Edward G. Lengel

"Washington's gift of courage coincided with remarkable luck... No better example exists of the old maxim that to be good, a commander only has to be better than his opponent."

Even that may be overstating Washington's military abilities: he fought Howe, Clinton and Cornwallis to something less than a stalemate in New Jersey, Howe having complacently both failed to round up the Americans on Manhattan and left Burgoyne to his fate in upstate New York instead of combining their forces to cut show more the US in two. He kept the Continental Army in being while seeking to proactively attack, and through harsh winter camps, long enough for French supplies, troops and ships to come through. With a little luck for de Grasse's fleet off the Chesapeake, that was enough to win the victory at Yorktown which ruined Parliament's confidence in the war. Washington's early experiences of war only really schooled him in what not to do, he learnt on the job and from books instead of in a smoothly functional army, and Trenton was his own success in spite of the failure of several elements of his plans. His reputation survived attack while others' heads rolled, not entirely fairly, but in the end his best was just about good enough. show less

This is the story of 4 men whose lives were intertwined through extraordinary circumstances.

Lengel begins this tale along the waterfront, in 1916.

Can you imagine living then?

These were years when everyone watched baseball and boxing. The years where masses of people crowded silent movies, Vaudeville and, Coney Island.

Now, imagine being awakened after midnight to the irritatingly strong smell of smoke.

When a fire occurred along the pier opposite the Statue of Liberty it gradually moved to show more create a succession of explosions along Black Tom Island. Sabotage was considered, and it wasn’t till several years later the possibility of an act of terrorism was recognized.

Fusing this backdrop with its historical context WWI is gripping. The United States entered declaring war on Germany on April 6, 1917. On April 28th Congress passed the Selective Service Act to raise a national army for service in World War I and enacted it May 18th, soon after men were eligible to be drafted with Sept 4th hailed as National Draft Day.

The Lost Battalion consisted of several different companies from the 77th Division who were recruited, draftees. During their mission Maj. Charles Whittlesey and Captain George McMurtry of the 308th led nearly 600 men into the uneven terrain at Charlevaux Ravine in the Argonne Forest of France. While this battalion was able to push forward, allied soldiers on either side of them had failed and Germans encircled them.

We learn that leaders touted resilience and aggressiveness. And while many felt the burden of loss, some did not have experience with combat that teaches the closer you are to the frontline the more exhausted you become.

Through this evocative writing, we see The Lost Battalion dug funk holes that got deeper every day. The soldiers defended their position for five days and nights facing a multitude of challenges including the friendly fire which ceased when a homing pigeon, Cher Ami, delivered a message, to stop.

In the midst of all this uncertainty, soldiers ran out of food and relied on rainwater collected in helmets. If they were fortunate, masks kept out noxious gas and the stench of rotting corpses. Survivors grew to anticipate death, when cries, whispers, and groans, faded.

The perseverance and grit really stood out in this novel. Though wounded Captain George McMurtry and Maj. Charles Whittlesey tried to keep the troops optimistic.

Sergeant Alvin York was able to intervene and led an attack on German machine gun nest, killing enemy soldiers, and capturing 132 men. Sergeant York became one of the most decorated United States Army soldiers of World War I. His actions assisted Major Charles Whittlesey and Captain George McMurtry in leading the remaining 194 survivors of The Lost Battalion out of the ravine at Meuse-Argonne.

William Randolph Hearst sent War Correspondent Damon Runyon to France where Runyon spent time mixing with the troops of regiment 77th. He made the lucid Doughboy Diaries which still stirs our emotions.

Both evocative and atmospheric, this story ensnared me from the very first page. Award-winning historian Edward G. Lengel brilliantly weaves together the hardships of The Meuse-Argonne Offensive which was the Deadliest battle in American History. He points out that The Lost Battalion is made up of men from diverse cultures who become comrades in the trenches - indicating one is Never In Finer Company.

A copy of this book was provided to me by the generosity of Da Capo Press Marketing Manager Quinn Fariel for my honest review. show less

George Washington never chopped down a cherry tree as a boy. He probably never chopped down a cherry tree in his life. But you probably already knew that. Why would anyone chop down a perfectly good cherry tree?

Edward G. Lengel's book, Inventing George Washington looks at the history of Washington mythology, how the American public's vision of it's most renowned founding father has changed over time and how competing powers have tried to control the public perception of our first show more president.

It's interesting reading. For example, I never believed that Betsy Ross designed and sewed the first American flag. The story never rang true for me. Why would all these educated landowners leave the design of the first flag to a simple seamstress. The story of Bets. Ross first appears near the first centennial. After the Civil War interest in Washington grew enough that descendants of the Ross family were moved to make the claim. Their evidence, stories passed down by their ancestors of the day Washington and a small delegation of congressmen appeared in Betsy Ross's home asking her to sew the flag. "Why not use five pointed stars," she suggested.

No one thought to ask why no records were ever kept of this meeting or this particular order. Like a good business woman, Betsy Ross kept meticulous records of everything else. A contract for a new flag with George Washington's signature on it would have been worth a small fortune. There was already a tremendous market for every scrap of paper the first president had put pen to. His own family had torn his letters into pieces, selling each fragment off one by one.

Once Mr. Lengel lays out the evidence it's clear that Betsy Ross didn't sew the first flag, that George Washington didn't say "So help me, God," at the close of the first inauguration, that he didn't pray publicly for deliverance in Valley Forge and that he didn't have a family with a slave mistress. So how is it that there is a statue of General Washington praying at Valley Forge today, that contemporary presidents claim they say "So help me, God," because George Washington did and that even Oprah Winfrey believes Washington had children with a slave mistress?

The answers makes for interesting, breezy reading in Mr. Lengel's capable hands. Inventing George Washington is a useful book for it's examination of how history is manipulated, it's meaning changed over time to suit the needs of those who seek to control it. When one considers how obsessed some of our current supreme court justices are with the original intent of the men who wrote the constitution, it's alarming to discover just how easy it has been to change history throughout America's 200 plus years. Original intent isn't what is used to be. show less

Excellent work. The author goes about dealing with the myths that have grown up around George Washington in a very thorough and easy to read way. He has done even more here though,showing how social, political, economic and other factors drive the rise of mythologies surrounding popular figures. He also shows how once those mythologies take hold, no amount of evidence debunking them can completely eliminate them from the public mind.

In addition to debunking the many myths surrounding show more Washington, he also does a great job of debunking the debunkers - those people determined to destroy any semblance of Washington as a great person.

Some of what he goes through has been thoroughly dealt with by historians before; Washington and the cherry tree, Washington kneeling in prayer at Valley Forge etc etc. However, some even surprised me. For example I had always accepted that Washington, on his own, added the phrase "so help me God" at the end of the presidential oath. Even David McCullough repeats this uncritically in his book on John Adams. Turns out there is no evidence for this whatsoever. It is believed Chester Arthur was the first to use that phrase.

Other myths, such as the authenticity of the Washington Prayer Book or his views on firearms, despite clear evidence that they are untrue, continue to be used by unscrupulous religious and political leaders .

If you have any interest in Washington, or are an inveterate skeptic....this is the book for you!!! show less