What the Reviewers are Saying about George
Washington: A Biographical
Companion
James C. Rees, Executive Director of the Mount
Vernon Ladies' Association and author of Treasures from Mount Vernon: George Washington
Revealed:
An indispensable reference to the life
and times of America's indispensable man. In a concise
and reader-friendly fashion, Dr. Grizzard has covered an
amazing amount of ground just as Washington did more than
two centuries ago. This is the only book on Washington
that will never leave my desktop.
Richard Norton Smith, Executive Director of
the Gerald R. Ford Foundation and author of Patriarch: George
Washington and the New American Nation:
Probably no one alive knows more about
George Washington than Frank Grizzard. As this volume
makes clear, his knowledge is, literally, encyclopedic.
But if his research is exhaustive, his presentation is a
joy to read. Grizzard has given us a work of impeccable
scholarship that crackles with life and the tang of a
pungent era. Readers will experience Washington's world
as never before.
Richard Brookhiser, Senior Editor at The
National Review and author of Founding Father: Rediscovering George
Washington:
Washington's nobility and consistency
will lure and baffle biographers for generations to come.
Meanwhile, here are the vital statistics and the notable
facts in a handy format. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. has
written a book that is valuable for reference and
browsing alike.
Reference Books Bulletin of the American
Library Association's Booklist
magazine:
New titles in the ABC-CLIO Biographical Companions
series,
these volumes [George Washington: A Biographical Companion
and Mark E. Byrnes's James K. Polk: A Biographical
Companion] offers the user a wealth of information on two U.S.
presidents, one an icon and the other relatively unknown and
underappreciated.
"The first encyclopedic work devoted exclusively to Washington"
surveys Washington's personal life, family, business dealings, and
correspondents as well as his roles as military leader and president.
Most of the alphabetically arranged entries cover three categories of
information: people (Jefferson, Thomas; Lafayette; Washington, Mary
Ball ); events (Boston, siege of; Whiskey Rebellion; Yorktown, battle
of ); and interests (Balloons; James River Company; Last will and
testament ). Many entries are three or four pages long, allowing
fairly detailed treatment. All conclude with cross-references and
suggestions for further reading that are primary materials. Following
the A-Z entries are selections from Washington's writings; a
chronology; lists of family connections, "military family members,"
and principal executive officers during Washington's presidency; and a
bibliography.
The Polk volume is similarly arranged. Following A-Z entries covering
people, events, and concepts important to understanding Polk's life
and times, there are selected primary documents, a chronology, a
bibliography, and an index. The researcher can better comprehend
Polk's personality, political acumen, and accomplishments after
reading entries such as Assassination threats; Boyhood and early
education; Cuba; Dueling; Friends; Health; Polk, Sarah Childress;
Smithsonian Institution; and Wilmot Proviso as well as those
describing significant historical figures of the times. Each entry is
followed by see also references and a bibliography of primary and
secondary sources.
Younger researchers might have benefited from annotations of both the
primary documents and the general bibliographies in the two volumes.
Black-and-white illustrations and color portraits on the front covers
further enhance the works, which should prove helpful to anyone
interested in these presidents or the periods during which they lived
and served. Recommended for high-school, public, and academic
libraries. RBB Copyright © American Library Association. All
rights reserved.
Gerald E. Kahler, author of
"Gentlemen of the Family: General George Washington’s
Aides-de-Camp and Military Secretaries":
Frank Grizzard, associate editor of the Washington
Papers, has written an invaluable research tool and a much-needed,
single source of reliable information on the life and times of George
Washington. The book contains about 200 informative essays on a variety of
diverse topics related to Washington. Each essay is interesting, concisely
written, and is chock full of information on the subject. In addition to
being an outstanding reference book, it is also a great "read," and the
browser will come away with a new appreciation for the character and
achievements of the Father of Our Country. Highly
recommend.
The Bookwatch, June
2002:
Painstakingly compiled by Frank E. Grizzard, Jr.
(Senior Associate Editor at the Papers of George Washington
Editorial Project at the University of Virginia) George
Washington: A Biographical Companion is a seminal
and comprehensive reference. Written as a detailed
supplement to straightforward biographies of America's
first President, this impressive compendium contains
numerous entries arranged in alphabetical order of the
people, places, and things that were important in
Washington's life and times. Each entry presents a
careful assessment of facts and history, and how they
related to George Washington himself.
