#MacmillanAudio review of: George Washington, Entrepreneur How Our Founding Father's Private Business Pursuits Changed America and the World By: John Berlau

When Macmillan Audio offered me an audio arc of George Washington, Entrepreneur
How Our Founding Father's Private Business Pursuits Changed America and the World
By: John Berlau Narrated by: Corey Gagney I jumped at the chance to learn more about our first president and one of our founding father's and I learned a great deal.

ISBN-13:
 9781427296696

Publisher: Macmillan Audio


Release Date: 6-30-2020


Length:
 4hours- 46 minutes

Source:
 Publisher for Review

Buy It: Audible

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

A business biography of George Washington, focusing on his many innovations and inventions.

George Washington: general, statesman...businessman? Most people don't know that Washington was the country's first true entrepreneur, responsible for innovations in several industries. In George Washington, Entrepreneur, John Berlau presents a fresh, surprising take on our forefather's business pursuits.

History has depicted Washington as a gifted general and political pragmatist, not an intellectual heavyweight. But he was a patron of inventors and inveterate tinkerer, and just as intelligent as Jefferson or Franklin. His library was filled with books on agriculture, chemistry, and engineering. He was the first to breed horses with donkeys to produce the American mule. On his estate, he grew countless varieties of trees and built a greenhouse full of exotic fruits and flowers. Unlike his Virginia neighbors who remained wedded to tobacco, Washington planted seven types of wheat. His state-of-the-art mill produced flour which he exported to Europe in sacks stamped GW Flour—one of the very first branded food products. Mount Vernon was also home to a distillery and became one of the largest American whiskey distributors of the era.

Berlau's portrait of Washington, drawn in large part from his journals and extensive correspondence, presents a side of him we haven't seen before. It is sure to delight readers of presidential biography and business history.

Click HERE for a sample listen

My Macmillan Audio Review:

George Washington Entrepreneur:
How Our Founding Father's Private Business Pursuits Changed America and the World

By John Berlau
Narrated by: Corey Gagne

Did you know that George Washington was one of America’s first entrepreneurs? No, well neither did a lot of us. But it’s true George Washington was a very forward thinker, a man beyond his time, ambitious and honest and as readers will learn in this exciting biography a true leader.

This book will tell readers how George, a third son made himself rich, how he went from loyal colonist to rebel with a cause. How through dogged determination he started on the long road of self made man, finally turning Mount Vernon (that was never supposed to be his) from a mediocre tobacco farm to a showplace of modern ingenuity, a self-sustaining industrial village including a Dairy, Grist Mill, Textile factory, and fishery and how he did this by excellent land management and by always asking questions, always seeking advice of those who were forward thinkers like himself. Most importantly for today’s world was that George Washington was an abolitionist, yes he was a slave owner like any successful land owner but he not only respected how slaves fought for the revolution but saw the damage that separating families did to them. So he never let any of his families be separated and during his lifetime saw to it that all of his slaves were freed and kept on as paid employees many of them living out their lives at Mount Vernon.

Narration:
Coery Gagney does a great job of narrating this book his delivery is clear and his distinct voice is pleasant to listen to and makes the audio version the perfect way to enjoy this biography while commuting, traveling, walking or just sitting at home enjoying a listen.

 If you’re a history buff, a George Washington enthusiast or love non-fictions about self made people this is a read for you. Also fiction lovers who relish history told in story form will find this incredible book hard to put down.

Praise:

“Just when you think the scholarship on our first president has become exhausted, along comes a book like George Washington, Entrepreneur to open your eyes and impart new knowledge about our greatest president. Berlau is an exquisite writer and historian.”
—Craig Shirley, author of Mary Ball Washington, presidential historian, and Reagan biographer

“Surveyor, agribusinessman, patron of inventors: John Berlau shows how Washington brought his skillset—curiosity, persistence, flexibility—to his life as an entrepreneur.”
—Richard Brookhiser, senior fellow, National Review Institute, and author of Founding Father.

“A fascinating look at a little-known and (not surprisingly) little taught aspect of George Washington’s life…a timely reminder of the role entrepreneurship played in this country’s history, and the role that opposition to infringements on economic liberty played in the American revolution.”
—Dr. Ron Paul, former U.S. congressman and presidential candidate

“An impressive work of scholarship that enlarges our understanding of the founding era.”
—Norm Singleton, Campaign for Liberty president

“George Washington, Entrepreneur tells a dramatic story…In no small part, British efforts to curb American entrepreneurialism led to the American Revolution.”
—Kevin J. Hayes, author of George Washington: A Life in Books, winner of the George Washington Prize

About the author:

John Berlau is an award-winning journalist, recipient of the National Press Club’s Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism, and Senior Fellow for Finance and Access to Capital at CEI. He is a columnist for Forbes and Newsmax, and has contributed to Financial Times, Washington Post, Politico, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Times. He is a frequent guest on CNBC, CNN, Fox News, and Fox Business. Berlau lives in Alexandria, VA, 7 miles from the Mount Vernon estate.