Revered as a general and trusted as America's first elected leader, George Washington is considered a great many things in the contemporary imagination, but an intellectual is not one of them. In correcting this longstanding misconception, George Washington: A Life in Books offers a stimulating literary biography that traces the effects of a life spent in self-improvement.

Based almost entirely on materials reproduced from: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799 / John C. Fitzpatrick, editor. Includes indexes.