A comprehensive biography of George Washington, following him from surveyor and young officer through the Revolutionary War command and two terms as the first president, portraying the private uncertainties behind the marble-statue myth.
Books mentioned in Washington: A Life (28)
Cato by Joseph Addison: “As he experienced the first stirrings of an abiding passion for theater, he read Joseph Addison’s Cato, a paean to republican virtues that he quoted repeatedly throughout his life.”
The Tempest by William Shakespeare: ““Had he done this,” wrote Washington, quoting Shakespeare’s The Tempest, “he would … have found many of his charges as unsupported as the ‘baseless fabric of a vision.’”36 Starting in November 1791 and running for more than a year, James Madison publi”
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke: “For his eclectic postwar reading he had lined up Voltaire’s Letters to Several of His Friends, John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, and Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”
Rasselas by Samuel Johnson: “s an avid newspaper reader and kept up with some of the best literature imported from London in the 1760s, including Oliver Goldsmith’s The Vicar of Wakefield and Samuel Johnson’s Rasselas, as well as gothic romance novels.”
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare: “Not surprisingly, in wartime, he plucked timely quotes from the Roman and history plays, including Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Henry V.”
Henry V by William Shakespeare: “Not surprisingly, in wartime, he plucked timely quotes from the Roman and history plays, including Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Henry V.”
Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare: “Not surprisingly, in wartime, he plucked timely quotes from the Roman and history plays, including Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Henry V.”
Common Sense by Thomas Paine: “those feelings which distinguish a civilized people from the most barbarous savages.”50 The conflict sharpened further on January 10, 1776, with the publication of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, a landmark pamphlet that galvanized the colonies to seek outright independence.”
The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan: “The first play he saw, on May 11, 1789, was his all-time satirical favorite, William Sheridan’s The School for Scandal.”
Commentaries by Julius Caesar: “ean to make any figure upon the stage, that you should take the first steps right.”7 From their letters, we can also tell that George and Colonel Fairfax shared copies of Caesar’s Commentaries and a life of Alexander the Great and frequently swapped views on military heroes from antiquity.”
Henry IV by William Shakespeare: “He sounded a note of sleepless despair, reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, saying that he experienced “many an uneasy hour when all around me are wrapped in sleep.”47 A man who hated failure, Washington again mused about whether he had erred in acceptin”
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle by Tobias Smollett: “With the novel flowering as a literary form, he was to purchase copies of Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones and Tobias Smollett’s The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle in coming years, and he was especially drawn to military history.”
The Federalist by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay: “… your quitting [it was] altogether the effect of your own [choic]e.”14 To combat vocal foes of the Constitution in New York, Hamilton published in late October the first essay of The Federalist under the pen name “Publius” and rushed a copy to Washington.”
The Crisis by Thomas Paine: “To honor the thirteen states, he published thirteen essays in a collection entitled The Crisis.”
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare: “He also quoted Shakespeare frequently, and his letters are filled with passing references to Hamlet, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, and The Tempest.”
Rights of Man by Thomas Paine: “In 1791 he published The Rights of Man as a response to Edmund Burke’s influential denunciation, Reflections on the Revolution in France.”
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith: “Though he probably never read it, Washington would have agreed with Adam Smith’s theory in The Wealth of Nations (1776) that slavery was a backward system because workers lacked economic incentives to improve performance.”
Contemplations Moral and Divine by Matthew Hale: “Unable to afford a fancy education for her children, Mary Washington did her best to pound moral precepts into them, reading daily portions from a volume entitled Contemplations Moral and Divine by Sir Matthew Hale.”
Letters to Several of His Friends by Voltaire: “For his eclectic postwar reading he had lined up Voltaire’s Letters to Several of His Friends, John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, and Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”
The Farmer Refuted by Alexander Hamilton: “In the last advertisement he placed in the Boston Gazette, he announced the sale of an anti-British tract, “The Farmer Refuted,” an anonymous work written by a King’s College student in New York named Alexander Hamilton.”
Instructions to His Generals by Frederick the Great: “Washington had long admired an army manual written by Frederick the Great, Instructions to His Generals, which may have predisposed him to value Steuben’s advice.”
Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke: “In 1791 he published The Rights of Man as a response to Edmund Burke’s influential denunciation, Reflections on the Revolution in France.”
The London Merchant by George Lillo: “When he attended a melodrama by George Lillo entitled The London Merchant, it was probably his first taste of a professional stage production, marking the start of a lasting fondness for theater.”
Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation: “If thoroughly heeded, The Rules of Civility would have produced a cool, pragmatic, and very controlled young man with genteel manners—exactly the social facade Washington wished to project to conceal the welter of stormy em”
A Treatise of Military Discipline by Humphrey Bland: “As always, he worked assiduously at self-improvement, perusing Humphrey Bland’s A Treatise of Military Discipline, a manual popular in the British Army.”
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes: “But if these have been neglected … let me advise him to make the first onset upon his fair del Tobosa [Dulcinea del Toboso, the country girl in Don Quixote] with vigor that the impression may be deep, if it cannot be lasting or frequently renewed.”27 The marriage thrived even though Martha and George lacked children.”
Report on Manufactures by Alexander Hamilton: “Throwing caution to the wind, Jefferson said Hamilton had suborned congressmen who “feathered their nests with [government] paper” and therefore voted for his system.32 Hamilton’s Report on Manufactures, Jefferson claimed, would destroy any pretense of limited government and enable the government to undertake any measure it liked.”