In clear prose, both accessible and insightful, Watson portrays George Washington as a great yet flawed hero, the leader whose character and vision helped to win the Revolutionary War and initiate the building of a new city from which the new nation could be governed. Washington understood that this country needed a national identity and that a new capital city was an essential building block for such an identity. Watson considers this phase of Washington’s career as his ‘final battle’ and amply demonstrates his characterization of it as an ‘epic struggle’.

David E. Haberstich, curator and archivist, Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Richmond's Libby Prison has long been described as "notorious"--the Abu Ghraib of the Confederacy. This deeply researched, well written page-turner at last helps us understand why, offering gruesome details about mistreatment, abusive and sadistic staff, and hideous conditions. Robert Watson has added to this a compelling story about an extraordinary breach of Libby's equally notorious security, and the result is an important contribution to Civil War literature that manages to unfold like a thriller.

Harold Holzer, Winner of the Lincoln Prize, former vice president of the Met, former chair of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission