You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe (Eng

Description: You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERAN NPR CONCIERGE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR"In her form-shattering and myth-crushing book….Coe examines myths with mirth, and writes history with humor… [You Never Forget Your First] is an accessible look at a president who always finishes in the first ranks of our leaders." —Boston GlobeAlexis Coe takes a closer look at our first--and finds he is not quite the man we rememberYoung George Washington was raised by a struggling single mother, demanded military promotions, caused an international incident, and never backed down--even when his dysentery got so bad he had to ride with a cushion on his saddle. But after he married Martha, everything changed. Washington became the kind of man who named his dog Sweetlips and hated to leave home. He took up arms against the British only when there was no other way, though he lost more battles than he won. After an unlikely victory in the Revolutionary War cast him as the nations hero, he was desperate to retire, but the founders pressured him into the presidency--twice. When he retired years later, no one talked him out of it. He left the highest office heartbroken over the partisan nightmare his backstabbing cabinet had created. Back on his plantation, the man who fought for liberty must confront his greatest hypocrisy--what to do with the men, women, and children he owns--before he succumbs to death. With irresistible style and warm humor, You Never Forget Your First combines rigorous research and lively storytelling that will have readers--including those who thought presidential biographies were just for dads--inhaling every page. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Author Biography Alexis Coe is the award-winning author of Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis (soon to be a major motion picture). Coe has frequently appeared on CNN and the History Channel, and has contributed to The New York Times, The New Yorker, and many other publications. She is a host of Audibles Presidents Are People Too! and No Mans Land. Coe holds a graduate degree in American history and was a research curator at the New York Public Library. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Review "An important achievement. [Coe] has cleverly disguised a historiographical intervention in the form of a sometimes cheeky presidential biography." —The New York Times Book Review"In her form-shattering and myth-crushing book...Coe examines myths with mirth, and writes history with humor... [You Never Forget Your First] is an accessible look at a president who always finishes in the first ranks of our leaders." —Boston Globe"I admittedly wouldnt call this a typical summer beach read, but Ill say this: The book to read this summer when you need a break from all that new social interaction is about George Washington." —Mother Jones"Youve never quite read a biography like this. Chock full of remarkable facts about George Washington—and surprisingly easy to read—this one feels more like reading your favorite fiction." —Newsweek"In the insightful and entertaining You Never Forget Your First, historian Alexis Coe moves past the well-worn tropes weve come to associate with George Washington. . .with style and humor. . .Coe makes colonial history not just fascinating but relevant."—BookPage (starred)"Alexis Coe jolts readers with a fresh retelling of the first president. Its Washington without the pomp—the United States first president like youve never seen him before."—Readers Digest "In this breezy yet fact-filled revisionist biography, historian and podcast host Coe (Alice + Freda Forever) takes George Washingtons previous—predominantly male—biographers to task...Readers who like their history with a dose of wry humor will savor this accessible account."—Publishers Weekly"This is not your average biography, and thats a wonderful thing! Alexis Coe profiles George Washington with fresh eyes, promising a fascinating read that strikes a relevant chord with 21st-century life." —Paste "Evenhanded and engaging, this biography brings fresh insight to one of Americas most written-about leaders." —Kirkus Reviews"Entertaining and insightful." —Shelf Awareness"Every now and then a fresh, new biography told by a gifted storyteller on a familiar figure captures our imagination. So it is with this spirited and engaging biography of George Washington." —Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Leadership and Team of Rivals "A bewitching combination of erudition and cheek, You Never Forget Your First is a playful, disruptive work of history." —Jennifer Egan, New York Times bestselling author of Manhattan Beach "If you think there is nothing new to learn about George Washington, then you have a treat in store with Alexis Coes You Never Forget Your First. In this keen and savage analysis of our longstanding Washington