General George Washington: A Military Life

By Edward G. Lengel. ISBN: 978-0-8129-6950-4. Copyright 2005. Softcover with 449 pages including index.

Based largely on George Washington’s personal papers, this engrossing book paints a vivid, factual portrait of Washington the soldier. An expert in military history, Edward Lengel demonstrates that the “secret” to Washington’s excellence lay in his completeness, in how he united the military, political, and personal skills necessary to lead a nation in war and peace. Despite being an “imperfect commander” and at times even a tactically suspect one, Washington nevertheless possessed the requisite combination of vision, integrity, talents, and good fortune to lead America to victory in its war for independence. At once informative and engaging, and filled with some eye-opening revelations about Washington, the American Revolution, and the very nature of military command, General George Washington is a book that reintroduces readers to a figure many think they already know.

This publication sheds light on historical events highlighted in the new Mount Vernon interactive experience, “Be Washington”, specifically the Newburgh Conspiracy.