Download The Return of George Washington: 1783-1789 Audiobook

“Illuminating history of an overlooked period in the life of our first president…Profound, even affectionate, scholarship infuses every graceful sentence.”

“After eight years of leading the fledgling colonies in their war for independence, George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief in order to return to private life. Yet the difficulties of establishing a new nation drew Washington back, and historian Larson, Pulitzer Prize–winner for Summer for the Gods, vividly recounts those events that led to Washington’s election as the first president of the United States…Larson’s compulsively readable history shines new light on a little-discussed period of Washington’s life, illustrating his role as the indispensable American.”

“Larson is an exceptionally fine historian, storyteller, and prose master, and Mark Bramhall amplifies those qualities in his restrained and expertly paced narration. Wisely—thankfully—Bramhall doesn’t attempt to reproduce the voices of Washington or others but through subtle changes in tone and inflection suggests character, temperament, and state of mind. On the page, eighteenth-century rhetoric can be difficult to parse from writer to writer, and for that reason alone an audio performance is a convenience and an enhancement. Here, too, Washington—remote and passive as a historical figure—comes to life as a farmer, botanist, landowner, politician, and a man you’d like to spend an evening with.”

“Larson is a skilled storyteller combining scholarly research with a flair for relating historical events and personages to general readers.”

“Fne and engrossing…Mr. Larson, a history professor at Pepperdine University, engagingly argues that the stretch between 1783 and 1789 was as important to Washington—and to America—as all that preceded and followed it..”