I have been doing online movie and book reviews for about 25 years --- long enough to know that the best place to post movie reviews was a Usenet group that allowed for links into the fledgling Internet Movie Database. During that time, I learned that there are such things as fair criticism and unfair criticism; the latter happens when you complain that your expectations have been subverted.

I am not quite sure what I expected from TRAVELS WITH GEORGE, in which Nathaniel Philbrick, master of the narrative historical form, traces the routes taken by George Washington across the newly created United States in the early years of his presidency. I suppose I should have anticipated something along the lines of Sarah Vowell’s book, LAFAYETTE IN THE SOMEWHAT UNITED STATES, in which she puts a very modern, jaundiced spin on the French patriot and his journeys through revolutionary and post-revolutionary America. Or something elevated, similar to an expert-level class in American history --- like something out of the Ken Burns studio or the Kenneth Clark “Civilisation” series.

"[T]he star of the narrative is not really Washington, Philbrick or the dog. It is the growing country, the fledgling States becoming United... It is these stories that make TRAVELS WITH GEORGE memorable and vital."

What I wasn’t expecting was the story of how Philbrick and his wife took their very active and furry dog on an outing, which led the pooch to jump into a stagnant pond filled with green goo. The Philbricks tried to clean their pet in a hyper-modern, bone-white hotel room, with predictable and messy consequences.

TRAVELS WITH GEORGE is just that, placing the travels (and real travails) of George Washington throughout New England and Long Island alongside trips taken by the Philbricks using the same route (or close enough). There is a lot of history in the book; Philbrick does an outstanding job telling the story of Washington’s first inauguration in New York, detailing the triumphal journey through Philadelphia and Trenton, and the political calculation of the brown suit (crafted in America) that he wore to the ceremony.

All of that is coupled with a good bit of interesting historical travel guidance. There are several places that Philbrick visits where I plan to go myself once we get past the pandemic. But a lot of the story is about the issues that Philbrick, his wife and his dog experience along the way --- including the harrowing tale of their sea voyage from Nantucket to Newport that was interrupted by a tornado of all things.

It is not necessarily bad criticism to point out that if you are someone who would roll your eyes about Philbrick stopping the narrative to tell a (hilarious) story about his dog, you are going to have an issue. But I think it is unfair criticism to say that this sort of thing is wrong, or even self-indulgent. Even if you were to say it is self-indulgent (and you might not be wrong), I mean, come on. This is Nathaniel Philbrick we’re talking about. If you or I had put together a body of historical literature to rival his, we might be self-indulgent, too.

However, the focus of the book, where it should rightly be, is on George Washington. Philbrick quotes the various legends where a young patriot, brought to view the famed general, blurts out that Washington is “just a man.” Philbrick portrays him as very human --- annoyed by sub-par hostelries and snubbed by John Hancock, and subject to disease and tooth decay. And he does not shy away from the long shadow cast over Washington’s reputation by the enslavement of his fellow men and women, focusing on his abuse of his presidential power in attempts to recover a fugitive from Mount Vernon.

Still, the star of the narrative is not really Washington, Philbrick or the dog. It is the growing country, the fledgling States becoming United, the reunions of Washington with his doughty soldiers, the little towns that preserved mementoes of the visit, the young people who remembered seeing Washington for the rest of their lives. It is these stories that make TRAVELS WITH GEORGE memorable and vital.