Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy
- ISBN-10
- 0525562176
- ISBN-13
- 9780525562177
- Category
- History
- Pages
- 400
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2021-09-14
- Publisher
- Penguin
- Author
- Nathaniel Philbrick
Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Travels with George . . . is quintessential Philbrick—a lively, courageous, and masterful achievement.” —The Boston Globe Does George Washington still matter? Bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick argues for Washington’s unique contribution to the forging of America by retracing his journey as a new president through all thirteen former colonies, which were now an unsure nation. Travels with George marks a new first-person voice for Philbrick, weaving history and personal reflection into a single narrative. When George Washington became president in 1789, the United States of America was still a loose and quarrelsome confederation and a tentative political experiment. Washington undertook a tour of the ex-colonies to talk to ordinary citizens about his new government, and to imbue in them the idea of being one thing—Americans. In the fall of 2018, Nathaniel Philbrick embarked on his own journey into what Washington called “the infant woody country” to see for himself what America had become in the 229 years since. Writing in a thoughtful first person about his own adventures with his wife, Melissa, and their dog, Dora, Philbrick follows Washington’s presidential excursions: from Mount Vernon to the new capital in New York; a monthlong tour of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island; a venture onto Long Island and eventually across Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The narrative moves smoothly between the eighteenth and twenty-first centuries as we see the country through both Washington’s and Philbrick’s eyes. Written at a moment when America’s founding figures are under increasing scrutiny, Travels with George grapples bluntly and honestly with Washington’s legacy as a man of the people, a reluctant president, and a plantation owner who held people in slavery. At historic houses and landmarks, Philbrick reports on the reinterpretations at work as he meets reenactors, tour guides, and other keepers of history’s flame. He paints a picture of eighteenth-century America as divided and fraught as it is today, and he comes to understand how Washington compelled, enticed, stood up to, and listened to the many different people he met along the way—and how his all-consuming belief in the union helped to forge a nation.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
George Washington's Journey: The President Forges a New Nation
By T.H. BreenFollows Washington's journey to each of the original thirteen states, during which he brought the government to the people and promoted the idea of a strong federal union.
-
Travels with Rachel: In Search of South America
By George MahoodKnee-deep in a swamp in the depths of the Bolivian jungle, hunting for anacondas in a pair of sandals, it occurred to George that perhaps he should have booked that all-inclusive honeymoon to the Maldives after all.
-
In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown
By Nathaniel PhilbrickIn the concluding volume of his acclaimed American Revolution series, Nathaniel Philbrick tells the thrilling story of the year that won the Revolutionary War.
-
Sacred Travels: Recovering the Ancient Practice of Pilgrimage
By Christian GeorgeThey persuade me that suffering is only for a season, heaven doesn't have hospitals, and one day I will receive a new body that is not susceptible to the difficulties of this life. Above all, they give me hope that the final voyage home ...
-
George Washington's America: A Biography Through His Maps
By Barnet SchecterFrom his teens until his death, the maps George Washington drew and purchased were always central to his work. After his death, many of the most important maps he had...
-
My Travels with Capts. Lewis and Clark, by George Shannon
By Kate McMullanAccompanied by Adrienne Yorinks's illustrations drawn as if sewn by George himself, this is an adventure not to be missed.
-
Travels with Vamper: A Graybeard's Journey
By George CritchlowMcCall and Boise I have already spoken of the days I spent in McCall, Idaho, when I was a young man. ... including an interest in both the hallucinogenic and the holy, he was a quintessential preppy in style, look, and sensibility.
-
Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution
By Nathaniel PhilbrickAs this book ends, four years later Washington has vanquished his demons, and Arnold has fled to the enemy.
-
Washington at Valley Forge
By Russell FreedmanIn this comprehensive volume, Newbery Award-winning author Russell Freedman applies his renowned storytelling skills to examine a pivotal moment in the Revolutionary War-- one in which the nation's future leader would be greatly tested.
-
Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey!
By H. A. ReyThis 24-page, 8 x 8, paperback adaptation of the straight-to-DVD movie, Curious George: Follow That Monkey!, chronicles George's adventures as he befriends Kayla, a baby elephant, at a magic circus show and helps her travel across the ...