The Best History of the American Revolution

The Best History of the American Revolution

If you could have one book in your library on the American Revolution, here is the one I recommend: Jack Warren, Jr.’s, Freedom: The Enduring Importance of the American Revolution. The author begins his magisterial work with this observation: “America is free because...
Gordon Wood’s Revolution

Gordon Wood’s Revolution

Gordon Wood, who died on Sunday after being struck by a car, was as committed to the life of the mind as anyone I have known. I studied with him in the 1980s, served as his teaching assistant, and had the opportunity to share the stage with him in 1987. He was a...
George Washington and his Mother

George Washington and his Mother

When George Washington’s father died in 1743 responsibility for the family fell to his young widow, Mary Ball Washington. George, then just eleven, was the eldest of Mary’s five children. Mary was about thirty-four. Few historical characters were more...
What Did George Washington Look Like?

What Did George Washington Look Like?

We know what Washington looked like, or think we know, because we have seen dozens of portraits of him. We carry his image in our pockets, on our dollar bills and our loose change. And though the most familiar portraits by Gilbert Stuart, Charles Willson Peale, and...