Washington - Books On Amazon.com _{Check eBay.com!}

BOOK
The Real George Washington (American Classic Series)
Jay A. Parry
$13.01

About this product:

The Real George Washington: The True Story of America s Most Indispensable Man

There is properly no history; only biography, wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. If that is true of the general run of mankind, it is particularly true of George Washington. The story of his life is the story of the founding of America. His was the dominant personality in three of the most critical events in that founding: the Revolutionary War, the Constitutional Convention, and the first national administration. Had he not served as America s leader in those three events, all three would likely have failed. And America as we know it today would not exist.

Why, after two centuries, does George Washington remain one of the most beloved figures in our history? The Real George Washington answers that question by giving us a close look at this man who became the father of our country and the first American President. But rather than focus on the interpretations of historians, the books tells much of his exciting story in his own words. The second part of this 928-page book brings together the most important and insightful passages from Washington s writings, conveniently arranged by subject. Published by National Center for Constitutional Studies, a non-profit organization.

Learn for yourself why GLENN BECK, award-winning radio and Cable TV host has been encouraging people to read The Real George Washington !

BOOK
His Excellency: George Washington
Joseph J. Ellis
$12.50

About this product:
As commander of the Continental army, George Washington united the American colonies, defeated the British army, and became the world's most famous man. But how much do Americans really know about their first president? Today, as Pulitzer Prize-winner Joseph J. Ellis says in this crackling biography, Americans see their first president on dollar bills, quarters, and Mount Rushmore, but only as "an icon--distant, cold, intimidating." In truth, Washington was a deeply emotional man, but one who prized and practiced self-control (an attribute reinforced during his years on the battlefield).

Washington first gained recognition as a 21-year-old emissary for the governor of Virginia, braving savage conditions to confront encroaching French forces. As the de facto leader of the American Revolution, he not only won the country's independence, but helped shape its political personality and "topple the monarchical and aristocratic dynasties of the Old World." When the Congress unanimously elected him president, Washington accepted reluctantly, driven by his belief that the union's very viability depended on a powerful central government. In fact, keeping the country together in the face of regional allegiances and the rise of political parties may be his greatest presidential achievement.

Based on Washington's personal letters and papers, His Excellency is smart and accessible--not to mention relatively brief, in comparison to other encyclopedic presidential tomes. Ellis's short, succinct sentences speak volumes, allowing readers to glimpse the man behind the myth. --Andy Boynton

Amazon.com Exclusive Content
Curious about George?
Amazon.com reveals a few facts about the legendary first president of the United States.

Washington bust by Jean Antoine Houdon. Courtesy of the Mt. Vernon Ladies' Assoc.

1. The famous tale about Washington chopping down the cherry tree ("Father, I cannot tell a lie") is a complete fabrication.

2. George Washington never threw a silver dollar across the Potomac River--in fact, to do so from the shore of his Mount Vernon home would have been physically impossible.

3. George Washington did not wear wooden teeth. His poorly fitting false teeth were in fact made of cow's teeth, human teeth, and elephant ivory set in a lead base.

4. Early in his life, Washington was himself a slave owner. His opinions changed after he commanded a multiracial army in the Revolutionary War. He eventually came to recognize slavery as "a massive American anomaly."

5. In 1759, having resigned as Virginia's military commander to become a planter, Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis. Washington’s marriage to the colony's wealthiest widow dramatically changed his life, catapulting him into Virginia aristocracy.

6. Scholars have discredited suggestions that Washington's marriage to Martha lacked passion, as well as the provocative implications of the well-worn phrase "George Washington slept here."

7. Washington held his first public office when he was 17 years old, as surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia.

8. At age 20, despite no prior military experience, Washington was appointed an adjutant in the Virginia militia, in which he oversaw several militia companies, and was assigned the rank of major.

9. As a Virginia aristocrat, Washington ordered all his coats, shirts, pants, and shoes from London. However, most likely due to the misleading instructions he gave his tailor, the suits almost never fit. Perhaps this is why he appears in an old military uniform in his 1772 portrait.

10. In 1751, during a trip to Barbados with his half-brother Lawrence, Washington was stricken with smallpox and permanently scarred. Fortunately, this early exposure made him immune to the disease that would wipe out colonial troops during the Revolutionary War.

Timeline
Important dates in George Washington's life.

Engraving of Mount Vernon, 1804. Courtesy of the Mt. Vernon Ladies' Assoc.

1732: George Washington is born at his father's estate in Westmoreland County, Virginia.

1743: George’s father, Augustine Washington, dies.

1752: At age 20, despite the fact that he has never served in the military, Washington is appointed adjutant in the Virginia militia, with the rank of major.

1753: As an emissary to Virginia Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie, he travels to the Ohio River Valley to confront French forces--the first of a series of encounters that would lead to the French and Indian War.

1755: Washington is appointed commander-in-chief of Virginia's militia.

1759: He marries wealthy widow Martha Dandridge Custis.

1774: Washington is elected to the First Continental Congress.

1775: He is unanimously elected by the Continental Congress as its army's commander-in-chief. Start of the American Revolution.

1776: On Christmas Day, Washington leads his army across the Delaware River and launches a successful attack against Hessian troops in Trenton, New Jersey.

1781: With the French, he defeats British troops in Yorktown, Virginia, precipitating the end of the war.

1783: The Revolutionary War officially ends.

1788: The Constitution is ratified.

1789: Washington is elected president.

1797: He fulfills his last term as president.

1799: Washington dies on December 14, sparking a period of national mourning.

