of General Braddock’s soldiers died on the march after his leg was amputated due to infected chigger bites. The book’s descriptive style adds to the realism of the narrative by placing you in Washington’s shoes as he travels. Unfortunately I came to a glaring halt in my suspension of disbelief on page 160 when I read: “…and other officers retired to the shacklike log structure at the center of the fort or [emphasis OR] an officers’ tent to read it [the Fort Necessity surrender contract] by candlelight.” Sometime after that I noticed that the author more ably used words like “may have seen,” “might have seen,” “likely saw” or the equivalent softening words that kept up the vivid narrative but told you not to bet your life on the 100% accuracy of what happened in a scene. As well, I do wish that the author had not left me puzzled when he mentioned where Washington and his group “took rooms at Cromwell’s Head Tavern on School Street, named after the severed head of Oliver Cromwell.” (p. 300). Yes, Cromwell’s head was severed, but not mentioned is that this was after he had died and Charles II was restored to the crown. In revenge for Cromwell’s beheading his father (Charles I), Charles II had Cromwell’s body exhumed and hanged, with head chopped off and publicly displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall for several decades. But this teasing omission is a very minor detail in a very well done book.
A major take-away of the book is that Washington was highly concerned with his reputation and honor. “The concept of honor – a code of behavior existing beyond the rules of law.” (p. 192). Throughout the book and even more so at the end, the author successfully chronicles Washington’s development of high moral character by calling out aspects of his “live and learn” approach to life and how, through the events covered in Washington’s youth, “he became that person, that selfless leader, the one that is remembered as George Washington” (p. 417)
Again and as a fellow author, I highly recommend this excellent book!
This book is an oustanding work about how George Washington came to be who he was, and especially how his character was forged during his five years in the French and Indian War.
The book includes very well done maps, which aid in understanding the routes of Washington’s travels. The author also did excellent background research involving camping at and hiking to various sites related to the action. He builds on this with outside research shown, for example, on page 208 when discussing exactly how chiggers attack the human body, and so how one of General Braddock’s soldiers died on the march after his leg was amputated due to infected chigger bites. The book’s descriptive style adds to the realism of the narrative by placing you in Washington’s shoes as he travels. Unfortunately I came to a glaring halt in my suspension of disbelief on page 160 when I read: “…and other officers retired to the shacklike log structure at the center of the fort or [emphasis OR] an officers’ tent to read it [the Fort Necessity surrender contract] by candlelight.” Sometime after that I noticed that the author more ably used words like “may have seen,” “might have seen,” “likely saw” or the equivalent softening words that kept up the vivid narrative but told you not to bet your life on the 100% accuracy of what happened in a scene. As well, I do wish that the author had not left me puzzled when he mentioned where Washington and his group “took rooms at Cromwell’s Head Tavern on School Street, named after the severed head of Oliver Cromwell.” (p. 300). Yes, Cromwell’s head was severed, but not mentioned is that this was after he had died and Charles II was restored to the crown. In revenge for Cromwell’s beheading his father (Charles I), Charles II had Cromwell’s body exhumed and hanged, with head chopped off and publicly displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall for several decades. But this teasing omission is a very minor detail in a very well done book.
A major take-away of the book is that Washington was highly concerned with his reputation and honor. “The concept of honor – a code of behavior existing beyond the rules of law.” (p. 192). Throughout the book and even more so at the end, the author successfully chronicles Washington’s development of high moral character by calling out aspects of his “live and learn” approach to life and how, through the events covered in Washington’s youth, “he became that person, that selfless leader, the one that is remembered as George Washington” (p. 417)
Again and as a fellow author, I highly recommend this excellent book!
April 17, 2024
If you want a short history of the life of George Washington, then I recommend "His Excellency George Washington" (320 pages) by Joseph Ellis. If you want the longer.close up view of Washington's early years, then this book of 528 pages by Peter Stark, that primarily covers Washington from age 20-25, is the one for you.
