Citizen Washington

Rating:
Summary: Enjoy the book but relish the audio version
Review: "Citizen Washington" by William Martin is a great read to help us get in "touch with the man". This is a side seldom ever explored in our history lessons about the venerated George Washington.We learned of his human side but the author was able to maintain the "larger than life" aspects of a man that had such a profound influence on our early history.The audio version was a delight as we listened to the entire book during our travels over the 4th of July weekend. It is narrated by Barry Bostwick who brings a unique voice to each of the characters who are reminiscing about Washington. This helps the listener because the author does jump between characters often.The use of adult language and sexual references would make it inappropriate for use in junior or high schools curriculum, which is a shame. I think the story of "Citizen Washington" would be very helpful in bringing the story of the "Father of Our Country" alive and real. This is a story for everyone..not just those of us that seek out the historical stories of our country.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Historic Fiction Author!
Review: "Citizen Washington" is one of the most thought provocing historic fiction novels about GW. Martin's novels are educational and extremley entertaining. After reading "Citizen Washington" I read all of Martin's works and everyone of them is incredible. Do yourself a favor and read "Rising of the Moon". If you enjoyed "Gangs of New York" you will see that "Rising of the Moon" is the Boston version of Bostons Tammany Hall and the Irish immigrants stuggle in a new land strife with predudice and corruption. I've been waiting for a couple of years for Martin's new book "Harvard Yard" and finally its here! It's going to be a great November thanks to William Martin when "Harvard Yard" is finally released. I really wish Time Warner would do more to promote Martin's work. "Rising of the Moon" is still out of print and it was one of the best historic fiction novels I've ever read. Very few authors consistently put out great books and ALL of Martin's work is not only incredibly well researched, but well written and entertaining. Many historic fiction authors go wrong by over empasizing historic fact and making a novel feel like a text book. Martin writes so well that each chapter pulls you deeper and deeper and you can't stop until your done.

Rating:
Summary: The longer I read, the more compelled I was to read on.
Review: Citizen Washington is not your typical historical novel. While it is held together by a single voice, it is broken up into many short perspectives that lend the story of George Washington a varied examination. At first I found this inconvenient, but once I got to know the people speaking, I welcomed them again and again as they returned to add their view of an event. The story is told without sentimentality or heroics. In fact, the battles fought (or retreated from) are described very simply and directly. It's been a long time since I studied American history, so it was refeshing to read how the Revolution was fought and won from a "novel" point of view. Citizen Washington is definitely worth a read. I found the Federalist vs. Republican debate especially helful, told, as it is, from characters near the debate.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book!
Review: In my opinion this has been a mixed year for historical fiction. I was extremely disappointed with The Tides of War a book I looked very forward too. I had mixed feeling about James Brady's look at the Korean War. However, I was lucky enough to read the historical gems The Peking Letter and the Emperors General. The Peking Letter was a fictional look at the Chinese Civil War and the Emperors General was a fantastic look at MacArthur and the occupation of Japan after WWII.

William Martin's Citizen Washington is a great example of a awesome work of historical fiction. I picked this book up after being inspired by the movie the Patriot to learn more about the Revolutionary War Period. And this book was a great find.

The author tells the story of George Washington through the eyes of several fictional and real figures. However the author is really telling the story of the colonial period, slavery, the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and the growth of American Political Parties.

The author did a great job and this book, even though ultimately fiction really draws the reader into the time period.

Ultimately the most accurate histories are going to be non-fiction secondary sources and the actual primary sources. However, anyone reading this book will really learn alot about George Washington and his times.

I also enjoyed the end parts of the book where Jefferson and Hamilton tell much of the story and in doing so illustrate the differences between the Democractic-Republicans and the Federalists.

However, the biggest and most important part of this book is what a great man George Washington was. From this book you see what this man really did for our country as both a military leader and President. George Washington was not a saint, the book deals with his flaws, but he is a genuine 100% hero worthy of all the praise our history shows him.

If you want to learn about Washington and the Revolution READ THIS BOOK. If you just want to read a good book GET THIS BOOK. This book is time well spent. I look forward to reading more of the authors works.

Also, I recommend educators who teach American history on either the high school or college level use this book. Students can learn alot from it while not being bored.

Rating:
Summary: Very Informative and Entertaining
Review: This is an excellent historical novel about George Washington. The novel presents Washington through the eyes of many of the people who knew him, including his wife and his slaves as well as the other great men of the day. It is a good approach for describing a very complex man with many sides.

The book focuses primarily on Washington's life up until the time he became President. The book does cover his entire life, but his years as President are skimpy by comparison to the rest of his life. The author's interest is more on who Washington was as a man than on his public accomplishments. Focusing on his formative years provides more insight into his character.

Nevertheless, the novel demonstrates the truly great accomplishments Washington made to American history. Without Washington, we would not have won the Revolutionary War: he provided the military strategy, the determination, and the leadership needed to win. Without Washington, we would not have become a country: he provided the leadership the 13 colonies needed to come together as a union. Without Washington, we would not have become a democracy: he resisted efforts to anoint him king, and he voluntarily relinquished power--first as commanding general who won the War of Independence, and later as the nation's first President.

Washington was an admirable person, and deserves the adulation the nation gave him then and since. But of course he had his flaws, and Citizen Washington conveys them, particularly via the characters in the novel who did not idolize him. Such was Washington's force of personality, though, that even his detractors were in awe of him.

This novel is particularly valuable as an adjunct to a nonfiction account of Washington's life, the best of which is James Thomas Flexner's Washington: The Indispensable Man.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Martin Has Written....So Far
Review: This novel was one of the most informative books I have ever read. Not only did we get a run-down on the usual suspects of the era, Jefferson, Adams, and Washington, but the insight gained on the characters which history misses sometimes, like Alexander Hamilton, Henry Knox and Martha Washington made the book very hard to put down. The way Martin intermingles fictional and non-fictional characters is a work of genius. This novel is a fast-paced, fast-reading tale which NEVER bogs the reader down with an endless string of statistics and facts. The story is always the most important part of the book, and Martin hit a home run spinning this tale. I would recommend this novel, obviously to any Martin fans, but also to anyone who has wondered what historical fiction is like. I can not wait for his next novel!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Humanizing
Review: William Martin's latest efforts supports his position as the premier historical novelist of this generation. Like Michener and Vidal in earilier years, Martin is able to bring history alive and shsow us that history is a story and not a recitation of dates so often taught in school. Accurately researched and presented in wonderful detail, Martin sets about doing what Hesperus asks Christopher to do. Find Washington the human. At first I was conflicted reading a narrative that showed Washington as a man with feet of clay like all of us. By the the end of the book I admired Washington more because he was human. By the same devices used on Washington, Martin begins to show us how all the Founding Fathers may be more like us than different or better. I have read all of Martin's novels. Annapolis is by far my favorite but I can't think of any of his historical works that would merit less than 5 stars. Another reviewer wished that this book could be used in a schools curriculum. I wished all his books would become standard. There are fewer literary licenses taken in Martin's works than there are errors in current history books.

I went to Washington College in Maryland, a school founded by a financial donation from George in 1782. I have a special spot in my heart for this man now made more special by this book.