I thought Ellis' book,
His Excellency, was excellent, and very objective. It's more scholarly-type reading than McCullough's
1776, which is written with more action. It was interesting to see how fickle the colonists were during the war. Lose a battle, they're selling their produce to the Brits. Win a battle, you're their new best friend. The war was 8 years long. After a year or two, the notorious short attention span took hold on the part of nearly everybody. (Are we there yet?) The press was a constant problem, too.
Once Washington was re-elected for his second term as President, the jockeying began to see who would succeed him. Jefferson and Madison started rumor campaigns, Ben Franklin's grandson took potshots in the press...It reminded me very much of what has been going on since the 2004 election.
It's worth the price of the book to read Washington's description of Massachusetts politicians, LOL!