I have walked the battlefields of Bushy Run, Fort Duquesne and been to Fort Pitt. Lonely places that seem empty. The author digs deep into these battles from the French-Indian War in so much detail it is if he was retelling of battles from WWII. By reading this book you glean so much more information than from visiting the historic sites where he fought.
Washington was very immature at that age (20-25) and he was truly a man that "reinvented" himself through the mistakes that he learned from.
I have walked the battlefields of Bushy Run, Fort Duquesne and been to Fort Pitt. Lonely places that seem empty. The author digs deep into these battles from the French-Indian War in so much detail it is if he was retelling of battles from WWII. By reading this book you glean so much more information than from visiting the historic sites where he fought.
Washington was very immature at that age (20-25) and he was truly a man that "reinvented" himself through the mistakes that he learned from.
August 16, 2018
OUTSTANDING History Lesson
I've learned so much from this book. What an incredible account of young Washington. It has answered so many questions I've always had about in my opinion the greatest President we have ever had.
I've learned so much from this book. What an incredible account of young Washington. It has answered so many questions I've always had about in my opinion the greatest President we have ever had.
December 27, 2018
It could be argued that George Washington, a young man in his early twenties, started the French and Indian War, known in Europe as the "Seven Years War",the first "world war" that involved the major European powers. It took place in 1754 at a wilderness location in what is now eastern Pennsylvania known as the Jumonville Glen when he was in charge of Virginia and Iroqois fighters who ambushed and slaughtered a sleeping French encampment at dawn. The savagery of the attack was unprecedented, and Washington lost control of the carnage.
When news of this attack became known. he French were outraged and considered this attack on a diplomatic mission unprovoked and part of a British plan to control the Ohio River basin. Washington tried to justify his attack by calling the French a pack of spies "sulking about." From here, matters escalated and led to a full blown expedition against the French Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh) by the British army, led by General Braddock. The expedition was a disastrous failure. Braddock was killed, but Washington, at Braddock's side miraculously survived, and returned, unharmed.
The rest of Stark's history recounts Washington's early career. He schemed to make a name for himself and establish himself as a member of Virginia's prestigious planter class. He had acquired some land through inheritance, but not enough to make himself wealthy. That would come in 1759 when at age 27 he married a rich heiress, Martha Custis and for the next 17 years he would live as a prosperous planter and slaveholder.
But that's jumping ahead. In his early years, Washington was always scrambling to get ahead as a organizer of reluctant Virginia militias who were trying to protect growing land settlements in the western backcountry. That meant fending off Indians and allying themselves with the British in their war with the French. Washington tooted his own horn pretty loudly, writing self-promoting letters, both full of boastfulness about his accomplishments and whininess about not being promoted properly by British officials.
But when Washington went into the wilderness, he was at his best, being less self-centered and more committed to the common good of trying to establish order in a frontier of chaos and neglect. Back home, he spent his time consolidating his personal fortune and glory.
It paid off as on the eve of the War of Independence, he was turned to as an experienced commander. And by this point, Washington had become patient, slow to speak, and infinitely wiser than he had been in his youth. It didn't hurt that he had a testiness toward the British whom he felt had treated him shabbily by mostly ignoring his accomplishments.
It's a good history and shows how the wilderness and polite society both shaped this young man and began to make him into the myth he became, the "father of our country.
When news of this attack became known. he French were outraged and considered this attack on a diplomatic mission unprovoked and part of a British plan to control the Ohio River basin. Washington tried to justify his attack by calling the French a pack of spies "sulking about." From here, matters escalated and led to a full blown expedition against the French Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh) by the British army, led by General Braddock. The expedition was a disastrous failure. Braddock was killed, but Washington, at Braddock's side miraculously survived, and returned, unharmed.
