Washington's Gay General: The Legends and Loves of Baron von Steuben

Lovely little history, quite quick. I knew the broad strokes of van Steuben's history, the way he connects Frederick the Great to George Washington is fascinating. As is his queer life, the focus of this book. But this book is well researched and fills in a lot of details. It got a bit preachy in the middle trying too hard to relate von Steuben's presumed homosexual life in the 1700s to modern life but it was well meaning, in service to the author connecting himself to this bit of queer history.

Unfortunately the exact historical record is a bit thin, there's no racy letters or tawdry details. There's no question von Steuben himself loved the young men in his life but their relationships with him are more ambiguous and don't meet the modern way of being gay. I like that the book presented all that directly without trying to overinterpret.

The art is quite pretty. A bit sketchy and undemanding, more of an illustration for the writing than a graphically intense novel in itself. I like that and there's a few grand panels that are more intricate, quite lovely artwork.