General George Washington

<p><span class="deck"> Modern G. I.’s will recognize a fellow spirit in the sergeant who wrote this account of life in General Washington’s army</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck">What were the French up to in the Ohio Valley in 1753? Setting out in search of an answer, a bold young major from Virginia soon found himself skirting catastrophe</span></p>

<p>“Whom can we trust now?” cried out General Washington when he discovered his friend’s “villainous perfidy.”</p>

<p><span class="deck">Both admirers and detractors have invented myths about our first president. A famous biographer tells of his years spent trying to separate fact from fiction.</span></p>

<p>The battle of Monmouth was pivotal in the struggle for independence, enabling George Washington to change the narrative of the war and eventually solidify his own role in our nation's history.</p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span>It became convenient to portray Benedict Arnold as a conniving traitor, but the truth is more complex. The brilliant general often failed to get credit for his military wins, suffered painful wounds, lost his fortune while others profiteered, and finally gave up on the disorganized and often ineffective efforts to win the American Revolution.</span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p>A special issue of American Heritage offers excerpts from seven books nominated for the prestigious George Washington Prize.</p>

<p>We can better understand how Washington thought by piecing together clues that have remained hidden in the books he once owned.</p>

<p>In looking at the restoration of the front parlor, we can learn a lot about the Washington family, life in colonial America, and the art of historic preservation.</p>

<p>Native American peoples and the lands they possessed loomed large for Washington, from his first trips westward as a surveyor to his years as president.</p>