canon, Coe dramatically reshapes our understanding of the president who could not tell a lie (actually, he could, and did). The result is a humorous, sympathetic and refreshingly human portrait of Washington that is destined to become a classic." —Karen Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of The Ghosts of Eden Park "Alexis Coe knocks the standard fusty portrait of George W. off the wall and gives us a fresh, funny, and decidedly feminist take on our primo president. At once deeply researched and delightfully cheeky, You Never Forget Your First gives Washington a modern spin, revealing the complicated man behind the many myths, peeling away the macho veneer applied by previous (male) biographers. Coe proves how valuable a new set of eyes on the historical record can be." —Elaine Weiss, author of The Womans Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote "With quick wit and an abundance of humor, Alexis Coe introduces readers to the nations first president in a new and accessible style. You Never Forget Your First will make readers laugh AND reconsider American history." —Erica Armstrong Dunbar, author of Never Caught: The Washingtons Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge Review Quote "An important achievement. [Coe] has cleverly disguised a historiographical intervention in the form of a sometimes cheeky presidential biography." -- The New York Times Book Review "In her form-shattering and myth-crushing book...Coe examines myths with mirth, and writes history with humor... [ You Never Forget Your First ] is an accessible look at a president who always finishes in the first ranks of our leaders." -- Boston Globe "Youve never quite read a biography like this. Chock full of remarkable facts about George Washington--and surprisingly easy to read--this one feels more like reading your favorite fiction." -- Newsweek "In the insightful and entertaining You Never Forget Your First , historian Alexis Coe moves past the well-worn tropes weve come to associate with George Washington. . .with style and humor. . .Coe makes colonial history not just fascinating but relevant." -- BookPage (starred) "Alexis Coe jolts readers with a fresh retelling of the first president. Its Washington without the pomp--the United States first president like youve never seen him before." -- Readers Digest "In this breezy yet fact-filled revisionist biography, historian and podcast host Coe ( Alice + Freda Forever ) takes George Washingtons previous--predominantly male--biographers to task...Readers who like their history with a dose of wry humor will savor this accessible account." -- Publishers Weekly "This is not your average biography, and thats a wonderful thing! Alexis Coe profiles George Washington with fresh eyes, promising a fascinating read that strikes a relevant chord with 21st-century life." -- Paste "Evenhanded and engaging, this biography brings fresh insight to one of Americas most written-about leaders." -- Kirkus Reviews "Entertaining and insightful." -- Shelf Awareness "Every now and then a fresh, new biography told by a gifted storyteller on a familiar figure captures our imagination. So it is with this spirited and engaging biography of George Washington." --Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Leadership and Team of Rivals "A bewitching combination of erudition and cheek, You Never Forget Your First is a playful, disruptive work of history." --Jennifer Egan, New York Times bestselling author of Manhattan Beach "If you think there is nothing new to learn about George Washington, then you have a treat in store with Alexis Coes You Never Forget Your First . In this keen and savage analysis of our longstanding Washington canon, Coe dramatically reshapes our understanding of the president who could not tell a lie (actually, he could, and did). The result is a humorous, sympathetic and refreshingly human portrait of Washington that is destined to become a classic." --Karen Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of The Ghosts of Eden Park "Alexis Coe knocks the standard fusty portrait of George W. off the wall and gives us a fresh, funny, and decidedly feminist take on our primo president. At once deeply researched and delightfully cheeky, You Never Forget Your First gives Washington a modern spin, revealing the complicated man behind the many myths, peeling away the macho veneer applied by previous (male) biographers. Coe proves how valuable a new set of eyes on the historical record can be." --Elaine Weiss, author of The Womans Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote "With quick wit and an abundance of humor, Alexis Coe introduces readers to the nations first president in a new and accessible style. You Never Forget Your First will make readers laugh AND reconsider American history." --Erica Armstrong Dunbar, author of Never Caught: The Washingtons Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge Excerpt from Book Chapter 1 His Mothers Son When it