Rating: 
Summary: Balanced, Well-Written Biography
Review: Flexner writes a balanced biography, something that not all Washington scholars have done. He is clear about Washington's failings, but he also is not embarrassed to discuss his amazing strength of character and great achievements.
On occasion one could tell that the book was condensed from a multi-volume work work as Flexner summarized points instead of relating things in detail. Also, there are no footnotes and only a brief bibliographical essay, so one really can't tell where he got his information without going to the larger work. But overall, it was a pleasure to read and very informative.
I would have liked to see more about Washington's faith, as it seems to have been very important to him. Some authors talk about nothing but Washington's faith, which seems to me to miss the point of explaining the totality of his life and career. But almost to ignore isn't good either.
Flexner does an excellent job explaining why Washington was so important to colonial and post-revolutionary America, which is what makes this book worth reading. He also does a marvelous job showing how Washington learned from his mistakes and gained experience in politics and combat well into his 40s.
Rating: 
Summary: A great read about one a the great figures of world history
Review: Flexner wrote this short work to make Washington's life accessible to people who don't have time to read the massive multi-volume work he did first. Washington is a truly great leader; he grows more impressive upon closer study and this book captures the highlights. A delightful biography.
Rating:
Summary: Scholarly Review of a Profound Man
Review: Flexner's Washington came to life to me as a real person with great strengths and perhaps equal weaknesses. In the book, a story was woven of the fragility of the independence struggle and the beginnings of a new nation which in reality centered on the dedication and influence, both reluctant and willing, of one man, George Washington. Having been educated sparsley on the beginnings of our country, this book gave me an accute view of what we so casually hold dear in the 21st century. Flexner's book is a must read for all citizens. My only criticism is that it seems that Mr. Flexner unfortunately succumbed to the style of language of our forefathers. As a result, his sentence structure was somewhat cumbersome. Having said that, however, the book is thoroughly ejoyable from cover to cover.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Biography of Washington
Review: For anyone looking for an in depth view of one of the nation's most important figures, this is an awesome biography. This particular biography of George Washington is extremely enlightening, but, at the same time, it is more like an exciting novel than a history book. This is a highly recommendable book.
Rating:
Summary: A book worth reading twice
Review: George Washington could have crowned himself king of this nation with the blessings of the people. After reading the story of his life, the fact that he was one of few men in this position not to accept was not surprising.The fact that George Washington survived untouched through some scenarios, left me to think that he had to have had some divine intervention.You can not go away from reading this book and not be left with the utmost respect and admiration for George Washington. In closing I would like to add that I agree wholeheartedly with the Cincinnati Enquirer that "This book should be required reading for all Americans."
Rating:
Summary: Masterfully written, massively informative
Review: George Washington: Born: February 22, 1732, Pope's Creek, near Fredericksburg, Westmoreland County, Virginia. Parents: Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. Education: private. Married: 1759, Mrs. Martha Dandridge Custis (1731-1802), two stepchildren. Career: surveyor; farmer; soldier; member, Virginia House of Burgesses, 1759-1774; member, Continental Congress, 1774-75; commander-in-chief, Continental Army, 1775-1783; president, Constitutional Convention, 1787; first President of the United States of America, 1789-1797. Died: December 14, 1799, Mount Vernon, Virginia. The above list of Washington's accomplishments leaves out a few things, but I am willing to bet it looks more impressive than most people's resumes. Even the other founding fathers cannot assemble a list of such august positions. Head of the Revolutionary War effort? Head of the Constitutional Convention? The first President of the United States of America? Good luck Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe, and Benjamin Franklin! Repeatedly, the man of the hour during the revolutionary period and the subsequent formation of the government was George Washington. I recently decided to read a biography of this fascinating figure, a man who most consider the father of the nation. Happily, and