An Imperfect God

George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America

By: Henry Wiencek

Narrated by: Rick Adamson

A major new biography of Washington, and the first to explore his engagement with American slavery

When George Washington wrote his will, he made the startling decision to set his slaves free; earlier he had said that holding slaves was his "only unavoidable subject of regret." In this groundbreaking work, Henry Wiencek explores the founding father's engagement with slavery at every stage of his life—as a Virginia planter, soldier, politician, president, and statesman.
Washington was born and raised among blacks and mixed-race people; he and his wife had blood ties to the slave community. Yet as a young man he bought and sold slaves without scruple, even raffled off children to collect debts (an incident ignored by earlier biographers). Then, on the Revolutionary battlefields where he commanded both black and white troops, Washington's attitudes began to change.

Wiencek's revelatory narrative, based on a meticulous examination of private papers, court records, and the voluminous Washington archives, documents for the first time the moral transformation culminating in Washington's determination to emancipate his slaves. He acted too late to keep the new republic from perpetuating slavery, but his repentance was genuine. And it was perhaps related to the possibility that a slave named West Ford was the son of George and a woman named Venus; Wiencek has new evidence that this might indeed be true.
George Washington's heroic stature as Father of Our Country is not diminished in this superb, nuanced portrait: now we see Washington in full as a man of his time and ahead of his time.

©2003 Henry Wiencek; (P)2003 Audio Renaissance, A Division Of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Interesting vantage point

This well researched book illuminates the workings of washington's mind around the subject of slavery. Well performed too. I recommend it to anyone interested in Washington himself or the founding era.

All around great book

I really enjoyed this book. The author does a great job of creating a portrait of our first President with intimate and historical details. The author seemed credible and un-bias.
The narrator has great inflection in his voice and did a fanstastic job narrating this book.

good story

enjoyed the book. southor spent a little too much time on genealogy of the washingtons.

Excellent handling of one part of Wahington's life

Focuses heavily on Washington and slavery, and to a much less extent on other aspects of his life. If this is your first biography of Washington, you would probably also benefit from a more conventional bio of him. But if you have already read other biographies of Washington, you still need to read this book for a fascinating and balanced look at the complexities of slavery, blacks serving (with distinction) in the Continental Army, and the idealism (or lack thereof) of many of our founding fathers.

Fantastic new perspective of a mythical figure

I have read other biographies of George Washington and the founding fathers, but non-delved this thoroughly and incisively into Washington's views and actions regarding slavery with respect to four categories: the country, his community of peers, his family, and himself. Absolutely fascinating and well done.