The rest of Stark's history recounts Washington's early career. He schemed to make a name for himself and establish himself as a member of Virginia's prestigious planter class. He had acquired some land through inheritance, but not enough to make himself wealthy. That would come in 1759 when at age 27 he married a rich heiress, Martha Custis and for the next 17 years he would live as a prosperous planter and slaveholder.
But that's jumping ahead. In his early years, Washington was always scrambling to get ahead as a organizer of reluctant Virginia militias who were trying to protect growing land settlements in the western backcountry. That meant fending off Indians and allying themselves with the British in their war with the French. Washington tooted his own horn pretty loudly, writing self-promoting letters, both full of boastfulness about his accomplishments and whininess about not being promoted properly by British officials.
But when Washington went into the wilderness, he was at his best, being less self-centered and more committed to the common good of trying to establish order in a frontier of chaos and neglect. Back home, he spent his time consolidating his personal fortune and glory.
It paid off as on the eve of the War of Independence, he was turned to as an experienced commander. And by this point, Washington had become patient, slow to speak, and infinitely wiser than he had been in his youth. It didn't hurt that he had a testiness toward the British whom he felt had treated him shabbily by mostly ignoring his accomplishments.
It's a good history and shows how the wilderness and polite society both shaped this young man and began to make him into the myth he became, the "father of our country.
June 9, 2018
With brilliant storytelling, Peter Stark’s new book Young Washington is a fascinating look at the British and Virginian aristocracy in pre-Revolutionary America. It is a vivid tale of a series of critical turning points in the career of a youthful George Washington in search of himself and his role in history. Self-centered and filled with ambition, Young Washington has the chameleon-like ability to grow-up in a fatherless family, with only a frontier education, starting out as a self-taught surveyor, eager student of the gentry, wilderness messenger and young militia officer commanding troops during French and Indian Wars. Within the span of only a few short years, that would shape Washington’s life and leadership. He would conquer his youthful fears, lay waste to his enemies and learn the art of survival and Indian fighting in the western Virginia frontier. After the war he would marry the rich widow Martha Custis. This book lays the groundwork of Washington's early adulthood, before he went on to become a wealthy tobacco plantation owner, a local politician and finally the first President of the United States.
Forget the idea of a musty history offering; this is a well-researched, gripping adventure tale of George Washington’s youthful exploits in the wilderness. It is a provocative, inspiring, and informative story of how his character and talents were forged with both glorious victories and humiliating defeats. Young Washington is a good read and I can highly recommend it.
Brian D. Ratty, author
Forget the idea of a musty history offering; this is a well-researched, gripping adventure tale of George Washington’s youthful exploits in the wilderness. It is a provocative, inspiring, and informative story of how his character and talents were forged with both glorious victories and humiliating defeats. Young Washington is a good read and I can highly recommend it.
Brian D. Ratty, author
June 13, 2018
What kind of a person was Young Washington? It turns out he was quite unlike the man popular imagination makes him out to be. The idea of George Washington as the impeccable moralist turns out to be false. He was vain, proud, and helplessly self - absorbed. However, as he gained some experience, Mr. Stark shows how he came to care more about the welfare of his fellow countrymen than his own, so insistent on promotion was he in his early days. Mr. Stark does a fine job of delving into the mind of young Washington: his reactions to life in the military, battling against the French and Indians in a wild landscape, what he was likely thinking and feeling. In this respect Young Washington reads more like a story than a weighty historical tome. I recommend it to anyone with an interest in U.S. History or the life of George Washington. I enjoyed it immensely, and I hope you will too.
November 28, 2019
An excellent book highlighting our mythic founding father in a new light. And as someone who is at the same age as George Washington as he is discussed in the book, it provides a real model of behaviors that should and should not be emulated. Lots of Washington biographies can be quite fawning of the president, but this felt like a more fair and down to earth examination of him. Also wonderful insight into the French and Indian War, a subject glazed over in America do to it's proximity and sparking of the more important Revolutionary War.
