Ron Chernow

Alexander Hamilton

Publisher's description: In the first full-length biography of Alexander Hamilton in decades, National Book Award winner Ron Chernow tells the riveting story of a man who overcame all odds to shape, inspire, and scandalize the newborn America. According to historian Joseph Ellis, Alexander Hamilton is "a robust full-length portrait, in my view the best ever written, of the most brilliant, charismatic and dangerous founder of them all." 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.

Dan Magee

Now, mark my words. So long as we are a young and virtuous people, this in-strument will bind us together in mutual interests, mutual welfare, and mutual hap-piness. But when we become old and corrupt, it will bind us no longer.

He had learned a lesson about propaganda in pol-itics and mused wearily that "no character, however upright, is a match for con-stantly reiterated attacks, however false." If a charge was made often enough, people assumed in the end "that a person so often accused cannot be entirely innocent."

His opponents, he claimed, neglected a critical passage of his report in which he wrote that he "ardently wishes to see it in-corporated as a fundamental maxim in the system of public credit of the United States that the creation of debt should always be accompanied with the means of extinguishment."

Hamilton's interest was not in enriching creditors or cultivating the privileged class so much as in insuring the government's stability and survival. Walter Lippmann later said of Hamilton, "He used the rich for a purpose that was greater than their riches." On the other hand, he was naïve in thinking that the rich would always have a broader sense of public duty and would somehow be devoid of self-interest, instead of being captives to an even larger set of interests.

What mattered was that people trusted the government to make good on repayment: "In nothing are appearances of greater moment than in whatever regards credit. Opinion is the soul of it and this is affected by appearances as well as realities."

Hamilton's mind was so swift and decisive that it could lead him into rash decisions. Washington's resolved slowly, resolved surely," Hamilton later said of the President. Washington management style was the antithesis of this. "He consulted much, pondered much, could weigh all sides of an issue and coolly appraise the political repercussions.

On Hamilton's 'abiding fascination with a beautiful, noble death.'

I am aware that a man of real merit is never seen in so favourable a light as seen through the medium of adversity...the clouds that surround him are shades that set off his good qualities.

Patrick Book

I’m not sure what all the fuss is about. There weren’t even any songs!

elizabeth

Exhaustive and exhausting. 

Props to Hamilton for being kind of exceptional. 

Props to Chernow for this work of frankly insane depth and scope. 

I'll remember little to none of the details.

The Musical is fantastic but it doesn't do justice to the full extents and feats of the life of Hamilton. Frankly, no musical can. Fantastic story with self-aware historical speculation, and a diligent attention to detail and context, and seamlessly inserts letters/excerpts. One chapter was a drag, only one.

Andrew John Kinney

I had thought about reading this book several times over the last fourteen years, and other, related Revolutionary era reading finally piqued my interest sufficiently to start Alexander Hamilton. Almost immediately I was engrossed by the story, and in the course of learning about Hamilton, I confirmed some suspicions that had been rattling around my brain concerning Jefferson. Suffice it to say, I now realize how lucky we were to have the Federalists in charge for the first twelve years of the country's existence, and how extremely lucky we were to have Hamilton in charge of Treasury for the first six years of Washington's presidency. I had a similar reaction to reaching the end of this book as I had to the end of Team of Rivals; we all know enough history to know how Lincoln and Hamilton met their ends, but at the end of each book, I felt a deep sadness about their loss because the books make you feel, in each case, that you have come to know the man. I have also always been an action-oriented person, so I felt a lot of empathy for Hamilton's hard-driving pace, and striving, scrambling need to get things done, and done right, but I also learned what an honest, kind, and empathetic man he was, which is not at all the version I learned in school. This book is long, but well worth the reading.

RON. CHERNOW

Alexander Hamilton was an illegitimate, largely self-taught orphan from the Caribbean who overcame all the odds to become George Washington's aide-de-camp and the first Treasury Secretary of the United States. Few figures in American history are more controversial than Alexander Hamilton. In this masterful work, Chernow shows how the political and economic power of America today is the result of Hamilton's willingness to champion ideas that were often wildly disputed during his time. He charts his titanic feuds with Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Monroe and Burr; his highly public affair with Maria Reynolds; his loving marriage to his loyal wife Eliza; and the notorious duel with Aaron Burr that led to his death in July 1804. The book was adapted into a hugely successful Broadway musical - winner of 11 Tony awards - which opens at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London in November 2017.

Mark

During the time it took to complete, I read about 120 other books, waited 12 months to eventually see the show in the West End, watched the show on Disney over a dozen times and listened to the soundtrack on Spotify countless times.
A great read, but not an easy one.

Matt Stein

My review: https://mattstein.com/books/alexander-hamilton

Ivy X

This book made the founding fathers feel more human and more real. It showed all of their strengths and weaknesses. It also showed Alexander's spirit through his actions, the things he wrote, and through the accounts of others. This was a brilliant take on history and extremely insightful on Hamilton. There were times that I saw my own father in the way Hamilton was constantly working and trying to better himself. At the end of the book, my heart was in pain in regard to his death because he had been a great father and husband despite some of the errors he made along the way. 

