In the final book of his works on the founding fathers, Richard Brookhiser unveils one of American history's most charismatic, delightful and little-known characters: Gouverneur Morris, the charming, one-legged rake and unsung genius of the American Resolution.

"An ever-present figure in the early days of the nation, Gouverneur Morris left an indelible mark on the country's future development. While in the New York State legislature, he was part of the committee that wrote the state's constitution. He went on to write some of the most critical documents of the Second Continental Congress, gaining the enduring admiration of George Washington, who later appointed him minister to France. At the Office of Finance he helped to develop the basic plan for the coinage system that remains in use today, and in private business he was instrumental in the planning and establishment of the Bank of North America.".

A biography of Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816) by his granddaughter, making extensive use of his letters and diary.

Liberty Fund is pleased to present this single-volume collection of Gouverneur Morris's writings. This edition will be a welcome addition to scholars of American and French history as the volume contains many writings that have never before been published. Providing his unique perspective, this is a wonderful and accessible single source that illuminates the political and economic thought of Gouverneur Morris.

This volume is a collection of diary entries by the New York native who embarked for Europe at the end of 1788, returning ten years later. The statesman witnessed the eruption of the French Revolution and the onset of the French Revolutionary Wars and was the American minister to France from 1792 to 1794.

"Revisits the spectacular career of George Washington, at once our most familiar and enigmatic president. Challenging the modern perceptions of Washington as either a political figurehead of little actual importance or a folk legend rather than a real man, Brookhiser traces the president's amazing accomplishments as a statesman, soldier, and founder of a great nation in a quarter century of activity that remains unmatched by any modern leader. Brookhiser goes on to examine Washington's education, ideals, and intellectual curiosity, illuminating how Washington's character and values shaped the beginnings of American politics."--Page 4 of cover.

The Spread Eagle and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by Gouverneur Morris. Morris was an American writer of pulp tales and short stories. Excerpt:" They drove first of all to Gaston Rennette's gallery, where Fitz celebrated the glorious Fourth with a real duelling pistol and real bullets, aiming at a life-size sheet-iron man, who, like a correct, courteous, and courageous opponent, never moved. And all the way to the gallery and all the way back there was here and there an American flag, as is customary in Paris on the Fourth. And to these Fitz, standing up in the victoria, dipped and waved his hat. While he was shooting, his mother took a "little turn" and then came back to fetch him; a stout man in a blue blouse accompanying him to the curb, tossing his hands heavenward, rolling up his eyes, and explaining to madame what a "genius at the shoot was the little mister," and had averaged upon the "mister of iron" one "fatal blow" in every five. Madame "invited" the stout man to a five-franc piece for himself and she smiled, and he smiled, and bowed off backward directly into a passing pedestrian, who cried out upon the "sacred name of a rooster." And everybody laughed, including Cunningham, whose face from much shaving looked as if a laugh must crack it; and so the glorious Fourth was begun."

In this biography, the acclaimed author of Sons of Providence, winner of the 2007 George Wash- ington Book Prize, recovers an immensely important part of the founding drama of the country in the story of Robert Morris, the man who financed Washington’s armies and the American Revolution. Morris started life in the colonies as an apprentice in a counting house. By the time of the Revolution he was a rich man, a commercial and social leader in Philadelphia. He organized a clandestine trading network to arm the American rebels, joined the Second Continental Congress, and financed George Washington’s two crucial victories—Valley Forge and the culminating battle at Yorktown that defeated Cornwallis and ended the war. The leader of a faction that included Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Washington, Morris ran the executive branches of the revolutionary government for years. He was a man of prodigious energy and adroit management skills and was the most successful businessman on the continent. He laid the foundation for public credit and free capital markets that helped make America a global economic leader. But he incurred powerful enemies who considered his wealth and influence a danger to public "virtue" in a democratic society. After public service, he gambled on land speculations that went bad, and landed in debtors prison, where George Washington, his loyal friend, visited him. This once wealthy and powerful man ended his life in modest circumstances, but Rappleye restores his place as a patriot and an immensely important founding father.