TRAVELS with GEORGE: IN SEARCH of WASHINGTON and HIS LEGACY (audiobook) by Nathaniel Philbrick

Published in 2021 by Penguin Audio.
Read by the author, Nathaniel Philbrick.
Duration: 9 hours, 34 minutes.
Unabridged.

George Washington looked at the newly formed United States of America and saw what it had always been - 13 disunited states with nothing to bind them together. Washington may not have been the deepest-thinking founding father, but some things he just "knew" deep in his bones. What did he know in this case? He knew that they actually all did have something in common. They all had George Washington in common.

So, George went on a series of extended trips around the states until he had visited all 13 of them and he gave them a visible introduction/reminder (it depended on the state and the citizens) of what the new United States of America was all about. Travels with George is the story of those tours.

Each state had its own issues. For example, Rhode Island wasn't even a state when the started traveling - it was holding out. The Southern states, especially away from the ports, were always a little separate from the main political action between Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Washington was aware of this and mostly traveled over rutted, muddy, rough roads south of Virginia. This also meant he was traveling in areas that were barely mapped. That had to be tough on a man in his late fifties.

This is not just a whimsical fanboy look at this tour - it discusses the dangerous politics of the time (Rhode Island was one of the dangers) and it discusses the uncomfortable topic of slavery thoroughly and honestly in my opinion. 

This is a thoughtful and enjoyable book. I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: TRAVELS with GEORGE: IN SEARCH of WASHINGTON and HIS LEGACY by Nathaniel Philbrick.

BUNKER HILL: A CITY, A SIEGE, A REVOLUTION (audiobook) by Nathaniel Philbrick

Published in 2013 by Penguin Audio
Read by Chris Sorensen
Duration: 12 hours, 58 minutes
Unabridged

Nathaniel Philbrick's Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution is misnamed. While the battle is in the book, it is only a part of the story. In reality, this book is a history of Boston from the 1750s and 1760s right up to the Declaration of Independence.

In a lot of ways this book is much more of a biography of Dr. Joseph Warren, one of the leaders of the Sons of Liberty movement, along with Samuel Adams, John Adams and John Hancock. Warren is often overlooked nowadays because he died at Bunker Hill (which was really mostly fought on Breed's Hill). The excessive focus on Warren was, in my mind, one of the great weaknesses of the book. Philbrick spent too much time worrying over Warren's alleged personal failures and not enough time getting on with the story. It just bogged things down.

Philbrick does not gloss over the warts of our Founding Fathers, noting that some had mixed motives and some profited from the independence movement. There is plenty of emphasis on the British side of things, something I admire about the book.  

The arrival of Washington in Boston, sent by the Continental Congress to take command and in effect nationalize the militias that surrounded the British troops in Boston, is not explained well. Philbrick does not go much into the goings on of the Continental Congress besides noting that certain people left Boston to attend. Because of this, Washington's arrival comes with very little explanation (much like it may have seemed to some of the militiamen). As the narrative continues, Philbrick does not give Washington much credit for anything around Boston but bad ideas, impatience, a negative attitude and lucky timing.

Chris Sorenson's reading of the audiobook was excellent. 

In short, while there are things to admire about this book, there are problems as well - not problems with the research but problems with choices about what was included (excessive focus on Warren's personal life) and what was left out (the Continental Congress).

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution.

MAYFLOWER: A STORY of COURAGE, COMMUNITY and WAR (abridged audiobook) by Nathaniel Philbrick

Published in 2006 by Penguin Audio
Read by Edward Herrmann
Duration: 5 hours, 57 minutes
Abridged

Everybody knows the story of the Mayflower and the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. Or, they think they do, anyway.

Nathaniel Philbrick's re-telling of this oft-misunderstood story in Mayflower A Story of Courage, Community, and War is a very approachable for the average reader. He begins with an explanation of the religious differences between the Puritans and the Church of England and how the politics of the day exacerbated the situation. 

Philbrick's re-telling of how the Pilgrims moved from England to Holland and eventually to the New World was very well done, as was the story of the first few seasons of Plymouth Plantation (Plymouth colony), starting in 1620. In fact, the book flowed very well throughout, even though it was abridged. Oftentimes, abridged books are clunky, but this one was not.

The story finishes with King Philip's War (1675-1676). This was a sad war. Wars are all sad, but this one was particularly brutal, complete with decapitations, mutilations, mass murder, and forced deportations into enslavement. On a per capita basis, it was the most devastating war in American history.

Veteran actor Edward Herrmann's (1943-2014) voice is perfect for reading history. He gives it a bit of gravitas but he is not too pompous. 

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

This abridged audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War.

The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of The Little Bighorn by Nathaniel Philbrick

Well-written, I learned quite a bit probably more than when I visited the battlefield

Published in 2010.

You just cannot talk about George Armstrong Custer without stirring controversy. Depending on the writer, Custer was a true American hero who was betrayed by his superiors and failed by his subordinates or he was a self-absorbed crazy racist imperialist that finally found someone that could fight back and taught him a lesson.

Our movies have shown this as well. Errol Flynn's They Died With Their Boots On (1941) made a hero of Custer while Little Big Man (1970) makes out to be a delusional nut.

Sample of how Little Big Man depicts Custer:


In The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of The Little Bighorn, Philbrick notes these views and takes more of a middle road. Custer comes off as a more nuanced man. Ambitious, impetuous and overly confident, but not a fool. Plus, he had reasons for that confidence - the audacious, unexpected move had always worked for him in the past.

Sitting Bull, his opponent at the Battle of The Little Big Horn is similarly portrayed without much nuance in the literature. He is a symbol of resistance and Sioux culture, but not really portrayed as a thinking, living, breathing man. Sitting Bull was one of many Sioux leaders. He advocated rejecting white culture as long as possible, but realized that this was only possible for a certain amount of time. In this respect, this icon of resistance was, in fact, a realist that understood that, in the end, such resistance was futile.

George A. Custer
(1839-1876)

Philbrick's title, The Last Stand, refers to two last stands - the famed last stand of Custer and, ironically, he notes that the same battle was really the last stand of the Sioux. Never again would they have so many warriors in one location - after the battle they scattered. Some went to the reservation, some left for Canada and some fought and died in smaller groups.

Sitting Bull
(c. 1831-1890)

In many ways, The Last Stand is a well-written dual biography of Custer and Sitting Bull, and that additional background information makes the telling of the tale of the battle all that much more interesting.The background on Major Reno and Captain Benteen also heightened the drama of the tale.

Like I said in the title, I've been to the battlefield and I left no more informed to the actual timeline of the battle and how it transpired over the space than I was when I arrived - it is just too vast and there were not enough maps (this was more than 20 years ago so maybe things have changed at their interpretive center). Of course, with the actual troopers involved in the Custer's Last Stand, as opposed to those who were with Reno and Benteen, their movements in the battle are bound to be speculative.

The real strength of this book is Philbrick's ability to make a history read like a novel. The story is told with drama, is well-researched and does a good job of tying in other things that were going on in American history at the time. The information about the steamboats that traveled the Missouri was fascinating - I had no idea that they were so cleverly designed.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of The Little Bighorn by Nathaniel Philbrick.

Reviewed on July 11, 2011.