wisely, as it turned out, I picked non-academic historian James Thomas Flexner's biography of Washington, a one-volume distillation of an enormous four-volume treatment written during the 1960s and early 1970s. Entitled "Washington: The Indispensable Man," the author tackles the complexity of our nation's patriarch with infinitely readable prose stretched across fifty-two short chapters. The author himself notes that biographies of Washington "are as innumerable as the leaves in a forest," with many of them falling into three categories: "the historically sound, the goody-goody, and the debunking." Flexner's biography occasionally falls under all three of these rubrics. Interest in Washington tends to center on his military career. A good portion of the book deals with his lengthy service in arms, from his association with the British in the French-Indian War, his work securing Virginia's frontier from marauding Indian bands, and his role as commander-in-chief of the American Army during the Revolutionary War. Washington saw a lot of action during these various campaigns, winning respect as a man who could ride into combat without getting hit with a bullet. More importantly, Flexner reveals that Washington the general was not a very effective tactician. He continually lost campaigns due to a lack of knowledge about then current strategies of warfare. His campaign with General Braddock ended in disaster, his attempts to stave off Indians more or less failed, and his victories in the colonial revolution often arose from a combination of unorthodox ideas, aid from the French, and a propensity to promote officers based on merit and not social status. The last point is one of the most important, according to Flexner, because it not only went against European ideas about promoting officers but also was an ability Washington applied to his presidency and other areas of his life. Washington ultimately spent more time bombarding the perennially broke Congress with requests for financial aid and trying to keep his soldiers in the army than he did duking it out with the British. Most of Washington's life was spent oscillating between Mount Vernon and public service. He loved to spend his days working on his sprawling estate, buying land, developing a canal project on the Potomac River, and experimenting with crops and breeding mules. He designed the architectural style of Mount Vernon, entertained hundreds of guests, and refused to sell his slaves because he did not like the idea of splitting up black families. He was quite the ladies man, always enjoying the company of lovely young woman with whom he liked to flirt. As much as Washington enjoyed other people's company, he often sank into despondent moods where he worried about death and illness. The conclusion of the book, where Flexner describes the father of the country on his deathbed at his beloved Mount Vernon, is one of the most eloquent pieces of history I have ever read. Public service often found Washington at the center of the great issues of the time. Flexner argues that Washington was a centrist, always attempting to draw divergent viewpoints together based on common ground. He did this in time of war, as head of the Constitutional Convention, and as president. The author defines Washington's presidency as a titanic battle between the Federalists led by Alexander Hamilton and Republicans headed up by Thomas Jefferson. Since both men sat on the first president's cabinet--Hamilton as Treasurer and Jefferson as Secretary of State--the old general often had to bring both sides together. The Hamiltonians supported relations with Britain, heavily regulated banking, and centralized government. Jeffersonians supported France, agriculture, and localized government. Battles were fought between the two sides throughout the Washington administration, but the nation's hero often managed to steer a moderate course between the two positions. Flexner masterfully steers the reader through the complexities of the early American government as well, deftly explaining the differences of opinion that divided Jefferson and Hamilton and how the country responded to these mutually exclusive philosophical spheres. Without Washington's strident centrism, implies the author, our nation could very well have veered off course into extremism before the country matured. Flexner's book celebrates Washington but avoids turning into a panegyric. I felt surprised repeatedly that this treatment got me fired up about one of our nation's founders. My ancestors didn't even arrive here until the 1840s or 1850s, long after the founding fathers went to their graves, but perhaps that is part of America's magic. Newcomers willing to assimilate the ideals of this country soon feel they have a stake in its maintenance and identify with its foundation. Reading this book makes you feel a bit sad about the sorry state of affairs in the country today.
