'Young George Washington' Explores the Wilderness Years

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Photo Credit: Amy Ragsdal

George Washington: the first U.S. President, commander in chief during the Revolutionary War, unanimously elected leader of the Constitutional Convention and the face of the $1 bill. Much has been written about the character and leadership of our Founding Father, but a new biography by Wisconsin-born adventure writer and best-selling author Peter Stark uncovers fresh details of the famed man’s early years by bringing clarity to the most extreme situations young Washington faced as a British soldier serving in the vast Ohio Valley.

In Young Washington: How Wilderness and War Forged America’s Founding Father, Stark traces the little-known feats and escapades that the naïve, 20-something Washington encountered in the enormous American wilderness more than two decades before he rose to national prominence and demonstrates how the future leader developed his dedication to the ideals of democratic freedom.

From armed conflicts and dangerous encounters in the most rugged places, Stark recreates Washington’s early practical education in elite military and diplomatic strategizing while simultaneously painting a broader historical portrait of our soon-to-be nation. Young Washington is an anthropological adventure as well as a discerning narrative of pre-Revolutionary America presented through the fast-paced chronicles of the lesser-known turning points in the life of an American icon.

Stark is also the author of the best-selling book Astoria, which tells an equally gripping story of John Jacob Astor’s expedition to establish the first American colony on the West Coast. Stark is a graduate of Dartmouth College and UW-Madison and currently makes his home in Montana. He will speak at Boswell Book Co. at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 28.