Coe moves past the well-worn tropes we’ve come to associate with George Washington. Her nuanced portrait paints a man torn between service to country and family.

In her form-shattering and myth-crushing book...Alexis Coe does more than deal with the low-hanging fruit of the Washington cherry tree. She provides a fresh look at the first president and, just as important, at the first precedents he set.

No one would describe Alexis Coe’s unconventional biography of conventional biographical subject George Washington as boring.

... a brisk and uncommonly brief biography of Washington that showcases both heroics and shortcomings, in the first president and in those who surrounded him, in public and in private.

... spirited and provocative.

... an important achievement. [Coe] has cleverly disguised a historiographical intervention in the form of a sometimes cheeky presidential biography...she demonstrates that just because more conventional presidential biographies sometimes approach the length of the Bible , that doesn’t mean they are an infallible or unfiltered record of events. History, this book argues, is always an interpretation of the past and an argument about what it means.

Coe makes a compelling case that George Washington, esteemed for his part in the Revolutionary War and for becoming the first U.S. president, is more of a historical giant than a knowable persona. Based on primary sources, this accessible, humorous work casts Washington in a personal light. Coe details significant events in Washington’s life while debunking long-held myths.

Relying on primary source research, here Coe narrates Washington’s life to give greater depth to his personality and decisions. Focusing primarily on Washington’s life off the battlefield, she emphasizes his interactions with the people he enslaved, his deep love for his family, and his reluctant decision to accept the nomination for presidency. Co-host of the podcast Presidents Are People, Too!, Coe blends excellent storytelling with a fascinating look at how history is told and who gets to tell it..

Because this book avoids the male-centric viewpoint, it should make for interesting reading even for those who think they know Washington’s story. Coe shares the unvarnished truth about the man, exposing many of the myths about him.

... [a] breezy yet fact-filled revisionist biography ...Eschewing a lengthy recap of Washington’s Revolutionary War battles, Coe focuses on his role as spymaster and propagandist.