| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 87.2

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to JAH online. About 210 words from this article are provided below; about 367 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the Organization of American Historians, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a member of the Organization of American Historians, you can:: • Join the OAH and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the Journal of American History.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two-hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the Journal of American History (86.1-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the Journal of American History.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 87.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

George Washington's Mount Vernon: At Home in Revolutionary America. By Robert F. Dalzell Jr. and Lee Baldwin Dalzell. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. xxii, 300 pp. $30.00, isbn 0-19-512114-7.)

This book opens with a fascinating turn of phrase. "Few of us ever bother to examine the faces of old friends very closely," the authors observe, "and so it is with Mount Vernon." Faces are like facades, sure enough. In the case of George Washington's Mount Vernon, however, the building promises more than a facade. Indeed, the careful analysis and social interpretation of the structure allows the reader—and the visitor—to go beneath the architectural mask and examine its chief inhabitant in closer detail. Along with Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, Mount Vernon is a structure that absorbed its statesman-turned-architect for most of his life. In both instances, a slave economy and access to local skilled artisans allowed the process of construction to proceed apace. Like Monticello, Mount Vernon is the grand artifact of a complicated character—of Cincinnatus, the farmer-statesman, but also a slaveholder, soldier, surveyor, and gentlemanly architect. And like Monticello, Washington's home was rescued, restored, and reopened as a national shrine and touristic pilgrimage site. In Mount Vernon, then, one may glimpse many faces through the built facade. . . .

There are about 367 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.