June 1, 2018
The book covers a time in US history that is not too familiar to many and shows Washington's flaws as he struggled to establish himself. I have read some of the original letters referenced in the book that Stark skillfully brings to bare. Washington had human defects similar to those of politicians today.
April 4, 2018
This biography concentrates on Young Washington prior to and during the French and Indian War. Mr. Stark portrays a young man learning to be soldier, commander and growing into manhood in the aristocratic Virginia society. Several little known, or shared, episodes are presented.
January 24, 2020
On the whole, I enjoyed it and I loved hearing about places that I've been but never fully grasped the historical significance. It really put into context the events that happened at places like Fort Necessity, Fort Niagara, Fort Cumberland and all the locations in between. Having spent years in the DC area and visiting very nearly all the places George Washington trekked, names like Fairfax, Belvoir, Custis, Williamsburg, Fredericksburg, etc. brought back many memories. It also made me view Mount Vernon and Washington's birthplace in a slightly different light.
You don't hear much about Washington's early life other than in summary. I knew he was a teenage surveyor and that his father died when he was young. I knew his family came from England where they built a name for themselves and that they were working to do the same in 'The New World'. But what I didn't know was that Washington was ambitious, egotistical, and sensitive. I wasn't aware of his relationship with Sally Fairfax or how much of this early period shaped who we know as the Father of America. At first I couldn't believe that this was the same stoic and deliberate man we grew up learning about. Images of him perched on a horse during the snowy winter of Valley Forge or crossing the Delaware... Him standing tall and proud among the other Founding Fathers... Him working with members of his Culpepper Ring to outsmart the British... That's what I picture when I think of George Washington. Not this brash and, at times bratty, spectacle the author puts before us. But then I reminded myself that he was, at this time, in his early '20s. Times may change but people don't and it's not surprising that he'd act in this manner. Many young men out to prove themselves make similar mistakes. It was fascinating to be shown this different lens.
However, I did feel the author droned on about certain details. For example, I lost interest when he started to describe the hardships of building Braddock's road. I don't mind learning how momentous that task was being emphasized (I've driven parts of it and it is a difficult path) but I think he went into too much detail. He also repeated himself and after a while, I lost patience with that. It's because of these two reasons, I took a star off my review.
You don't hear much about Washington's early life other than in summary. I knew he was a teenage surveyor and that his father died when he was young. I knew his family came from England where they built a name for themselves and that they were working to do the same in 'The New World'. But what I didn't know was that Washington was ambitious, egotistical, and sensitive. I wasn't aware of his relationship with Sally Fairfax or how much of this early period shaped who we know as the Father of America. At first I couldn't believe that this was the same stoic and deliberate man we grew up learning about. Images of him perched on a horse during the snowy winter of Valley Forge or crossing the Delaware... Him standing tall and proud among the other Founding Fathers... Him working with members of his Culpepper Ring to outsmart the British... That's what I picture when I think of George Washington. Not this brash and, at times bratty, spectacle the author puts before us. But then I reminded myself that he was, at this time, in his early '20s. Times may change but people don't and it's not surprising that he'd act in this manner. Many young men out to prove themselves make similar mistakes. It was fascinating to be shown this different lens.
However, I did feel the author droned on about certain details. For example, I lost interest when he started to describe the hardships of building Braddock's road. I don't mind learning how momentous that task was being emphasized (I've driven parts of it and it is a difficult path) but I think he went into too much detail. He also repeated himself and after a while, I lost patience with that. It's because of these two reasons, I took a star off my review.
July 19, 2022
Young Washington is a vivid and eye-opening account of George Washington's early military career as a British officer during the seven-year French and Indian War.
I'm a big fan of historical accounts that set out to "de-mythologize" famous historical figures, and you probably can't pick a more famous historical (and mythologized) historical figure in American history than George Washington. Far from a "character assassination," however, Young Washington attempts to reconstruct the immature, entitled, and brash Washington and show how his early failures humbled him into the well-renowned leader we know today.
