George Washington: Gentleman Warrior

Upon meeting George Washington, Abigail Adams remarked to her husband, John, that “the gentleman and the soldier look agreeably blended” in him. Seizing upon this observation, biographer Brumwell (Paths of Glory) offers an intense portrait of a military leader whose habits of leadership combined a thirst for victory with the deep emphasis on discipline and order that Washington had observed in the British army. In exhausting detail, Brumwell wearily traces the well-known story of Washington from his childhood and youth, his work as a surveyor, his love for Sally Fairfax, his marriage to Martha Custis, and his decision to settle down as a gentleman planter in 1759. Brumwell then covers Washington’s military exploits in the Indian Wars on the Monongahela, his elevation to commander of the Continental Army, and his successful exploits and leadership in the War of Independence. Since Washington often fought on the frontlines, he witnessed the horrors of war firsthand and years after his military career had ended, he turned his back on the “rage of conquest” he witnessed in various European conflicts. Brumwell’s often tedious book portrays Washington as he grew from a “feisty young frontier officer” to “the tough 40-something commander of the Continental Army” who wished to be remembered most for his military exploits and leadership. (Oct.)