A vivid, insightful, essential new account of the formative years that shaped a callow George Washington into an extraordinary leader, from the Bancroft Prize winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist Robert Middlekauff. George Washington was famously unknowable, a man of deep passions hidden behind a facade of rigid self-control. Yet before he was a great general and president, Washington was a young man prone to peevishness and a volcanic temper. His greatness as a leader evolved over time, the product of experience and maturity but also a willed effort to restrain his wilder impulses. Focusing on Washington’s early years, Robert Middlekauff penetrates his mystique, revealing his all-too-human fears, values, and passions. Rich in psychological detail regarding Washington’s temperament, idiosyncrasies, and experiences, this book shows a self-conscious Washington who grew in confidence and experience as a young soldier, businessman, and Virginia gentleman, and who was transformed into a patriot by the revolutionary ferment of the 1760s and ’70s. Taking command of an army in constant dire need—of adequate food, weapons, and, at times, even clothing and shoes—Washington displayed incredible persistence and resourcefulness, growing into a leader who both understood and defined the crucial role of the army in the formation of a new American society. Middlekauff makes clear that Washington was at the heart of not just the revolution’s course and outcome but also the success of the nation it produced. This is an indispensable book for truly understanding one of America’s great figures. Praise for Robert Middlekauff’s Washington’s Revolution: “Middlekauff has written about Washington’s war rather as Washington himself might have, had he been a historian: carefully, thoroughly, with an eye for detail and a grasp, at all times, of the important points.” – Richard Brookhiser, The New York Times Book Review “Middlekauff writes a cogent character study of an icon, without either polishing or puncturing Washington's image. He clearly admires his subject, but recognizes Washington's limits, especially in the matter of slavery.” – Michael D. Schaffer, Philadelphia Inquirer “A useful and readable new portrait of Washington at war . . . Anyone who enters this territory is required to supply an original insight, and Middlekauff, known for his magisterial volume on the Revolution and the early national period for the Oxford History of the United States, does so, offering an important one. Middlekauff advances the idea that Washington was not only the winner of the American Revolution, but also the essence of the Revolution . . . The battles Washington fought defined not only his life but also our own . . . [Middlekauff’s] triumph is to portray Washington as a man of parts, as more than a cardboard cutout hero or a sterile vessel of virtues.” – David M. Shribman, The Boston Globe “[An] excellent new study of Washington’s leadership . . . Expertly traces the arc of Washington’s career . . . A deeply researched and enlightening look at three transformative decades in the life of an indispensable American . . . At the heart of the book is an engaging narrative of the Revolutionary War as seen from Washington’s saddle and writing desk . . . Middlekauff’s book is a thorough, persuasive explanation of why Americans, from the era of the Revolution to the early republic, gloried in having Washington as their leader.” – Michael F. Bishop, National Review “Historian Robert Middlekauff rejects the traditional narrative in his important new work on Washington’s military leadership during the Revolutionary War . . . This fine work suggest that independence was not a certitude but an astonishing achievement that owed much to a man who, like his country, came to maturity in war.” – Edward G. Lengel, Military History Quarterly “Robert Middlekauff introduces the real Washington: an ordinary man guided toward greatness by the extraordinary demands of his time. Equal parts biography and history,  Washington’s Revolution  is a rare look at the Washington we never knew, from his challenging childhood to the final days of the Revolutionary War.” – Matt Staggs, Biographile “In his newest book, Robert Middlekauff, Bancroft Prize winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist, traces George Washington’s rise from an ordinary “Virginia provincial” with a dangerous temper to a controlled military and political leader, possessed with great strategic insight . . . Middlekauff makes a point to reveal the self-conscious, fiery, and passionate man behind the composed façade.” – New Criterion Critic’s Notebook  “This is not just another account of George Washington's leadership in the Revolutionary War; it is special. It is perceptive, balanced, judicious, and, most important, clearly and succinctly written. A marvelous achievement.”  – Gordon. S. Wood, author of  The Radicalism of the American Revolution “ It is in the nuances, the telling details a