came to family, Mary Ball Washington, George Washingtons mother, was always unlucky. Her father died when she was an infant. By the time she turned twelve, she had buried her stepfather, her half brother, and her mother. Marys two surviving siblings, although grown and married, did not take her in; instead, she became the legal ward of a neighbor. Her life immediately got worse. The man who had worked for her late family as an overseer successfully sued her for back wages, and Mary, as a girl in early America, would have little opportunity to recover the financial loss. For her, everything depended on marrying well, just as it had for her mother, who had come to America as an indentured servant. In 1731, at the age of twenty-three, Mary found a promising match. Augustine Washington, an educated widower fourteen years her senior, was a justice of the peace who owned a small tobacco farm, and an increasing number of slaves. The details of their twelve-year marriage are scant, but one thing is for sure: It produced six children, whom they raised at Ferry Farm, a modest enterprise outside of Fredericksburg, Virginia. George was their first, followed by Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, and Charles Washington. (Their youngest daughter, Mildred, died at sixteen months old.) They lived in a two-story house that looked out on the Rappahannock River and slave quarters, rough wooden structures that housed about twenty people of African descent. The tobacco-drying sheds, the dairy barn, the smokehouse, and Marys vegetable and medicinal herb gardens lay beyond. Marys husband and stepsons had attended the prestigious Appleby Grammar School in England, and she planned to send her own sons there, too, no doubt with dreams of social advancement in mind. Mary had never left Virginia, but her sons would see the motherland. And then, in 1743, her husband died. Augustine was buried with his first wife, a sign of things to come for Mary and her five children. His sons from his first marriage, Lawrence, twenty-five, and Augustine, Jr., twenty-three, inherited the bulk of the estate-including Mount Vernon. Lawrence gifted his stepmother a mourning ring, but neither he nor his brother had any legal obligation to her. Mary and her five children were left to manage Ferry Farm on their own. George was never going to Appleby. Mary, now thirty-five, took up the job of maintaining a property that legally belonged to her eleven-year-old son. Having learned at an early age how it felt to be powerless, she started off decisively, selling off some of the familys best tracts. The corn, flax, wheat, oat, rye, vegetables, and tobacco grown on the remaining land would have to be enough to feed and support her family, the people she enslaved, and her farm animals. With great luck and even better weather, there might be a big enough yield to sell in Great Britain. Unfortunately for Mary, the years that followed were recorded as dry. She managed to scrape together enough to sell abroad, but that was only half the battle. British merchants had a monopoly on trade, and they couldnt be depended on to deal fairly. Their terms stated that no sale was final until the product reached Great Britain. This allowed them to accuse American farmers, and they often did, of including inferior crops, especially with small operations. When Mary tried to sell her tobacco, she was twice accused-and twice vindicated. By the 1760s, she had decided the enterprise wasnt worth the trouble. And throughout all this struggle, Marys efforts, past immediate survival, offered her no long-term guarantees. At the age of twenty-one, Washington would inherit the entirety of Ferry Farm. But that was it. Augustine had made no provisions in his will to educate his younger sons, abroad or at home. Soon, Washington would have to drop out of a local school. He would spend the rest of his life trying to catch up. Mary could have remarried. It was such a commonplace practice, in fact, that Augustines will anticipated it. A new husband would have offered her some degree of financial security and, presuming she was lonely, companionship, even love. And Mary was a catch: She had a home, however temporary, and a hearty constitution. But Mary wasnt eager to submit to a new husbands demands. (Perhaps she had learned a lesson from her own mothers second marriage. Tellingly, her eldest son would later come to the defense of remarried widows, against husbands who illegally withheld their wives property.) Instead, she poured her energy into the farm and her children, especially George and Betty. Mary remained strategically close to her stepsons. Lawrence, who was ten years her junior, had come back from Appleby with the entitlement and ambition of a colonizer, not of a man born in the colonies. With a commission from King George II, he had served as a captain in the War of Jenkins Ear, fighting the Spanish in the West Indies. Lawrence returned the summer after his father died and immediately