Major Washington's Pittsburgh and the Mission to Fort Le Boeuf (Military)

During the winter of 1753, George Washington accepted the first, and potentially most dangerous, mission of his life, at only twenty-one. Through trial and triumph, a man was defined, and a legend was born.

The resulting tale is one of international intrigue and heartbreaking disappointment that set the stage for the French and Indian War and forever changed Washington's destiny. The untried major faced a daunting task and was twice nearly killed, first by a treacherous guide and later as he tried to cross the icy Allegheny River. Using firsthand accounts, including the journals of George Washington himself, historian Brady Crytzer reconstructs the complex world of eighteenth-century Pittsburgh, the native peoples who inhabited it and the empires desperate to control it.

Brady J. Crytzer is the winner of both the 2010 Donald S. Kelly Award and 2010 Donna J. McKee Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Service in the Academic Discipline of History. He received his Master of Arts degree from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.