Washington: A Life

As I restart my journey through Presidential biographies, I re-read this book. Man, is it so good. Comprehensive, well-written, authoritative, etc. However, on this second reading I realized how much I had forgotten about Washington's life, only two years since my first reading. This being the longest non-fiction book I've ever read, I'm unsure how reasonable it is to think this about a book of such breadth, but I feel it should be possible for a written work to stick with you more than this did–if written well enough. I feel what sticks with you is not the overall contours and story of Washington's life as much as an intuitive sense of the man himself and some notable anecdotes. Maybe that ought to be the highest goal of a good biography–to capture the subject's essence, even at the expense of clarity regarding the events of his life. But I do wish that my mental picture of his life were more whole; something about this book and how it's written loses me in its forest in its emphasis on the trees. But still, it is a book worth reading, with meaning lessons on leadership, history, politics, and culture. It does not avoid the unflattering parts of Washington, nor is it a hit piece. Chernow obviously cares for this man deeply, and respects him profoundly, but not to the point of clouding his assessment of him. In short, it's a fantastic, wonderful book that all should read–even if they have little hope of retaining every specific part.