George Washington: A Biographical Companion
is first-rate, strongly recommended supplement to
academic and community library American History refrence
collections.
Booknews, Portland,
Oregon:
This biographical encyclopedia contains
alphabetized entries on Washington's military and
political career, his personal and family life, his
landownings, slaveholdings, and business dealings, and
his correspondence. Selected writings, a chronology, and
a genealogy are included. Among his writings are letters,
speeches, notes on navigation, an essay on etiquette,
military orders, and a recipe for beer.
In approximately 200 articles ranging from
one paragraph to several pages and covering everything
from John Adams to the Whiskey Rebellion, Grizzard
[Papers of George Washington, University of Virginia] gives
us anyone, anyplace, or anything at all relevant to
George Washington. Each of the alphabetically arranged
entries includes the topic or name, the date, the
significance to Washington, cross references to related
entries in the book, and a short bibliography; sometimes,
extensive background information is given that thoroughly
explains the topic's place in Washington's life. Grizzard
ranges widely, offering entries that include a four-page
article on the Marquis de Lafayette, one of Washington's
trusted friends; a three-page article on Charles Lee, who
was court-martialed under Washington; and treatments of
Mt. Vernon and the Natural Bridge in Virginia, which
Washington is believed to have referenced in several
letters. Selected writings, a chronology, and lists of
family members, the military officers with whom he
served, and the executive officers during his presidency
round out the text. More than a companion for those
reading about Washington's life, this work is also an
interesting and sometimes detailed reference work on
Colonial and Revolutionary America. Recommended for all
academic and most public libraries. Grant A.
Fredericksen, Prairie Dist. P.L., Metamora, IL
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Scott Vincent, White Plains,
N.Y.:
Frank Grizzard has created the definitive
biographical reference about George Washington that manages to grip the
reader's attention from start to finish. Grizzard breaks the dry,
disjointed bonds of the A to Z format by constructing a vivid portal
through time in which the man, the players in his world, and the events of
his age are brought to life in vivid, fascinating detail. George
Washington: A Biographical Companion is accessible, compelling
reading for
most ages, and the place to start before delving into the
Washington
biographies and collections of letters.
T. Walch, Hoover Presidential Library, for
Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries:
Every American knows Washington, at once familiar
and distant, as "father of our country" and first president of the U.S.,
but everything else about him seems clouded in legend. Trying to remedy
this conundrum, Grizzard has compiled the first encyclopedia devoted
exclusively to Washington. Newest in the "ABC-CLIO Biographical
Companions" series, the book consists of 200 brief essays on all aspects
of Washington's life and career. Arranged alphabetically, most of the
essays fit into one of three categories: people, events, or interests.
Besides the essays, the book includes a chronology, a section on
Washington's family and friends, a bibliography, and an excellent index.
Since Grizzard is senior associate editor of the George Washington Papers
project and a leading authority on Washington, it is no surprise that this
book succeeds at all levels "This is the only book on Washington that will
never leave my desktop," notes the executive director of the Mount Vernon
Ladies Association. In fact, it is the one book on Washington that belongs
in every library.
It would seem that we have little to learn about the
most important American of the 18th century, especially if we read
[Douglas Southall] Freeman, but we were wrong. Indebted to the riches
uncovered by the Washington Papers "factory" at the University of
Virginia, Grizzard's deftly selected and prepared entries, a selection of
Washington's writings, and other appendices tell us a great deal more
about the man and the events, the interests, and the families (kindred,
Revolutionary, presidential) that comprised his life. Jefferson concluded
that although Washington's intellect was not of the very highest order, he
had qualities of greater importance that set him above all other men.
Extraordinary judgment, presence, complete honesty and integrity were
among them. He is almost without peer in the world's history for his
exceptional personal restraint in the face of a temper and temptation. The
general who deferred to civil authority despite considerable vexations,
the president whose virtuous leadership founded the world's first
effective republican government, the man who rejected the principle that
his personal virtues could be extended to dynastic leadership--in each
role he was uniquely crucial to our national history. His success was not
the result of brilliance, fiat, plan, or intrigue, but rather of
remarkably clear and practical vision. This allowed him more than any
contemporary excepting Franklin to read his countrymen correctly,
and he had the power to hold dimmer, astigmatic visions at bay
until after a promising start was made. This truly companionable volume
teaches us of these gifts, of Washington's conviviality, diversions, sense
of humor, travels, and so much more--each entry as interesting as the
last. If the rest of this series is to be as good as this, one ought to
subscribe.
