Summary of Ron Chernow's Washington is a Pulitzer Prize-winning account of George Washington's life from birth to death. It is based on newly available archival material from the most recent edition of Washington's papers, which allows Chernow to focus on Washington as a public and especially as a private figure. For example, the biography dwells on Washington's relationship with his difficult mother, Mary.

Washington was known for his tight self-control and his refusal to show emotions. Beneath his calm exterior, however, he was a man of strong passions. When he exploded at his subordinates, his fury was great. He also was a man of powerful ambitions who valued and defended his reputation for honor and probity.

Washington was born to a landowning Virginia family, but not into wealth, circumstances that distinguished him from wealthier and well-to-do founders such as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Mary Ball Washington raised...