George Washington: A Biography of His Firsts and Lasts

Deborah Fortuna: This book is written by a woman (Alexis Coe) which is unusual. I haven't seen many books on our Presidents written by women. It humanizes President Washington and gives a good background of his childhood. It's an easy read and sometimes I laughed out loud. Very frank and honest--to me that's the best part.

United States on Nov 16, 2023

cidfromkerala: Just a great little gem of a book. Informative, funny, sobering all at the same time.

India on Nov 10, 2023

Tom: Earlier this year, I read His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis. I liked that it was, as he says, “a modest-sized book about a massive historical subject.” You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe is also a modest-sized book — 206 pages before the acknowledgments, notes, and index. The Ellis book is 275 pages at that point.

Some people want a Jack Webb kind of history. “Just the facts, ma’m.” I don’t. I like the author to provide insight and perspective. You get that in the Ellis book and the Coe book. For example, I appreciated reading Alexis Coe's thoughts on the similarities and differences between George Washington and Benedict Arnold.

In some ways, this book is less detailed than the Ellis book. And I suspect that the Ellis book is less detailed than the Chernow biography of Washington which is a little more than 800 pages and which I have not yet read. In other ways, there is more information in You Never Forget Your First. There is more detail about Mary Washington and Martha Washington. There are many tables of information. This book is not just one long textual document. To paraphrase the famous expression, you might say that a...

United States on Dec 25, 2020

Elizabeth A. Davies: I just loved reading this book. Author Coe paints a vivid and multi-dimensional portrait of Washington and his world. A brave and honorable man, but deeply flawed as well.

Australia on Jun 23, 2020

Ben Hayes: A breezy biography of the great man that emphasis the discrepancy between Washington's fight for the liberation of his fellow white men from British rule while keeping Africans in chains . However he still comes across as worthy of veneration thus not ruined by too much white liberal guilt.

United Kingdom on Apr 17, 2020

C. F. Mcinnis: This was poorly written, not well organized and quite shallow. I quit a little over half way through.

Canada on Mar 11, 2020

S. Johnson: Coe's biography of Washington certainly skewers a few previous biographers, and rightly so when you read her selected pull-quotes related to their sycophantic descriptions of our first, and probably greatest, Founding Father. But her point isn't lost on me: while Washington has been turned into a mythic figure he was still a man, a relatively simple man, who ultimately succumbed to public interest and became our first president when he didn't want to. And he had many problems, but none of those problems make him any less human, or presidential or good, than what she presents. Coe doesn't gloss over those problems. If anything she hammers Washington multiple times for being a (potentially unrepentant) slave owner who left the final burden of releasing his indentured to his wife Mary's death, which put her in the unenviable position of feeling threatened during her final years. Really, George?

Washington disliked political parties even though he eventually became as partisan as many of today's politicians have become, having only Federalists in his 2nd cabinet. He held grudges and had a temper. He didn't win every battle on the battlefield or in office. He struggled to...

United States on Mar 03, 2020

amachinist: Alexis Coe has written a "snap shot" book about George Washington. There is moderate breadth, but not much depth. The serious historical reader would have to delve into a more complete biography to garner a detailed portrait of the nation's first President. There are copious footnotes and many lists imbedded in the text on everything from Washington's cabinet members, terms one and two, to the animals he owned and bred at Mount Vernon.

In the preface, the author breezily suggests that a female historian can view Washington's life in a different perspective from a male historian (perhaps less hero worship and more aware of the person himself and people around him?). This reviewer is not sure about that premis. She dispels several myths, for example about Washington's teeth, but dangles other possible myths within the text.

The first President's viewpoint on slavery is complicated. Repeatedly the author writes about Washington's quasi ambivalence about slavery. Peers like Lafayette and New England abolitionists, confronted him on the issue. His need, however, to keep Mount Vernon financially viable required the labor of slaves. Even then, Washington found himself cash...

United States on Feb 21, 2020