Item: Alexander Hamilton
Rating: 3.00
Author: terrimleblanc

by Ron Chernow

The #1 New York Times bestseller, and the inspiration for the hit Broadway musical Hamilton!

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow presents a landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father who galvanized, inspired, scandalized, and shaped the newborn nation.

"Grand-scale biography at its best-thorough, insightful, consistently fair, and superbly written . . . A genuinely great book." -David McCullough

"A robust full-length portrait, in my view the best ever written, of the most brilliant, charismatic and dangerous founder of them all." -Joseph Ellis

Few figures in American history have been more hotly debated or more grossly misunderstood than Alexander Hamilton. Chernow's biography gives Hamilton his due and sets the record straight, deftly illustrating that the political and economic greatness of today's America is the result of Hamilton's countless sacrifices to champion ideas that were often wildly disputed during his time. "To repudiate his legacy," Chernow writes, "is, in many ways, to repudiate the modern world." Chernow here recounts Hamilton's turbulent life: an illegitimate, largely self-taught orphan from the Caribbean, he came out of nowhere to take America by storm, rising to become George Washington's aide-de-camp in the Continental Army, coauthoring The Federalist Papers, founding the Bank of New York, leading the Federalist Party, and becoming the first Treasury Secretary of the United States.Historians have long told the story of America's birth as the triumph of Jefferson's democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. Chernow presents an entirely different man, whose legendary ambitions were motivated not merely by self-interest but by passionate patriotism and a stubborn will to build the foundations of American prosperity and power. His is a Hamilton far more human than we've encountered before-from his shame about his birth to his fiery aspirations, from his intimate relationships with childhood friends to his titanic feuds with Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Monroe, and Burr, and from his highly public affair with Maria Reynolds to his loving marriage to his loyal wife Eliza. And never before has there been a more vivid account of Hamilton's famous and mysterious death in a duel with Aaron Burr in July of 1804.

Chernow's biography is not just a portrait of Hamilton, but the story of America's birth seen through its most central figure. At a critical time to look back to our roots, Alexander Hamilton will remind readers of the purpose of our institutions and our heritage as Americans.

9780143034759

I’ll admit that I’ve always found the founding of the United States to be a bit dry and boring. And I’ll freely admit that Ron Chernow and narrator Grover Gardner did nothing to change my mind on that matter.

So why did I listen to Alexander Hamilton?

I knew there was no way I would make it through 818 pages of American history on my own.
I’m slightly obsessed with the musical so I had to give the source material “my best shot.”
Mr. Gardner’s voice was pleasant enough to listen to and it was pretty cool to hear lines from the book reflected in the lyrics that pretty much run non-stop through my head every day. I’m thankful, that without realizing it, my library only had the abridged version. It clocks in at 11 hours and 34 minutes. The unabridged version is closer to 36 hours. I am almost certain I would not have survived the unabridged version.

I did learn that, of course, the musical takes some liberties with Hamilton’s story to make it exciting. It was interesting to learn how much of Hamilton’s life paralleled Aaron Burr’s and how determined Hamilton was to prove himself to everyone he met and worked with. I can understand why Hamilton’s struggle to be seen as someone who mattered and as someone would could make a difference resonates with so many in the 21st century.

So would I recommend reading Alexander Hamilton? It depends on how you much you like history. It would also depend how devoted you are to reading the source material for the musical. If the American Revolution is your cup of tea. Definitely give it a shot. If you get a kick out reading source materials for adaptations. Definitely give it shot. Just be warned that politics and wars are a bloody business and not all that exciting when played out shot for shot.
This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews

Alexander Hamilton (Great Lives)

by Ron Chernow

Reviewed by Terri M. LeBlanc on Nov 15, 2016

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