Realistic Visionary

First in war, first in peace, and first in the revival of popular interest in the Founding Fathers, George Washington has inspired numerous recent titles by David McCullough, Joseph Ellis, Gordon Wood, and others. Henriques pitches in with 10 essays on specific topics in Washington's life and career. Derived from lectures he delivered in a historic Alexandria, Virginia, tavern, Henriques speaks to readers conversant with the basic biography and inclined to debate it. Should Washington receive censure from posterity for being a slaveholder or approbation for freeing his slaves? Did he marry the richest widow in Virginia out of affection or avarice? Henriques opines as evidence allows (the Washingtons destroyed their correspondence), eliding from the speculative to the more concrete in addressing the better-documented public Washington. An emphasis on Washington's protection of his reputation links Henriques' interpretations about Washington's battlefield courage, generalship, and relations with Jefferson and Hamilton, and thematically unifies these accessible essays. Writing in straightforward style free of scholastic hairsplitting, Henriques helps meet the current fascination with Washington.