Revolutionary: George Washington at War - Hardcover

"Given the amount of ink spilled over the years, it is not easy to offer a fresh look at George Washington's leadership role during the war for American independence. But Robert L. O'Connell has done it in Revolutionary. The title announces the insight, which is the otherwise uncontrollable political and military energies released by the war that Washington was able to orchestrate."--Joseph J. Ellis, author of American Dialogues: The Founders and Us

"George Washington underwent a remarkable arc of transformation from the vain, brazenly ambitious, and disaster-prone young officer of the French and Indian War of the 1750s to the Revolutionary leader known as the 'Father of His Country' two decades later. With his graceful writing, thoughtful insight, and intimate knowledge of his subject, Robert L. O'Connell in Revolutionary generously takes us along on that transformative journey of Washington's. This is a fascinating portrait of a leader emerging into greatness out of the cauldron of war."--Peter Stark, author of Young Washington: How Wilderness and War Forged America's Founding Father

"Robert O'Connell has captured the essence of General George Washington, showing him to be a class-conscious man of the eighteenth century and a leader who could, and did, err egregiously. But he also demonstrates Washington's perceptive understanding of the American Revolution, the army he commanded, the enemy he fought, and the cultivation of his own image. Revolutionary is an illuminating and provocative book that should be read by all who wish to understand Washington's contribution to America's victory in the War of Independence."--John Ferling, author of Apostles of Revolution: Jefferson, Paine, Monroe, and the Struggle Against the Old Order in America and Europe

"A provocative biography arguing that George Washington's greatest accomplishment was guiding a rare revolution that turned out well for the revolutionaries . . . a delightfully convincing case that Washington was history's least ruthless and most successful revolutionary."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Always expect the unexpected from Robert L. O'Connell. One of our best military historians doesn't disappoint with Revolutionary. Can there be a better account, or a more concise one, of the leader who improvised a genuine revolution and made it work--ours, fortunately?"--Robert Cowley, founding editor of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History

From an acclaimed military historian, a bold reappraisal of young George Washington, an ambitious if reckless soldier destined to become the legendary general who took on the British and, through his leadership, defined the American character

How did George Washington become an American icon? Robert L. O’Connell, the New York Times bestselling author of Fierce Patriot and The Ghosts of Cannae, introduces us to Washington before he was Washington: a young soldier champing at the bit for a commission in the British army, frustrated by his position as a minor Virginia aristocrat. Fueled by ego, Washington led a disastrous expedition in the Seven Years’ War, but then the commander grew up. We witness George Washington take up politics and join Virginia’s colonial governing body, the House of Burgesses, where he became ever more attuned to the injustices of life under the British Empire and the paranoid, revolutionary atmosphere of the colonies. When war seemed inevitable, he was the right man—the only man—to lead the nascent American army.

We would not be here without George Washington, and O’Connell proves that Washington the general was at least as significant to the founding of the United States as Washington the president. He emerges here as cunning and manipulative, a subtle puppeteer among intimates, and a master cajoler—but all in the cause of rectitude and moderation. Washington became the embodiment of the Revolution itself. He draped himself over the revolutionary process and tamped down its fires. As O’Connell writes, the war was decisive because Washington managed to stop a cycle of violence with the force of personality and personal restraint.

In his trademark conversational, witty style, Robert L. O’Connell has written a compelling reexamination of General Washington and his revolutionary world. He cuts through the enigma surrounding Washington to show how the general made all the difference and became a new archetype of revolutionary leader in the process. Revolutionary is a masterful character study of America’s founding conflict filled with lessons about conspiracy, resistance, and leadership that resonate today.

Advance praise for Revolutionary

“Given the amount of ink spilled over the years, it is not easy to offer a fresh look at George Washington’s leadership role during the war for American independence. But Robert L. O’Connell has done it in Revolutionary. The title announces the insight, which is the otherwise uncontrollable political and military energies released by the war that Washington was able to orchestrate.”—Joseph J. Ellis, author of American Dialogues: The Founders and Us