**FINALIST FOR THE GEORGE WASHINGTON BOOK PRIZE
**
A new, brash, and unexpected view of the president we thought we knew,
from the bestselling author of Astoria
Two decades before he led America to independence, George Washington was
a flailing young soldier serving the British Empire in the vast
wilderness of the Ohio Valley. Naïve and self-absorbed, the
twenty-two-year-old officer accidentally ignited the French and Indian
War--a conflict that opened colonists to the possibility of an American
Revolution.
With powerful narrative drive and vivid writing, Young Washington
recounts the wilderness trials, controversial battles, and emotional
entanglements that transformed Washington from a temperamental striver
into a mature leader. Enduring terrifying summer storms and subzero
winters imparted resilience and self-reliance, helping prepare him for
what he would one day face at Valley Forge. Leading the Virginia troops
into battle taught him to set aside his own relentless ambitions and
stand in solidarity with those who looked to him for leadership.
Negotiating military strategy with British and colonial allies honed his
diplomatic skills. And thwarted in his obsessive, youthful love for one
woman, he grew to cultivate deeper, enduring relationships.
By weaving together Washington's harrowing wilderness adventures and a
broader historical context, Young Washington offers new insights into
the dramatic years that shaped the man who shaped a nation.
