Annotated Bibliography:

Top Ten Books about George Washington

These selections were adapted from a bibliography developed by historians at The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association in 1999, the two hundredth anniversary of Washington's death. These books are a sample of some of the best scholarship available to the adult reader about this complex and indispensable man.

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1. Abbot, W. W. and Dorothy Twohig, editors. The Papers of George Washington. Charlottesville: University of Virginia, 1983.
   This highly acclaimed series documents all of the extant letters, personal and official, as well as speeches and official writings of George Washington from 1755-1790.

2. Alden, John R. George Washington: A Biography. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1984.
   In this simple, entertaining, and direct biography Alden examines the major events and aspects in the personal and professional life of George Washington.

3. Cunliffe, Marcus. George Washington Man and Monument. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1958, reprinted Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, 1998.
   This brief biography was a model for an new style of history writing - that of writing short interpretive essays. Although it has only five chapters, nothing of importance is lost.

4. Flexner, James T. George Washington. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1969, reprinted in 1974.
   An in-depth biography in four volumes, Flexner carefully portrays Washington in a manner that is neither glorified nor vilified. Flexner's Washington: The Indispensable Man is a brilliant and easy to read book that encapsulates his four volume series.

5. Freeman, Douglas S. Washington. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995.
   Freeman portrays Washington as a man, not a god, who was heroic, but also flawed. This is the abridged version of the author's seven volume biography which won the 1948 Pulitzer Prize.

6. Higginbotham, Don. George Washington and the American Military Tradition. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1985.
   Noted scholar, Higginbotham examines the factors that shaped George Washington's military career, which ultimately led to victory over the British and to American independence.

7. Jackson, Donald and Dorothy Twohig, editors. The Diaries of George Washington. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1976-79.
   The editors have created an extensive six volume series from all of the existing diaries from the years 1748-1799. The annotations and editorial comments make the text as clear and accurate as possible.

8. McDonald, Forrest. The Presidency of George Washington. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1974.
   McDonald concentrates on the difficult issues Washington faced as the first president of a new and struggling country.

9. Morgan, Edmund S. The Genius of George Washington. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1980.
   According to the author, Washington's genius came from his ability to understand both military and political power. This knowledge made him stand out above his contemporaries and gave him the power to take command.

10. ______________. The Meaning of Independence: John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1976.
    In this short, insightful book, Morgan examines some of the hopes and fears of the first three presidents in their struggle for an independent nation.

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