The Unexpected George Washington: His Private Life
"This is a biography that unquestionably lives up to its title. Readers will discover numerous, often touching traits that they never knew about the Father of the Country. Harlow Unger has written a one-of-a-kind book that will please and fascinate everyone."
—Thomas Fleming, author Washington's Secret War: The Hidden History of Valley Forge
"It's hard to imagine George Washington as playful, tender, or funny. But Harlow Unger searches to find these seldom-seen aspects of the private man, and the result is a far more complete and believable founding father."— James C. Rees, Executive Director, Historic Mount Vernon
Acclaim for Lafayette
"Harlow Unger has cornered the market on muses to emerge as America's most readable historian. His new biography of the Marquis de Lafayette combines a thoroughgoing account of the age of revolution, a probing psychological study of a complex man, and a literary style that goes down like cream."
—Florence King, contributing editor, National Review
"To American readers Unger's biography will provide a stark reminder of just how near run a thing was our War of Independence and the degree to which our forefathers' victory hinged on the help of our French allies, marshalled for George Washington by his 'adopted' son, Lafayette."—Larry Collins, coauthor, Is Paris Burning? and O Jerusalem!
"An admirable account of his [Lafayette's] life and extraordinary career on both sides of the Atlantic."—The Sunday Telegraph (London)
We earn a commission for purchases made through the following links.
Book details
- Author
- Harlow Giles Unger
- Imprint
- Trade Paper Press, an imprint of Turner Publishing Company
- Published
- Pages
- 320
- Formats
- Hardcover
- Subjects
- History › United States › Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)
- Topics
- Founding Fathers · American Revolution · presidential biography · Mount Vernon · Revolutionary Period
- ISBN-13
- 9780471744962
About the author
HARLOW GILES UNGER was an American author, historian, journalist, broadcaster, and educator who wrote more than twenty-six books, including biographies of Lafayette, Patrick Henry, John Quincy Adams, James Monroe, and John Marshall.
Unger’s book Lafayette won the American Revolution Round Table Book Prize and a Daughters of the American Revolution book award. He also received recognition for his three-volume Encyclopedia of American Education. A graduate of Yale University, he served as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow in American History at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
Before writing books, Unger worked as a foreign correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune Overseas News Service in Paris, and later as an American political and economic affairs analyst for The Times and The Sunday Times of London. That experience across continents shaped his focus on American history and its founding figures.