Book Review-The First Conspiracy

Title: The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington 

Author: Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch 

Publisher: First edition, New York NY, Flatiron Books, 2019 (Paperback – 2020) 

Pages: 358 

Special Features: Illustrations, Endnotes, Primary & Secondary sources, Index 

Price: $29.99 (hardcover) $17.99 (paperback) $9.99 (eBook) 

ISBN: 9781250130334 (hardcover) 9781250257673 (paperback) 

 

In the spring of 1776, did a group of George Washington’s elite Life Guards – today’s equivalent of the secret service – conspire in a treasonous plot against their Commander in Chief and the Continental Army? New York Times bestseller, Brad Meltzer and documentary writer/director Josh Mensch combined their exceptional talents of storytelling with extensive and meticulous research to bring this non-fiction bestselling story to life. The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington is a fascinating real life whodunit thriller, with a perfect blend of melodrama and complex characters, breathing life into a mysterious and obscure plot to kill or capture George Washington in the early stages of the American Revolution. 

Prior to establishing himself as a renowned writer, Brad Meltzer earned a law degree from Columbia University. Meltzer’s analytical training as a law student served him well as he lays out the treasonous plot details from multiple perspectives providing us with his detailed analysis cultivated from 36 primary and over 50 secondary sources cited in over 30 pages of endnotes. John Mensch’s career in documentary filmmaking prepared him for the extensive and detailed research required to expose the hidden details of a secret treasonous plot of over 200 years ago. 

The First Conspiracy’s greatest achievement is to immerse the reader in its rich characters and provide a true sense of the prevailing mood and tensions between the patriots, loyalists and British troops at the start of the American Revolution. Meltzer and Mensch begin their journey emphasizing George Washington’s deep sense of character – “an unimpeachable code of personal honor that could not be taken from him.” George Washington is his own harshest critic holding himself to “the values of integrity, duty, and trust”. The authors demonstrate how George Washington doesn’t just become the leader of the Continental Army – he is the Continental Army – whose fortunes and success will be inextricably interwoven over the next eight years. The fate of the Continental Army depends on the fate of George Washington and any successful treasonous plot against him would have dramatic consequences and reshape the history of the United States of America in ways that are impossible to imagine. 

Meltzer and Mench quote extensively from The Papers of George Washington, the Journals of the Provincial Congress, and Calendar of Historical Manuscripts to build their case like lawyers in a courtroom. Facts are uncovered and assembled at a steady pace exposing the treasonous plot and the impending doom that lays in wait on the unsuspecting George Washington and the Continental Army. When the moment arrives for the big reveal, the balloon pops, and the reader is provided a huge letdown.

From which official source do the authors present evidence of the mysterious plot to kill George Washington? From the musings and opinions of twenty three year old officer Samuel Blachley Webb, the newly appointed aide-de-camp to George Washington and the hearsay writings of General William Heath who discusses a plot on generals but not on George Washington himself. These two isolated writings are not backed up by any of the documented narrative of the investigation by the Committee of Conspiracies that investigates and uncovers the plot leading to the well documented public execution by hanging of Sergeant Thomas Hickey – the first person to be executed by the Continental Army for “mutiny, sedition, and treachery”. 

Any well trained lawyer, graduating from an Ivy League law school, such as Brad Meltzer, is an expert at shaping a convincing argument in defense of their client no matter how thin the facts or evidence they are provided. The “Plot to Kill George Washington” is Brad Meltzer’s client and he makes the repeated argument that the reason there is no further evidence of the plot is because George Washington and the Committee of Conspiracies deliberately did not record its existence because it would be too embarrassing to bear. This justification is highly suspect at best as the recordings of the Committee of Conspiracy were secret and hidden from public view and not published for almost 100 years. In the end any evidence of a plot to kill or capture George Washington is simply the opinion and assumptions of the authors and needs to stand separate from established military history and facts. 

The subtitle of the book The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington implies that there is a plot to kill GW. Brad Meltzer downplays this assumption immediately in his opening author’s note. “Were they trying to kill George Washington, kidnap him, or something else….some details are forever elusive”. One must wonder if the subtitle was the ambitious work of the publisher’s sales force in their attempt to maximize book sales. Although definitive proof of the plot is never presented it doesn’t take away from Meltzer and Menchs’s valiant job of laying out their case and crafting a very entertaining and enjoyable piece of writing. There are plenty of little known historical facts to interest any fan of American military history and the way the tension is slowly brought to an unbearable boil will entice any fan of the thriller genre. However, when the reader reaches the end of the final page they must be cautioned that what they have just finished is more akin to an excellent Hollywood production than a true military history book. 

 

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