Nathaniel Philbrick’s *Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy* offers a fresh perspective on America’s first president. More than a standard biography, this engaging narrative blends historical account with a modern-day travelogue. Philbrick retraces George Washington’s 1789 tour of the fledgling United States, mirroring Washington’s journey while reflecting on the nation’s progress (or lack thereof) over two centuries. Accompanied by his wife and dog, Philbrick visits historical sites and engages with historians, reenactors, and everyday citizens, examining Washington’s complex legacyboth his triumphs and his moral failings, particularly regarding slavery. The book is a thoughtful exploration of American identity, then and now, inviting readers to contemplate the enduring relevance of Washington’s vision in a deeply divided nation. A blend of history, travel, and personal reflection, *Travels with George* is a captivating read for anyone interested in understanding America’s past and present.
Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Travels with George . . . is quintessential Philbricka lively, courageous, and masterful achievement. The Boston Globe
Does George Washington still matter? Bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick argues for Washingtons unique contribution to the forging of America by retracing his journey as a new president through all thirteen former colonies, which were now an unsure nation. Travels with George marks a new first-person voice for Philbrick, weaving history and personal reflection into a single narrative.
When George Washington became president in 1789, the United States of America was still a loose and quarrelsome confederation and a tentative political experiment. Washington undertook a tour of the ex-colonies to talk to ordinary citizens about his new government, and to imbue in them the idea of being one thingAmericans.
In the fall of 2018, Nathaniel Philbrick embarked on his own journey into what Washington called the infant woody country to see for himself what America had become in the 229 years since. Writing in a thoughtful first person about his own adventures with his wife, Melissa, and their dog, Dora, Philbrick follows Washingtons presidential excursions: from Mount Vernon to the new capital in New York; a monthlong tour of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island; a venture onto Long Island and eventually across Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The narrative moves smoothly between the eighteenth and twenty-first centuries as we see the country through both Washingtons and Philbricks eyes.
Written at a moment when Americas founding figures are under increasing scrutiny, Travels with George grapples bluntly and honestly with Washingtons legacy as a man of the people, a reluctant president, and a plantation owner who held people in slavery. At historic houses and landmarks, Philbrick reports on the reinterpretations at work as he meets reenactors, tour guides, and other keepers of historys flame. He paints a picture of eighteenth-century America as divided and fraught as it is today, and he comes to understand how Washington compelled, enticed, stood up to, and listened to the many different people he met along the wayand how his all-consuming belief in the union helped to forge a nation.