Rating: 
Summary: Hodge Podge
Review: I found this biography very disjointed and empty. Flexner flies past Washington's youth, right into his life as general and president. While that was indeed much of his life, it was hardly all of it. Flexner also seemed like he has an axe to grin against John Adams. In what few references made about Adams, all but one was negative. In another instance, Flexner deviates for 5 or 6 pages on the dispute between Jefferson and Hamilton regarding fiscal policy. To take that many pages out of a 400 page biography is ridiculous, and it didn't make any change to the story of Washington. To top it all off, the chapters are not chronological, but jump here and there, in a general order of age. At least twice, I found myself reading text which had been covered not 20 pages earlier in a different manner, thus wasting more of the precious pages of the condensed biography. There are unforgivable factual errors, too. In one instance, an event which occurs on Washington's 65th birthday, yet the year is pegged as 1795 (Washington was born in '32)! All in all, I found the book generally helpful regarding Washington's outlook and demeanor, but it was the most painful biography I've had to read. Just mish-mashed. I hope to find a better bio of Washington...one certainly exists.
Rating:
Summary: Now I know why I think Washington is the greatest President
Review: I have always considered Washington a great President, but knew little about him. From reading the book: 1. I was amazed how often Washington extricated himself from difficult political situations simply by being forthright and honest. 2. I never knew the large role he played in the Constitutional Convention. 3. I learned he purposely wanted to step down as president to demonstrate our new govt could continue peacefully (this "experiment" was all new). 4. I now appreciate his large role in guiding the new country. Its beginnings were more tenuous than I had thought. While reading the book, I often wondered if the country would have survived without Washington. I easily read the book. I would put it down after finishing a chapter and usually find myself reading again withing the half-hour. The facts were well supported (documented), but not a dry textbook presentation.
Rating:
Summary: Washington - not too heavy, not too light
Review: I haven't read Flexner's 3 volume biography on George Washington, so I can't compare the two, but I CAN tell you that with limited amount of reading time available I didn't want to start out with 3 volumes.
I also wanted a reasonably comprehensive look at the man with so many things named after him. Of all the founding Fathers President/General Washington seemed one of the most ethereal, least concrete figures of all. The earthy and witty Benjamin Franklin and the enigmatic Thomas Jefferson seem relatively easy to "know" in comparison.
Flexner produces a man who stood shoulders above the other Giants at the founding of the United States. Not nearly as well-educated as Jefferson, Franklin or John Adams, and with a military tactician's ability that seemed rudimentary, he nonetheless had an aura of a man who seemed incapable of doing anything other than the "right thing". When the Continental Congress was choosing a General to lead the Army, no one other than Washington was seriously considered. When the Continental Convention was called, initially only to revise the weak Articles of Confederation, there was no other choice to preside over the convention. Initially he hadn't seriously considered GOING to the Constitutional Convention, but Benjamin Franklin - older and wiser - recognized that Washington MUST go to the convention or it would not be recognized as having authority. After the Constitution was written and ratified Washington had the easiest Presidential campaign ever - all he had to do was not decline the office.
We get a view of Washington the man as well: the woman he truly loved who he didn't get to marry, his wrong decisions in early military campaigns, his distaste for developing "party politics".
It would be difficult to imagine a single volume biography on this Great American superior to this one.
Rating:
Summary: An Indispensable American History Lesson
Review: I normally can't read biographical books without falling into a coma. This book was quite an exception. Being a member of a local SAR (Sons of the American Revolution) chapter, I thought I should learn more about the Revolution and Washington than I did in school. I was truly amazed at how much INTERESTING information this short book had that I'd never known before. This book is very readable and provides a wealth of information about this amazing man and the early years of our nation. After reading this book, you'll appreciate how hard it was to maintain a democracy even after we won the war. I probably would have enjoyed American History at school if this book was taught rather than a snippet here or a date there. This book gives great background and tells enough of what was happening in American and Europe to understand the significance of Washington's decisions and actions. The only negative thing about this book is the author's clear bias when describing some of Washington's contemporaries. It is one thing to explain what some of them did (which could have destroyed America as we know it), but the name calling detracted from the feel of the narrative. Excellent work, Mr. Flexner!
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