[Gondring]

Hardly a hatchet job....I’ve read this many times.

Wow...many times? It's been out only a week, hasn't it?

It sure seems like a hatchet job to me, using poor sourcing. As the reviewer points out, he was very political and inexperienced in the early days. I think everyone agrees he made many mistakes then.

But to rely on edited letters that were never sent? Poor scholarship.

As for being a hatchet job, did you find commentary like the "getting it on with slaves rather than a married woman" to be important for reminding the reader of the context of the times instead of just being snarky? Was this an isolated example, or does the book have such little jabs throughout?

[Sacajaweau]

Of course I haven't read this book...but the Jumonville event is very well documented many times over.

P.S. The cherry tree story is not true...he actually killed his mother's favorite colt horsing around with the guys.

You need to get into history books AT LEAST prior to WWII.