George Washington was an interesting man, and while he is mostly known for his military and political sides, he was also a businessman, and Mount Vernon was a commercial operation. Given his long asences and conflicting priorities, Mount Vernon's financial "success" was probably more of a tribute to Martha Washington and the plantation's managers than its absentee owner.

=== The Good Stuff ===

* The "private side" of Washington's life often gets overlooked, and this is one of the few books I have come across that explores his role as a business man. Being in command of the Continental Army, and even later as President, represented a financial burden on the man, and in the case of the role as commander, actually cost him some personal funds when Congress got a bit stingy.

* Edward Lengel is a Professor of History, but doesn't write like one. His prose is mostly clear and relatively easy to read, and if anything, I wished for a slightly more complex writing style.

=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===

* I found the book to be a bit short on detail, and was mostly left wanting more information on most of the subject matter. It seemed that just as a discussion area was getting interesting, the topic changed.

* If anything, I would have preferred a more complex language style. I found the prose to be a bit choppy and somewhat tough to read.

* The mix of business and politics in the 18th century was much different than today, and things that were perfectly acceptable then would get a politician locked up today. There should have been a bit more discussion of this area.

=== Summary ===

This is an area that is quite interesting to me- Washington as a businessman. Unfortunately Ifound the book to come up a bit short, and was more of a teaser leading me to want to read more.