George Washington: Gentleman Warrior
"Stephen Brumwell's book is a pleasure to read from the very first pages, when he puts you right there, literally looking down the sights of a rifle held by a British officer who's about to decide whether to kill George Washington.... [Brumwell] brings the frontier military experience to life--the vermin, the floggings, the constant fear of ambush and massacre. And readers get a vivid sense of Washington himself as a creation of eighteenth-century military culture."—Adam Goodheart, Hodson Trust-Griswold Director of the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, George Washington College"Every so often, books are published that combine first-rate, innovative scholarship and page-turning readability. Stephen Brumwell's revisionary retelling of the life of James Wolfe is a shining example."—Globe and Mail"Dynamic... The First Father waves from his high horse with this felicitous new assessment of his derring-do."—Kirkus Reviews"Brumwell breathes new life into a younger and edgier incarnation of our first president--the feisty frontier warrior who engaged the French and their Indian allies in brutal border skirmishes, the tough mid-career officer who turned the Continental Army into the weapon that defeated the British Empire. Even while Washington fought the redcoats, Brumwell argues, he relied on British models of military organization and gentlemanly behavior in shaping his distinctive style of leadership."—from the 2013 The George Washington Book Prize winner citation announcement"A thrilling narrative.Â .Â . vividly written."—Times Literary Supplement"George Washington: Gentleman Warrioris a wonderful read and the scholarship is deeply impressive--Stephen Brumwell was way down in the scholarly weeds sorting out things most eighteenth-century specialists don't know much about"—James G. Basker, President, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American HistoryPRAISE FORWHITE DEVIL:"Excellent research and gripping prose!"—Sunday TelegraphPRAISE FORPATHS OF GLORY:"Paths of Gloryis a powerful tonic, which shows that...[Wolfe's] generalship--and not luck--won for England a continent."—Times Literary SupplementPRAISE FORGEORGE WASHINGTON:"In clear prose and a compelling narrative style, Stephen Brumwell balances the popular image of Washington as a reluctant commander, statesman, and father of his country with that of an ambitious young officer in the British military tradition, whose experiences--and hard lessons--in war shaped his leadership of a nation born out of conflict."—Colin G. Calloway, John Kimball Jr. 1943 Professor of History and Professor of Native American Studies, Dartmouth College"[A] solid military biography... Mr. Brumwell's thesis that Washington's own â??pretension to the character of a gentleman' explains his success in the War for Independence."—Allan Pell Crawford,The Wall Street Journal"Well-written and engaging... In the hands of this fine biographer, Washington emerges as a flesh and blood man, more impressive than the mythical hero could ever be."—2013 Washington Book Prize Jury's finalist selection citation