George Washington Citizen-Soldier

Excerpt from the Preface: For Washington, the larger world was a stge. No figures of speech recur more frequently in his writings than those which refer to his public activities in theatrical terms. At the seat of government, at headquarters, on the field of battle, he saw himself as an actor. His role, played with dignity and sincerity, was great drama, but it was theatre, and the biographer can discover the full measure of the man only in the scenes of private life and in his personal correspondence – his letters to his managers, his family, and his intimate friends.