Fifth Printing. 8vo. xiv, 320, [6] pp. Index; text clean, unmarked. Black cloth, spine titled in gilt, dust-jacket; binding square and tight. Very Good. Joseph John Ellis is an American historian and writer whose work focuses on the lives and times of the founders of the United States of America. This biography of George Washington is based on Ellis' careful reading of the newly catalogued Washington papers at the University of Virginia. This book is a finely detailed portrait written in lyrical prose.