Customer Reviews

The Genius of George Washington (The Third George Rogers Clark lecture)

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On the copyright page, a small disclaimer appears alerting the reader that this book consists of one lecture and portions of Washtington's letters and is NOT intended to be "fresh contributions to the scholarship of the American Revolution." I will not argue this but will praise Edmund Morgan on clearly and straightforwardly explaining an his theory that George Washington's understanding of power was far beyond any of his contemporaries' or of any other American historical figure. As examples, shows the reader examples from Washingtons' life and letters with regards to national power, military power, foreign relations and the comperative power of nations and the power that comes with honor or respect.

This is a slim work, consisting of less than ninety pages, but these pages have done a great deal to flesh out my understanding of Washington the person. Morgan has convinced me that Washington is a genius with regards to the understanding of power and the remoteness and aloofness that historians often find puzzeling is less an arrogant flaw than a deliberate calculated example of his understanding of power. While this, as I have previously said, is not a "fresh contribution," it is a contribution which sums up a difficult subject in an extremely well-written and engaging way. I highly recommend it.

This is not one of Edmund Morgan's more important books, but it is worth looking at if you like Morgan's writings (as I do passionately), or if you are a George Washington buff. This is a very slim volume, consisting of one very interesting lecture on Washington as a military and political leader (arguing that Washington understood the nature of power better than anybody else in his day in the colonies or the states), and a selection of Washington's letters that provide corroboration for Morgan's arguments and insight into the pertinent topics. Where needed, Morgan provides a brief introduction to each letter. I enjoyed it, but it isn't going to make anybody outside of the two groups I mentioned above very happy.