3.75 stars

This book went into great depth of what Washington’s life was like from 1776 up until the beginning of his presidency. I did find it difficult to follow at times though

George Washington and the Creation of the American Republic follows the time period before Washington became the first American President. Washington frequently claimed to be ‘retired’ and wanted to leave public life but he reluctantly presided over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. This book discusses Washington and politics but it also gives huge insight into his personal and family life at Mount Vernon. Washington had a huge interest in farming and wanted to create a strong central government in America.

This book was really interesting and I do think this is very well researched regarding Washington’s life. As a Brit, I know basically nothing about Washington so I enjoyed learning about him. This book discusses a lot of the people that were around Washington and even discusses slavery. This was very well written, I’m giving it 4 stars and I would recommend this for fans of American history. My only issue with this was I did get a little lost with some of the people mentioned in this but that’s probably because I’m not very well read in this area.

Looks at the 8 year period before Washington became president, and the influence he had behind the scenes while shaping the image that would be recorded for posterity. Schemes, plans, backroom deals, and countless letters would ultimately lead to Washington's presidency, as well as the shaping of very early years of the new United States. The author does an excellent job deftly navigating the numerous sources and guiding the reader through this tumultuous period.