Achille compagnoni biography of george washington

The journey to read the best biographies of every president from George Washington to Barack Obama seems a long and ambitious one. With just a single president in the rearview mirror now, the path ahead still seems quite formidable. Having just finished nine biographies by five authors on Washington, it seems natural to pause for a moment to reflect on how far we have traveled.

Thus far, the adventure has been far more satisfying than expected. His evolution — from an underprivileged but ambitious youth into a judicious and astute leader — was captivating and could hardly be better constructed in a work of fiction. My education on Washington was made easier, of course, by the fact that many of the biographies I read were outstanding.

The experience set the standard by which all other presidential biographies will have to be judged. Though these 1, pages required a significant time commitment, the reward was an understanding of Washington so deep and thorough that no other biography exceeded the experience. But overall, the series was fantastic. Full reviews here , here , here and here.

Here, in just over pages, Flexner captures the essence of what made Washington a unique historical figure. This biography includes a large number of charts, illustrations, maps and pictures which were not present in his earlier, larger work.

On July 31, , Pakistan's K2 was conquered as two members of an Italian expedition, Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli, reached the summit.

Despite my fondness for this biography, his four-volume series was so strong that this abbreviation falls a bit short by comparison. But it is still one of the best single-volume biographies of Washington I read. Full review here.