"The first, definitive recasting of George Washington in the context of eighteenth-century practices and ideals of masculinity. It answers the fundamental question that no biography has ever asked in such a direct way: What do we know, really, about Washington as an actual eighteenth-century Virginia upper-class male?"-- Provided by publisher.

The American giant -- Testing himself -- A taste for cruelty and war -- A body in pain -- Checking the body -- The love letters -- The meaning of love (and marriage) -- A sentimental male -- A maternal father -- A person of fine manners -- The message of his clothing -- Astride the great stage -- Consummation -- Giants die as well.