BOOK
George Washington
William Roscoe Thayer
$28.98

About this product:
A pithy portrait that dismisses the 'mass of absurdities and deliberate false inventions' of some previous accounts.

BOOK
The Washington Manual® of Medical Therapeutics (Spiral Manual Series)
$39.98

About this product:

BOOK
To Try Men's Souls: A Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American Freedom
Albert S. Hanser
$27.44

About this product:

BOOK
For Liberty and Glory: Washington, Lafayette, and Their Revolutions
James R. Gaines
$3.37

About this product:
"Gaines has a deft understanding of the Washington-Lafayette relationship ... [and] a knack for wielding substantial research with aplomb."—San Francisco Chronicle This book tells the story of the French and American Revolutions in a single, thrilling narrative that shows just how deeply intertwined they actually were. Their leaders were often seen as father and son, but the relationship of George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette, while close, was every bit as complex as the long, fraught history of the French-American alliance, of which they were also the founding fathers. 16 pages of illustrations; 2 maps.

BOOK
Washington's Rules Of Civility And Decent Behavior In Company And Conversation (1888)
George Washington
$9.55

About this product:
'George Washington's Rules of Civility' is a short list of 110 principles or maxims by which, supposedly, proper decent people must abide. While some of these maxims may seem dated others are still quite apt for today. A quick read, 'George Washington's Rules of Civility' is an insightful look at the manners and customs of an age gone by.

BOOK
Washington's Crossing (Pivotal Moments in American History)
David Hackett Fischer
$10.70

About this product:
Six months after the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution was all but lost. A powerful British force had routed the Americans at New York, occupied three colonies, and advanced within sight of Philadelphia. Yet, as David Hackett Fischer recounts in this riveting history, George Washington--and many other Americans--refused to let the Revolution die. On Christmas night, as a howling nor'easter struck the Delaware Valley, he led his men across the river and attacked the exhausted Hessian garrison at Trenton, killing or capturing nearly a thousand men. A second battle of Trenton followed within days. The Americans held off a counterattack by Lord Cornwallis's best troops, then were almost trapped by the British force. Under cover of night, Washington's men stole behind the enemy and struck them again, defeating a brigade at Princeton. The British were badly shaken. In twelve weeks of winter fighting, their army suffered severe damage, their hold on New Jersey was broken, and their strategy was ruined. Fischer's richly textured narrative reveals the crucial role of contingency in these events. We see how the campaign unfolded in a sequence of difficult choices by many actors, from generals to civilians, on both sides. While British and German forces remained rigid and hierarchical, Americans evolved an open and flexible system that was fundamental to their success. The startling success of Washington and his compatriots not only saved the faltering American Revolution, but helped to give it new meaning.

BOOK
Up From Slavery: An Autobiography
Booker T. Washington
$7.50

About this product:
Nineteenth-century African American businessman, activist, and educator Booker Taliaferro Washington's Up from Slavery is one of the greatest American autobiographies ever written. Its mantras of black economic empowerment, land ownership, and self-help inspired generations of black leaders, including Marcus Garvey, Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, and Louis Farrakhan. In rags-to-riches fashion, Washington recounts his ascendance from early life as a mulatto slave in Virginia to a 34-year term as president of the influential, agriculturally based Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. From that position, Washington reigned as the most important leader of his people, with slogans like "cast down your buckets," which emphasized vocational merit rather than the academic and political excellence championed by his contemporary rival W.E.B. Du Bois. Though many considered him too accommodating to segregationists, Washington, as he said in his historic "Atlanta Compromise" speech of 1895, believed that "political agitation alone would not save [the Negro]," and that "property, industry, skill, intelligence, and character" would prove necessary to black Americans' success. The potency of his philosophies are alive today in the nationalist and conservative camps that compose the complex quilt of black American society.

BOOK
Streetwise Washington, DC, Laminated City Center Street Map
Streetwise Maps
$2.88

About this product:
Streetwise Washington, DC Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Washington, DC - Folding pocket size travel map with integrated mall map & metrorail map featuring lines & transfer stations

This map covers the following areas:
Main Washington DC Map 1:31,000
Washington DC Mall Map 1:19,000
Washington DC Area Map 1:450,000
Washington DC map Metrorail

Yes, Washington D.C. is home to streets and avenues of Greco-Roman inspired architecture, unrivaled (and free) museums and, of course, unique monuments, but it is the political presence you feel the most.

This is the Superbowl stadium for every past or present player in the game of politics. The Mall serves as center field, with Lincoln, Jefferson, the WWII and Vietnam Memorials on one end, reminding us of the past battles this city has seen, and Congress, confronting current issues, looming at the other end. In between, the White House stands ready to take the field while the Supreme Court sits back waiting to settle the inevitable skirmishes that arise. Surrounding them are the supporting players, the Treasury, The Library of Congress and all the various Departments that run every feasible aspect of public life. Meanwhile, Washington Cathedral stands ready to console the battered and bereaved.

All of this is clearly laid out for you on our STREETWISE® Washington DC Street Map. Sites, whether political or not, are listed as well as hotels, transportation and parks. A separate inset of the Mall details each site. You can find relief from the political playoffs by getting outside of the city and into the bucolic region of the Mid-Atlantic, as seen on the Washington DC Area map.

Our pocket size map of Washington D.C. is laminated for durability and accordion folding for effortless use. The STREETWISE® Washington D.C. map is one of many detailed and easy-to-read city street maps designed and published by STREETWISE®. Buy your STREETWISE® Washington D.C. map today and you too can navigate DC like a native. For a larger selection of our detailed travel maps simply type STREETWISE MAPS into the Amazon search bar.