An Imperfect God by Henry Wiencek
`Wiencek is a fine writer, a careful historian and an accomplished genealogist who engagingly invites readers into his researches’ Raymond Seitz, Daily Telegraph George Washington’s will decreed that all his slaves were to be freed; an action that has fuelled controversy, speculation and intrigue ever since. In this groundbreaking work, Henry Wiencek explores the founding father’s engagement with slavery at every stage of his life – as a soldier, politician, president and statesman. Based on a meticulous examination of private papers, court records and the voluminous Washington archives, Wiencek recounts the moral transformation that culminated in the emancipation of his slaves. Was this perhaps because – as the oral history of Mount Vernon’s slave descendants has long asserted – he’d had a son by a slave called Venus? Using newly discovered evidence, Wiencek argues that this could indeed have been true. . . An Imperfect God is a fascinating and thought-provoking piece of historical detection and a masterpiece of biography.
"'Wiencek is a fine writer, a careful historian and an accomplished genealogist who engagingly invites readers into his researches' Raymond Seitz, Daily Telegraph"
Henry Wiencek was born in Boston, educated at Yale, and is now a Fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. He is the author of several books, including The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White, which won the 1999 National Book Critics' Circle Award. He lives in Virginia with his wife and son.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780330488693 |
| ISBN 10 | 0330488694 |
| Title | An Imperfect God |
| Author | Henry Wiencek |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Pan Macmillan |
| Year published | 2005-04-01 |
| Number of pages | 416 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |