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The award-winning and best-selling author of Mayflower grapples bluntly and honestly with Washington’s legacy as a man of the people, a reluctant president, and a plantation owner.

In the fall of 1789, Washington, only six months into his presidency, set out on the first of four road trips as he attempted to unite what were in essence thirteen independent states into a single nation. In the fall of 2018, Philbrick, his wife Melissa, and their dog Dora set out on their own series of road trips as they retraced Washington’s route. At historic houses and landmarks from Savannah, Georgia, to Kittery Point, Maine, Philbrick met reenactors, tour guides, and other keepers of history’s flame. Travels with George paints a picture of eighteenth century America that is as divided and fraught as our country today and shows how Washington’s all-consuming belief in the Union helped to forge a nation.

Nathaniel Philbrick is the author of In the Heart of the Sea, winner of the National Book Award; Mayflower, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Valiant Ambition, winner of the George Washington Prize; Bunker Hill, winner of the New England Book Award; In the Hurricane’s Eye; Sea of Glory; The Last Stand; Why Read Moby Dick?; Away Off Shore; and Second Wind.

Ryan J. Woods is Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society (American Ancestors). A dedicated researcher, Woods has authored pedagogical articles about the use of historical biographies to teach character and ethics. He has also contributed genealogical articles and several book forewords for historical and genealogical publications; he regularly presents at national historical and genealogical conferences and events.