Author Peter Stark excels at his descriptive passages of wilderness survival and chaotic battlefield recreations. The French and Indian War introduced a new style of warfare to the British army (that would later be emulated by the colonists during the Revolutionary War), and Stark pulls no punches in his brutal depictions of wilderness combat. Of particular note is Stark's account of Washington's ill-advised ambush at Jumonville Glen, his failed defense of Fort Necessity, and the slaughter at the Battle of the Monogahela (or Braddock's defeat).
Some other things I learned about Washington are that most historians believe that he ignited the French-Indian War, he was obsessed with his best friend's wife (and wrote the whiniest love letters to her), and he hadn't won a single battle prior to becoming leader of the Continental Army.
George Washington obviously leaves behind a complicated legacy, but Stark's humanizing portrait of him in his mid-20s reveals a young leader unsure of himself and his destiny, but slowly growing in humility, integrity, and confidence. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to peek into the life of America's "founding father." My only complaint, ironically, is that Stark's vivid writing in the wilderness and battle scenes is so good, that other parts of the story drag a bit.
I'm a big fan of historical accounts that set out to "de-mythologize" famous historical figures, and you probably can't pick a more famous historical (and mythologized) historical figure in American history than George Washington. Far from a "character assassination," however, Young Washington attempts to reconstruct the immature, entitled, and brash Washington and show how his early failures humbled him into the well-renowned leader we know today.
Author Peter Stark excels at his descriptive passages of wilderness survival and chaotic battlefield recreations. The French and Indian War introduced a new style of warfare to the British army (that would later be emulated by the colonists during the Revolutionary War), and Stark pulls no punches in his brutal depictions of wilderness combat. Of particular note is Stark's account of Washington's ill-advised ambush at Jumonville Glen, his failed defense of Fort Necessity, and the slaughter at the Battle of the Monogahela (or Braddock's defeat).
Some other things I learned about Washington are that most historians believe that he ignited the French-Indian War, he was obsessed with his best friend's wife (and wrote the whiniest love letters to her), and he hadn't won a single battle prior to becoming leader of the Continental Army.
George Washington obviously leaves behind a complicated legacy, but Stark's humanizing portrait of him in his mid-20s reveals a young leader unsure of himself and his destiny, but slowly growing in humility, integrity, and confidence. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to peek into the life of America's "founding father." My only complaint, ironically, is that Stark's vivid writing in the wilderness and battle scenes is so good, that other parts of the story drag a bit.
March 8, 2022
Peter Stark is not a professional historian but he has written a definitive account of Washington's first 27 years. He covers all of the military campaigns that Washington was involved in during the 1750s including the Jumonville Affair, the fall of Fort Necessity, the defeat of Braddock at Fort Duquesne, the regrouping of a Virginia colonial regiment in Winchester, and the Forbes March to Fort Duquesne. Interspersed in these narratives are the afflictions, both mental and physical, that Washington suffered. He matured from a petulant young aristocrat in colonial Virginia to a leader of men who took part in many wartime engagements in his 20s. Washington had deep depressions when his aspirations were not met by the British military hierarchy but these grew into a full resentment of the manner in which the British treated their colonial counterparts. By doing this, they made Washington into a revolutionary intent on securing American independence. He also suffered from physical maladies such as smallpox which he survived during a short stay in Barbados and the bloody flux which was an 18th century form of dysentery. All of this made the man that he became. Stark captures this all in a book a tad over 400 pages alternating between historical narrative and a novel like style to his character. Very good reading!
July 5, 2024
It's very appropriate that I finished this book on July 4th. As the title clearly shows this book was about the early life of George Washington, from about the age of 21 or so to around 27 or 28. This was primarily about his role in the French and Indian War or as it was also known , The Seven Year War. It was a war that Washington actually had a role in starting, as he led a group of men who fired the first shots against the French in this conflict. I would give this book 5 stars for its historical content and descriptions, and in filling in at least for me a period of American history that I knew very little about. However to make this more like a novel than just a dry historical account Mr. Stark used a lot of supposition and imagination to bring scenes to life that had no actual historical backing, like what Washingington might have been thinking or feeling at certain times, and what certain experiences in the wilderness may have felt like. This is also a description of a Washington who is not like the National hero that so many think of him today as. This is a description of a self absorbed youth, who was ambitious and self serving. however it also showed that these early experiences gradually
shaped the Man that he became later in life. This is good book, it brings History to life and shines a light on a little known period of American History.
shaped the Man that he became later in life. This is good book, it brings History to life and shines a light on a little known period of American History.
Read
May 16, 2020I tried so hard to finish this one, but considering how long it's been sitting part finished on my various devices (and how I only ever manage to read a few pages at a time), I think it's time to consign Young Washington to the DNF pile. I can always come back and try again later. But I probably won't because the truth is, it's just not a great book. Not bad enough that I'm going to give it a one-star rating but just... not great.
The author tries to compensate for the fact that we don't have a lot of information about this period of George Washington's life by going off on long tangents about how he IMAGINES things would have been. Not in a way that's misleading—he very carefully uses the conditional tense whenever he's veering off topic—but if you took out all the pages of Dickensian scenery description and hypothesizing about how people MIGHT have felt in the moment, you would lose literally half the book. The nuggets of extra detail about Washington's youth just aren't enough to make the rest of this filler readable.
I don't recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about Washington's early life, unless you're prepared to skim like crazy through the many pages that contain no actual information.
The author tries to compensate for the fact that we don't have a lot of information about this period of George Washington's life by going off on long tangents about how he IMAGINES things would have been. Not in a way that's misleading—he very carefully uses the conditional tense whenever he's veering off topic—but if you took out all the pages of Dickensian scenery description and hypothesizing about how people MIGHT have felt in the moment, you would lose literally half the book. The nuggets of extra detail about Washington's youth just aren't enough to make the rest of this filler readable.
I don't recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about Washington's early life, unless you're prepared to skim like crazy through the many pages that contain no actual information.
April 16, 2022
I found this title to be very engaging both as a biography of Washington’s early adulthood and as a narrative history of the French and Indian War. Seeing Washington as more of a selfish or petulant young man and how circumstances in the colonial frontier helped change him was definitely fascinating. I agree with many other reviews that the author indeed does a large amount of speculating, but he is usually very clear when he is doing so. For the most part I didn’t mind except for Stark’s fixation on Washington secretly loving Sally Fairfax. While I tend to agree that he did based on the surviving evidence, there really wasn’t anything to suggest Washington’s feelings were reciprocated. Stark just couldn’t seem to let it go however and not only does he assume Sally had feelings for him in return, it forms a subplot to the entire book. As long as you remind yourself to take the author’s speculations as just that, you have a solid Washington biography.
November 29, 2021
The Kindle Edition was frustrating!
Although the Kindle edition was very poorly edited (or never reviewed) I believe this had to be an issue with the e-book only. I had several occasions where “&c” was featured in a sentence. I couldn’t necessarily read the sentence without that and make sense of it so I believe intended text was replaced with “&c”. (Sometimes it was “&c &c &c”.)
Ignoring that problem, I thought the book itself was interesting, well researched and probably well written by the author. I definitely learned much I didn’t know, not only about George Washington but also the conflict between Britain and France and how the Indians were used during the conflict. There was quite a lot of interesting detail I found worthwhile. I’m glad I read the book.
Although the Kindle edition was very poorly edited (or never reviewed) I believe this had to be an issue with the e-book only. I had several occasions where “&c” was featured in a sentence. I couldn’t necessarily read the sentence without that and make sense of it so I believe intended text was replaced with “&c”. (Sometimes it was “&c &c &c”.)
