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The Resource Travels with George : in search of Washington and his legacy, Nathaniel Philbrick

Travels with George : in search of Washington and his legacy, Nathaniel Philbrick

Creator
Author
Summary
"Does George Washington still matter? The bestselling author argues for his unique contribution to the forging of America by retracing his journey as a new President through the former colonies, now an unsure nation. A new first-person voice for Philbrick, weaving history and personal reflection into one narrative. When George Washington became president in 1798, the United States of America was still a loose and quarrelsome confederation and a tentative political experiment. Washington undertook a tour of the ex-colonies to talk to ordinary citizens about their lives and their feelings about his new government, and to imbue in them the idea of being one thing--Americans. Nathaniel Philbrick embarked on his own journey into what Washington called "the infant woody country"--and to see for himself what it had become in the 230 years since. Writing in a thoughtful first person about his own adventures with his travel companions (wife and puppy), Philbrick follows the tour of America that Washington went on after becoming President--an almost 2,000-mile journey from Mount Vernon to the new capital in New York, a tour of New England, a venture out across Long Island, and into the hinterlands of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The narrative moves smoothly back and forth from the eighteenth to twenty-first centuries, so we see the country through Washington's eyes as well as Philbrick's. Written at a moment when America's foundational ideals--or claims to them--are under scrutiny, Travels with George grapples bluntly and honestly with George Washington's legacy as a man of the people, a mythical figure of the early republic, a reluctant President, and a plantation owner who held people in slavery. At historic houses and landmarks, Philbrick reports on the reinterpretations at work, as well as meeting reenactors and other keepers of the flame. He paints a picture of 18th century America as divided and fraught as it is today, and he comes to understand how Washington entranced, compelled, enticed, and stood up to the many different kinds of citizens he met on this journey--and how through belief, vision, and sheer will he convinced them that they were now all Americans, creating a sense of national solidarity that had never existed before."--
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
xviii, 374 pages
Contents
  • Preface: The chariot
  • Part I: Inauguration. Loomings ; Mount Vernon ; "Wreaths and chaplets of flowers" ; New York
  • Part II: New England. Dreaming of George Washington ; "Only a man" ; Turf wars ; "A child of God" ; The middle road home
  • Part III: Into the Storm. The spies of Long Island ; Newport ; Providence
  • Part IV: South. Terra incognita ; The fellowship of the past ; "Follow the yellow brick road" ; "Eleven o'clock Sunday morning" ; "A cat may look on a king" ; Muddy freshets ; "The devil's own roads"
  • Epilogue: The view from the mountain
Isbn
9780525562177
Instance
Label
Travels with George : in search of Washington and his legacy
Title
Travels with George
Title remainder
in search of Washington and his legacy
Statement of responsibility
Nathaniel Philbrick
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"Does George Washington still matter? The bestselling author argues for his unique contribution to the forging of America by retracing his journey as a new President through the former colonies, now an unsure nation. A new first-person voice for Philbrick, weaving history and personal reflection into one narrative. When George Washington became president in 1798, the United States of America was still a loose and quarrelsome confederation and a tentative political experiment. Washington undertook a tour of the ex-colonies to talk to ordinary citizens about their lives and their feelings about his new government, and to imbue in them the idea of being one thing--Americans. Nathaniel Philbrick embarked on his own journey into what Washington called "the infant woody country"--and to see for himself what it had become in the 230 years since. Writing in a thoughtful first person about his own adventures with his travel companions (wife and puppy), Philbrick follows the tour of America that Washington went on after becoming President--an almost 2,000-mile journey from Mount Vernon to the new capital in New York, a tour of New England, a venture out across Long Island, and into the hinterlands of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The narrative moves smoothly back and forth from the eighteenth to twenty-first centuries, so we see the country through Washington's eyes as well as Philbrick's. Written at a moment when America's foundational ideals--or claims to them--are under scrutiny, Travels with George grapples bluntly and honestly with George Washington's legacy as a man of the people, a mythical figure of the early republic, a reluctant President, and a plantation owner who held people in slavery. At historic houses and landmarks, Philbrick reports on the reinterpretations at work, as well as meeting reenactors and other keepers of the flame. He paints a picture of 18th century America as divided and fraught as it is today, and he comes to understand how Washington entranced, compelled, enticed, and stood up to the many different kinds of citizens he met on this journey--and how through belief, vision, and sheer will he convinced them that they were now all Americans, creating a sense of national solidarity that had never existed before."--
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Biography type
contains biographical information
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Philbrick, Nathaniel
Dewey number
973.4/1092
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • maps
  • photographs
Index
index present
LC call number
E312
LC item number
.P55 2021
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Washington, George
  • Philbrick, Nathaniel
  • Philbrick, Nathaniel
  • Washington, George
  • Historical reenactments
  • Historical reenactments
  • Politics and government
  • Travel
  • United States
  • United States
  • United States
  • United States
Label
Travels with George : in search of Washington and his legacy, Nathaniel Philbrick
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 323-358) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
  • text
  • still image
  • cartographic image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
  • cri
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
Contents
Preface: The chariot -- Part I: Inauguration. Loomings ; Mount Vernon ; "Wreaths and chaplets of flowers" ; New York -- Part II: New England. Dreaming of George Washington ; "Only a man" ; Turf wars ; "A child of God" ; The middle road home -- Part III: Into the Storm. The spies of Long Island ; Newport ; Providence -- Part IV: South. Terra incognita ; The fellowship of the past ; "Follow the yellow brick road" ; "Eleven o'clock Sunday morning" ; "A cat may look on a king" ; Muddy freshets ; "The devil's own roads" -- Epilogue: The view from the mountain
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
xviii, 374 pages
Isbn
9780525562177
Lccn
2020054623
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations, photographs, maps
System control number
(OCoLC)on1237806867
Label
Travels with George : in search of Washington and his legacy, Nathaniel Philbrick
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 323-358) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
  • text
  • still image
  • cartographic image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
  • cri
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
Contents
Preface: The chariot -- Part I: Inauguration. Loomings ; Mount Vernon ; "Wreaths and chaplets of flowers" ; New York -- Part II: New England. Dreaming of George Washington ; "Only a man" ; Turf wars ; "A child of God" ; The middle road home -- Part III: Into the Storm. The spies of Long Island ; Newport ; Providence -- Part IV: South. Terra incognita ; The fellowship of the past ; "Follow the yellow brick road" ; "Eleven o'clock Sunday morning" ; "A cat may look on a king" ; Muddy freshets ; "The devil's own roads" -- Epilogue: The view from the mountain
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
xviii, 374 pages
Isbn
9780525562177
Lccn
2020054623
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations, photographs, maps
System control number
(OCoLC)on1237806867

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