Thy Will Be Done

âMarks . . . has delivered a book of compassion, courage, and meticulous detail.ââ"Progressive Magazine

âMarks paints a nuanced, three-dimensional picture of George Washington. He helps us understand him as both revolutionary and enslaver, as president and as captor, as a man who was troubled by the institution even as he continued to participate in it. Thy Will Be Done is an exceptional book. This is how George Washington should be taught. This is how history should be done.ââ"Clint Smith, New York Times bestselling author of How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

âJohn Garrison Marks has written an unsparing audit of our inherited memoryâ"proving that the real revolution is in who gets to tell the story. He reveals how the nationâs first act of self-deception became its longest-running tradition.ââ"Alexis Coe, American history columnist at the New York Times and New York Times bestselling author of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington

âImpressive in chronological scope, range of sources, and methodology. Few historians work as skillfully as John Garrisonâ¯Marks does in his sensitive, primarily archival reconstruction of the early history of the people freed through Washingtonâs will and the primarily oral history of contemporary interpretation of enslavement at Mount Vernon.ââ"Andrew M. Schocket, author of Fighting over the Founders: How We Remember the American Revolution

âAn engaging and nuanced chronicle of the legacy of George Washington and slavery over the past 250 years. Given increasingly polarized debates about how to interpret our countryâs history, Thy Will Be Done is a vital contribution to understanding our national history and memory.ââ"Cassandra A. Good, author of First Family: George Washingtonâs Heirs and the Making of America