How George Washington Fleeced the Nation: And Other Little Secrets Airbrushed From History

By Phil Mason

Our view of the famous is one-dimensional—leading figures from history are summarized in history textbooks with one or two lines: Churchill the war-time genius, Gandhi the poor ascetic—but nobody is perfect and even the famous have their quirks and hidden secrets. How George Washington Fleeced the Nation reveals the often hilarious, sometimes shocking, and always highly informative foibles of the great and the good. Einstein, the most brilliant man who lived, regularly forgot his shoes and never learned to drive. Hitler possibly has a Jewish ancestor. Picasso avoided paying restaurant bills by doodling on their napkins instead. Prepared to be shocked, amused, and outraged at what they didn’t teach you in high school.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Release date: Sep 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9781628730852

Phil Mason

Phil Mason has amassed one of the world’s largest private collections of cuttings and books chronicling bizarre stories. He is the author of Mission Accomplished! and How George Washington Fleeced the Nation. He lives in England.

Reviews for How George Washington Fleeced the Nation

[nickhowes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An entertaining collection of anecdotes about well-know historical figures and their secrets. Someone well-read will already be familiar with about half the material, but the rest will be new to them and often surprising. The Indian royalty and their excesses such as the one who used village boys as living bait for his tiger hunts, the eccentricities of the British Prime Ministers and the royals, unpublicized facts about artists like Michelangelo who used male models for his female nudes, and so on, along with the fairy photo hoax that took in Arthur Conan Doyle, Washington's expense account, and Andrew Jackson's penchant for duels. Even the familiar stuff offers details you may not know. Overall, an excellent read.