The Education of George Washington: How a forgotten book shaped the character of a hero
George Washington's reputation shines so brilliantly that it's hard to see the man through the glare. But the father of our country did not emerge fully formed in commemorative marble and Revolutionary glory.George Washington made America. But what made George Washington the man he was? What shaped the character of the great American hero who, even in his own time, was regarded as the exemplar of honor, courage, and integrity?Historian Austin Washington, a Washington descendant, has discovered the answer. It lies in a book that was crucial to the formation of George Washington's character—but then was completely forgotten for generations. Now Austin Washington has uncovered and explored this lost source and found in it the key to his great-uncle's glorious achievements.This is not your typical life of Washington. Austin Washington gives us George Washington, the man: his early strivings for a footing in Virginia society; hisfirst bruising military adventures; his marriage and family life; his caution in politics and daring in war; his willingness to spend the reputation and wealth he had gained for the good of his country. Through it all, Austin Washington shows us his great-uncle's determination to make himself into the kind of hero he had read about—in a book that can change us, too, if we take it as seriously as George Washington did.This is the amazing story of an amazing man, told with fresh insight, drawing on a remarkable and crucial new source that no previous biographer has touched.In The Education of George Washington you'll learn:The qualities George Washington cultivated in himself—in imitation of the forgotten man who was his heroWhy the cherry tree story is true—though not the way you've heard itWashington's religion—how he understood "Providence"George Washington's principles of love and marriageWhat the father of our country would likely think about America todayBONUS: the book that "made" George Washington reproduced in its entiretySprightly, provocative, groundbreaking, Austin Washington illuminates the sourcebook, lost for two hundred years, that formed George Washington's character—and that can help form yours.