Major Washington

by Michael Kilian

Describing three pivotal years in the early life of America's first president, a period usually left untouched by writers and biographers alike, a historical novel spins a tale of a young man growing in love, passion, leadership, and military prowess.

353 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1998

Reviews

[Stephan Benzkofer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historical fiction requires tricky calculus: Where to draw the line between history and fiction. Michael Kilian definitely gives greater weight to the history in Major Washington, and so as a novel it never truly takes off. There are vivid descriptions of the American wilderness and of the events that sparked the French and Indian War, particularly the Battle of the Monangahela, which saw the French and Native Americans rout the British. And he does an admirable job of painting a more nuanced portrait of a young, far-from-perfect George Washington, though he remains at a distance. In that sense, this book, published in 1998, was ahead of its time in portraying a founding father with rough edges: comfortable with slavery as the status quo, eager for glory at nearly any cost, and letting his passions run the show. T0 be fair to George, he's in his early 20s here.

I felt like the book had a chance to take off during that battle or its aftermath, but Kilian's narrator sticks like a tick to Washington and so we get more of a history lesson. Then, in the following pages, we actually get a history lesson about how the French and Indian War grew into the Seven Years War, and the novel simply can't recover from that burden.

I bought this book new, a few years after I started at the Chicago Tribune and thought I would collect and read all the books by my colleagues. I quickly dropped that plan as I realized how many books the newspaper's reporters and editors generated. I never ended up working with or even meeting the esteemed and storied Kilian, and I'm sorry for that. This book is entertaining and well-written, and I would have enjoyed talking about it with him.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

True to the time. Very historical, but I think a novel. The beginning of the French and Indian War not like McColough's 1776, took more libertys. I thought the order of events wrong. I'm a Big Washington buff. The massacre was first, then his troops accidentally shot the Frenchman under a flag of truce. Not the history in this book.

Kilian did a lot of research, but there's been quite a lot of research in the last 20 years. Not quite sure where the history stands anymore. It keeps changing.

[Kristen (belles_bookshelves) · Rating 1 out of 5]

"There's careful ways of speaking the truth."

George Washington a murderer? is an impelling first line for a book I in no way chose to read - I was just given a box of free books, this one included. For American history, I pretty exclusively stick to Hamilton.

And here's why:

American history, every bit of it that I'd read (sans Hamilton) is so, so BORING. It's is like reading about someone describing what it is like to watch grass grow.

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

For everyone who has a hard time seeing George Washington as a man instead of a monument this book should serve as a useful corrective. While not a great read it does show the future Father of His Country in a new, more human way. I also enjoyed this look at the colonial American frontier.

[Pa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly decent historical novel about George Washington, pre-revolutionary war. Emphasizes the human shortcomings as well as the strengths.
An OK read, but nothing special.