peter

This book takes what could be a fascinating story and makes it quite tedious. Jumping back and forth in time confuses a narrative that is engaging enough to be taken on chronologically and a highly repetitive prose style eventually becomes quite grating - how many times do we need to be reminded of the trading rituals of the Mohawks and the Mohicans? Most distracting though is the narration. In no other audiobook have I been able to notice the loud breathing of the reader so overtly. I don't know whether that inhalation is edited out in other recordings, but I've never come across the narrator's breathing actually distracting me from the recitation of the story until now. Also, the narrator sounds like this is the first time he is reading the book: sometimes his intonation is off and the stress falls on the wrong syllable, his pronunciation of Dutch words is not consistent throughout the book and his transitions from English sentences to include a Dutch term is clunky, like he's guessing how the word should sound, in the strangest pseudo-nonspecific central European accent. Not a terrible book by any means, but the narration detracts considerably from the enjoyment of it.

An exceptional biography, just enough focus on GW's childhood before moving onto his adult exploits and heroics. In-depth accounts of the French-Indian War and the Revolution as well as his personal life, but I would have liked a little more content on his role at the Constitutional Convention and the second term of his Presidency. Altogether an amazing account of the man's life that gets past the hyperbole to give a three-dimensional account of the human being himself. Scott Brick's stately narration is flawless as always.