Also, another thing I really liked is that you could see the inspiration in some of the words or things written for the musical. And in both the musical and this book, they made Burr (the person who shot Hamilton) not an antagonist but a human. He had his reasons for what he did and he may have regretted it privately for he had mentioned (just once in public) that the world was big enough for Hamilton and him. (*sobs*) 

Great read!

Haley Murray

Adam

If you told me I'd be on the edge of my seat for a 36 hour audiobook about Alexander Hamilton I'd likely give you a bit of side eye. As a huge Hamilton (The Musical) fan, this helped fill in the gaps to further understand the context for things in the show. It also astonished me just how accurate the musical is overall. After seeing Hamilton demonized in various other stories, it was refreshing to see a person who accomplished so much, and just didn't stop.

Wynn Netherland

A fascinating narrative of the life of Alexander Hamilton and the early republic. There's an odd comfort in knowing our political polarization and paranoia of foreign actors dates to the founding. Perhaps these times aren't as uncommon as we think.

Jeremy Anderberg

When Ron started writing this book in 1999, he was consciously making an escape from the Gilded Age financiers that had dominated his writing career up to that point. He started by reading over 20,000 pages of Hamilton’s papers and archives — “he must have produced the maximum number of words that a human being can scratch out in 49 years.” Little did Ron know that the massive biography which would emerge five years later would cement his place among the pantheon of American biographers, as well as place him into the very small club of writers who gamely tackle our nation’s founders and presidents.

Of course the eponymous Broadway show has done more to bring Alexander Hamilton to the forefront of America’s consciousness than the book did, and while that’s a great story in and of itself, I suppose I should quit wasting space and get to my own review here.

Part of the reason Hamilton’s tale is so appealing is its undeniable human drama. He was born in the Caribbean, orphaned young, made his way to the mainland at the start of the Revolution, and fortuitously found himself in the company of the most powerful people and the most important action. In his twenties, Hamilton proved his worth enough to become George Washington’s aide-de-camp, which is a fancy French term that basically means Assistant to the Regional Manager.

From there, his career absolutely skyrocketed until Hamilton reached his apex in his running of the Treasury Department, which was functionally the second most powerful position in the nation. He nearly single-handedly drew up the blueprints for the capitalist, Wall Street-driven economy we find ourselves in today. Then, of course, THE DUEL. I get that it was 200+ years ago, but even back then it was unconscionable that the Vice President would shoot and kill a Founding Father in a petty feud. And I didn’t even mention the sex scandal!

Outside of a couple hundred pages of the forming of the Treasury and America’s economic policies, the story itself keeps this door-stopping book moving; it required little in the way of readerly discipline to keep going. Chernow is a master storyteller; his argument for Hamilton’s influence on early America is convincing to say the least, even if his subject is a bit idealized (and Hamilton’s enemies a bit demonized). Those are very minor quibbles. I spent plenty of graphite underlining whole passages at a time and Hamilton is a marvel of a book that will remain on my shelf for decades to come, sure to be revisited now and then when I feel the need to mainline some patriotism.

Man this book is a beast! It appears to be well researched and likes to take its time to try to show you all of the different viewpoints and go on tangents about some of the other players if it would better the readers understanding.

That said, I do wontlder why he took the time to try to argue that they were abolishionists whil owning slaves. He does back off of Jefferson and show more of the truth later in the book, but this idea to idolize these figures really stuck with me. They can be bad people while being our founders. They don't have to be perfect. 

If you really want to hear the truth behind the Hamilton musical, this is the book. I definitely will still love the musical but the people themselves seemed to have a lot of issues and maybe aren't worth the praise beyond what they did for the USA.

Amber Laha

I'm so proud of myself that I finished and before the end of the year as that was my goal!!

Jeni Enjaian

This book, hands down, is my all time favorite biography. It is very close to being my all time favorite work of history, ever. It took me much longer than I wanted to plough through it but that's because I wanted to savor every page. To do that with 731 pages and teach middle school at the same time results in such slow progress.
Chernow's word choice is absolutely stunning. It is no wonder that this narrative provided such vivid inspiration for the equally talented wordsmith, Lin Manuel Miranda. Chernow weaves the words together with the skill of the most adept storyteller even when delving into nitty gritty details of a man's life. The historical person that grace the pages of the biography appear as fully developed characters, so fully developed that one instantly wants to read a biography of his life - written by Chernow of course.
I highly recommend this book to all readers, historian (professional or amateur) or member of the general public.

Anna Adams

He was a complex man, but so responsible, until he just wasn't. I'm so glad I read it because there was so much I didn't know, and he played such a strong and truly vital role in the start of this country. Would we be this country without him? The thing I treasure (and I meant that word) about reading this book is learning of the tender friendship that eventually grew between Hamilton and Washington.

I'm just heartbroken in the end. You can't help hoping he'd defeat history and survive.

Alexander Hamilton

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