Popular historian and former White House speechwriter Jonathan Horn tells the story of George Washington’s forgotten last years—the personalities, plotting, and private torment that unraveled America’s first post-presidency.

Washington’s End begins where most biographies of George Washington leave off, with the first president exiting office after eight years and entering what would become the most bewildering stage of his life. Embittered by partisan criticism and eager to return to his farm, Washington assumed a role for which there was no precedent at a time when the kings across the ocean yielded their crowns only upon losing their heads. Jonathan Horn reveals that the quest to surrender power proved more difficult than Washington imagined and brought his life to an end he never expected.

Published by Scribner, February 2020