From his teens until his death, the maps George Washington drew and purchased were always central to his work. After his death, many of the most important maps he had acquired were bound into an atlas. The atlas remained in his family for almost a century before it was sold and eventually ended up at Yale University's Sterling Memorial Library.
Inspired by these remarkable maps, historian Barnet Schecter has crafted a unique portrait of America's preeminent founder, placing the reader at the scenes of his early career as a surveyor, his dramatic exploits in the French and Indian War (his altercation with the French is credited as the war's spark), his struggles throughout the American Revolution as he outmaneuvered the far more powerful British army, his diplomacy as president, and his shaping of the new republic. George Washington's America allows readers to visualize history through Washington's eyes, and sheds fresh light on the man and his times.
Historian Barnet Schecter is the author of
The Battle for New York, the city's pivotal role in the American Revolution, and
The Devil's Own Work, a chronicle of the Civil War draft riots in New York. He lives in New York City.