Frank E. Grizzard, Jr., senior associate editor of
the Papers of George Washington at the University of Virginia, has
put students of American history and reference book addicts in his debt.
Steeped in all things Washington, Grizzard has produced, in his own words,
"the first encyclopedic work devoted exclusively to Washington" (p. xv).
Covering all aspects of the Great Virginian's life, personal and business
as well as military and political, this excellent work is based for the
most part on primary sources which are listed at the end of each entry,
along with "Related entries." There are also cross references throughout
the work. The alphabetical table of contents enables the user to quickly
narrow a search. Following the two hundred entries are twenty-nine well
selected
writings from Washington's papers, arranged chronologically and including
the little known "Recipe for Small Beer" (1757) and the famous "Farewell
Address" (1796). A chronology is included, then a very helpful section
entitled "Ties that Bind," that includes eight pages of "Familial
Relationships"; "Revolutionary War Military Family"; and "Principal
Executive Officers during Washington's Administrations."
Unfamiliar entries will pique the reader's interest. For example,
"Balloons," which relates Washington's reaction to the French balloon
craze that swept Europe in 1783. Or "Conotocarious," which was the Indian
name meaning "town taker" or "devourer of villages," given to Washington
in
1753 by the Seneca chief, Half-King.
For the most part, however, the entries tread familiar ground, yet
Grizzard's command of primary sources and the literature is such that
we learn things we did not know and end with confidence that we are in
the hands of a master of his craft and subject. And if you believe as
I do that history is a literary art, despite the efforts of many to
prove otherwise, you will appreciate Grizzard's mastery of brevity and
clarity of expression.
The book is not a mere compilation of facts. Although giving
Horatio Gates his due as an able military administrator and paying
tribute to his "warm and generous" (p. 129) nature, Grizzard leaves no
doubt that he had a character plagued by vanity, ambition, and
susceptibility to flattery. Essays on other controversial characters,
such as Benedict Arnold and Charles Lee, are equally well done. Nor
does Grizzard neglect Washington's shortcomings, for example, at the
Battle of Brandywine, where his poor, and inexcusable knowledge of
local geography led to defeat and near disaster. Nathanael Greene is
given his due, when Grizzard notes what is so often ignored, that
Greene's brilliant Carolina campaign set the stage for Yorktown.
My quick examination of selected Washington biographies reveals no
index entries under humor or wit, and indeed Washington is usually
portrayed as stiff and reserved. Yet he had, as Grizzard takes pains
to point out, a well-developed sense of humor, on at least one
occasion, a contemporary reported, laughing "till the tears ran down
his face" (p. 152). Under the entry "Humor" Grizzard includes several
examples of Washington's wit, including his anticipation of Mark Twain
by well over a century, when he wrote to his brother after the Battle
of Monongahela (1755), "The report of my death was an exaggeration"
and continued, "As I heard . . . a circumstantial account of my death
and dying Speech, I take this early opportunity of contradicting the
first, and of assuring you that I have not, as yet, composed the
latter" (p. 152).
Washington specialists, I am sure, will wonder why certain
individuals or subjects do not merit entries in their own right, but
that would be quibbling. In my opinion, Grizzard has covered the
waterfront and done it admirably. Despite the stiff price, the book is
a worthwhile investment for students of American history.
Patriot Number 1, Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawai'i,
USA:
Frank E Grizzard Jr, the senior associate editor of
the "Papers of George Washington" at the University of Virginia, covers
all aspects of the great Virginian's life in this superb book. Based for
the most part on primary sources which are easily assessable at the end of
each entry, the book has complete cross references and alphabetical table
of contents. More than 200 entries are topped off at the end with 29
selected writings from Washington's papers that are arranged
chronologically.
Here is a historian in complete command of primary sources and the
literature of the period; indeed, the reader is in the hands of a master
who knows his craft and his subject. If you have ANY interest in George
Washington, this book is a must for your library.
Arthur Kirsch, Alice Griffin Professor of
English Emeritus at the University of Virginia, and editor of
Auden's Lectures on
Shakespeare
(Princeton):
I've always believed that historians know more than
literary types, and [Grizzard] prove[s] it, over and over.
[Grizzard] also writes with unusual grace. The entry for
"slavery," for example, seems to me a model of
exact information, judiciousness and tone. A
wonderful volume!
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