REALISTIC VISIONARY A Portrait of George Washington

The author states that he intends to reveal the man behind the marble statue we know as George Washington. Writing concisely and plainly, he presents surmises and facts about the first president, giving equal weight to his public and private affairs while paying little heed to the social, moral, and intellectual contexts of the times. The text benefits from a narrator who has a suitably Cronkite-ish quality and a wide range of expression. He sounds at once down-to-earth and authoritative. However, he perhaps errs in too strongly voicing the quotes from primary sources, an approach that teeters on the brink of caricature. Y.R. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]