Ignoring that problem, I thought the book itself was interesting, well researched and probably well written by the author. I definitely learned much I didn’t know, not only about George Washington but also the conflict between Britain and France and how the Indians were used during the conflict. There was quite a lot of interesting detail I found worthwhile. I’m glad I read the book.
June 30, 2024
A really excellent entertaining read, going into even more detail than most accounts of Washington’s role in the beginning of the Seven Years War, with a detailed account of his earliest mission to the French in the Ohio Valley and also with his private affairs in Virginian and even New York aristocracy, with a very good treatment of his inappropriate and unrequited love for Sally Fairfax. Loses a star for prioritising readability over historical rigour (though it is VERY readable, with enormously evocative prose), and loses a second star because of Stark’s (and Stark’s copy editor’s) utter certainty, from the first chapter to the last, that there was in the 18th century (or has been at any time before or since) a British military organisation named the “Royal Army”.
July 5, 2019
I’m not sure how to rate this one, since I don’t read history books often. (I learned that you should judge a book by what it genre it is in, not what you want it to be in.) But I do like how this author tackled the American concept that Washington was a god, and wasn’t afraid to liberally explain his foibles.
“This young Washington is ambitious, temperamental, vain, thin-skinned, petulant, awkward, demanding, stubborn, annoying, hasty, passionate.”
Washington was likely a narcissist. Was.
I recommend this book to every American, because it explains how our most decisive Founding Father overcame deep personal flaws to become a national hero. Stark writes clearly and thoroughly, and details adjacent facts that add clarity.
“This young Washington is ambitious, temperamental, vain, thin-skinned, petulant, awkward, demanding, stubborn, annoying, hasty, passionate.”
Washington was likely a narcissist. Was.
I recommend this book to every American, because it explains how our most decisive Founding Father overcame deep personal flaws to become a national hero. Stark writes clearly and thoroughly, and details adjacent facts that add clarity.
October 16, 2018
A Distinct View of Washington in his Twenties
Peter Stark’s well articulated and documented narrative history of George Washington’s young military life portrays him as a very distinctly self-centered and ambitious young officer (and plantation owner) struggling to move up in the ranks of the British Redcoats and British American society- a very different perspective from what we Americans are usually indoctrinated with!
Peter Stark’s well articulated and documented narrative history of George Washington’s young military life portrays him as a very distinctly self-centered and ambitious young officer (and plantation owner) struggling to move up in the ranks of the British Redcoats and British American society- a very different perspective from what we Americans are usually indoctrinated with!
November 10, 2018
A Look into the Forces that Molded Washington
Stark presents a well documented and easily readable biography of our first president from the insecurity of his teenage years through his retirement as a successful gentleman farmer. The author presents the young Washington's struggles to grow out of his ego into the maturity of adulthood. Stark fills in the historical record with a good narrative. I recommend this book as a Good Read.
Stark presents a well documented and easily readable biography of our first president from the insecurity of his teenage years through his retirement as a successful gentleman farmer. The author presents the young Washington's struggles to grow out of his ego into the maturity of adulthood. Stark fills in the historical record with a good narrative. I recommend this book as a Good Read.
July 1, 2019
Picked up on a whim at my local indie bookstore, this was a wonderful dive into local history by my famous neighbor. It was interesting to see Washington grow through roughly a five year span into the legend he would become. Stark does a good job with digressions where necessary and brings to life the settings, characters, questions, and reach back to modern day analysis and impact that Washington’s decisions and experiences came to have.
October 5, 2023
Very good story of the pre-Revolutionary War times of George Washington during his service in the Virginia Militia, helping the British to push the French out of the Ohio River Valley. A story not told very often around his early failures and defeats and the author is putting the blame on starting the French and Indian War with the British on Young Washington. Recommended book for those wanting to no more about Young Washington.
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