capitalized on his recent inheritance and glamorous war experience by marrying exceptionally well. Ann Fairfax, daughter of Colonel William Fairfax, lived at Belvoir, the grand estate bordering Lawrences Mount Vernon. She offered him entry into what was arguably the colonys most powerful family. Mary made sure that Washington was a frequent visitor at Mount Vernon, and thus also at Belvoir, where he could observe elite masculinity up close. Washington supplemented his fieldwork by studying Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation, a sixteenth-century book on etiquette. He likely copied down all 110 lessons merely to work on his penmanship, but what he managed to absorb didnt hurt his reputation among the gentry. The Abridged Rules of Civility 2 When in Company, put not your Hands to any Part of the Body, not usualy Discovered. 7 Put not off your Cloths in the presence of Others, nor go out your Chambers half Drest. 24 Do not laugh too loud or too much at any Publick [Spectacle]. 54 Play not the Peacock, looking every where about you, to See if you be well Deckt, if your Shoes fit well if your Stockings sit neatly, and Cloths handsomely. 56 Associate yourself with Men of good Quality if you Esteem your own Reputation; for tis better to be alone than in bad Company. 73 Think before you Speak pronounce not imperfectly nor bring ou[t] your Words too hastily but orderly & distinctly. 82 Undertake not what you cannot Perform but be Carefull to keep your Promise. 90 Being Set at meal Scratch not neither Spit Cough or blow your Nose except theres a Necessity for it. 92 Take no Salt or cut Bread with your Knife Greasy. 100 Cleanse not your teeth with the Table Cloth Napkin Fork or Knife but if Others do it let it be done wt. a Pick Tooth. Washington understood his role. He moved with seeming ease between the sometimes desperate conditions of Ferry Farm and the genteel abundance of Mount Vernon. On one occasion, however, he could not make the two-day ride to visit Lawrence because there wasnt enough corn to feed his horse. According to Washington, the animal was "in very poor order," a startling admission in Virginia, where men who traveled even the shortest distances on foot were understood to be poor. If the animals were hungry, then the future president and his family-and most of all, their slaves-were likely suffering, too. The masters of Mount Vernon and Belvoir knew that Washington was not one of them, but they recognized that he was a quick study. His eagerness to be helped no doubt flattered their egos, and he became a kind of pet project. They decided that he was in need of travel and adventure, and that the only way to get it was by sea. But since Washington could not pay his own way, they concluded he would have to join the British Royal Navy as a midshipman. They then launched an almost conspiratorial campaign to achieve their goal. Mary Washington was no fool. At first, she seemed open to the idea of Washingtons enlistment in the navy, but it didnt take long for her to realize she was being set up. She had learned in her youth to view the world with a critical eye, and in her time running a small farm, that eye had sharpened. Would Washington really find opportunity at sea? Was it better than what he would find at home? And what were the risks to her fourteen-year-old son? Mary had good reason to believe they were great. Lawrences own letters home from service had been full of tales of disease, deprivation, and death. His brother-in-law had lost his life in a naval battle with the French. And both had been officers; Washington would be a midshipman, one of the lowest-ranking, subjugated positions on a vessel. (As it happens, her instincts were right. Of the recruits who joined the navy at Washingtons age, about a third did not survive their first two years in the navy-and there was little chance of promotion before then.) It seems Mary tried to discuss these concerns with Lawrences co-conspirators, but they had no patience for them. Robert Jackson, the executor of her late husbands will, dismissed them as "trifling objections such as fond and unthinking mothers naturally suggest." Others, however, agreed with her. Joseph Ball, Marys half brother in England, thought the whole thing was a terrible idea: I think he had better be put apprentice to a tinker, for a common sailor before the mast has by no means the common liberty of the subject; Details ISBN0735224110 Author Alexis Coe Short Title You Never Forget Your First Pages 304 Language English Year 2021 ISBN-10 0735224110 ISBN-13 9780735224117 Format Paperback Publication Date 2021-02-02 Subtitle A Biography of George Washington Country of Publication United States AU Release Date 2021-02-02 NZ Release Date 2021-02-02 US Release Date 2021-02-02 UK Release Date 2021-02-02 Publisher Penguin Putnam Inc Imprint Penguin USA DEWEY B Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:141718035;

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