George Washington

American democracy has been haunted by the spectre of a Caesar-type figure since the birth of the republic. Have such fears ever been justified?

A Revolutionary Friendship: Washington, Jefferson, and the American Republic by Francis D. Cogliano explores a relationship more complex than that of comrades turned rivals.

Arnold Whitridge explains how a group of instinctively conservative, wealthy gentlemen led the American people to an unlikely victory in war and a miraculous nationhood.

Esmond Wright assesses the gap between the Washington of popular imagination, and established historical fact.

George Washington had warned the American people against “the insidious wiles of foreign influence.” President Monroe, writes Arnold Whitridge, further developed “the thesis of non-entanglement.”

Besides La Fayette, writes Arnold Whitridge, many French volunteers joined the American forces to fight for a freedom they had not yet won in France.

Trade with the English “tobacco lords”, writes William T. Brigham, brought on a private war which outlasted the American Revolution.

Washington and Jefferson, writes Myrene Salmon, were both impressed by the French architect’s plans for a new capital city.

Fourteen years older than his half-brother, Lawrence Washington was an active Virginian landowner. J.I. Cooper describes his life, career, and interest in US expansion westwards.

Arnold Whitridge, the Polish solider, reached Philadelphia in 1776, fought throughout the War, but returned to Poland in 1784.