Saturday, December 8, 2007

George Washington Biographer

An interview with historian Richard Brookhiser regarding his biography of George Washington:

6 comments:

Lindsey Shuman said...

I actually read this book and liked it a lot. It's very simplistic, so if you are wanting an in depth look at George Washington I would go with Ellis or one of the other biographers of Washington. I also heard that Ron Chernow is coming out with a bio on Washington. He is very well respected for his work on Alexander Hamilton, so it should be good.

David Mabry said...

Brrokhiser had wriiten a "moral" biography of Washington which contained absolutely nothing new. I would also go with the new Ellis biography...or if you really have time...the classic Douglas Southall Freeman biography of our most revered founding father. For Brrookhiser, next to read for me is his biography on Gouvernour Morris.

Steve-O said...

I have to be honest...I HATED this book. In fact, I am not fond of Brookhiser in the least. I think he is quite overrated as an historian. I am with Mabry on this one...Ellis did an excellent bio and Freeman's is classic.

Brad Hart said...

I sort of agree with you Steve. I'm not super fond of Brookhiser, though I don't have as strong of feelings as you. =)

Lindsey Shuman said...

Have any of you read his other book entitled, "What would the Founding Fathers do?" He tries to put the Founders in our modern society and then he states what Washington, Adams, Franklin, etc would think of immigration, healthcare, weapons of mass destruction, etc. Kind of a dumb book to be honest.

Steve-O said...

I don't think I will ever read any of his other books. He's just not my cup of tea.