Book Review of
Alexander Hamilton
In the first full-length biography of Alexander Hamilton in decades, 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.
Grace's Review
If you have seen the play Hamilton or are a big fan of it like so many of my friends are, I would recommend you read this book. I know that people love to see the fiction side of life and call it reality, but it is not always true. I am sure there are parts of the play or tales of Alexander Hamilton that are true, but it is always better to read an in depth biography to find out everything. And this is why I like Alexander Hamilton by Chernow.
It was a very slow read for me because I have read so much about this time period. I did enjoy it though. I was able to not just read about Alexander Hamilton, but other founding fathers, our country, society, and much more. I also learned that politics and name calling has not changed. The used to do it back then too.
I have already gotten one friend who has actually seen the play to read it. He enjoyed the book and the play, which does mean you can enjoy both the fiction and the true side of life at the same time. So enjoy yourself some true history by reading this book and maybe today’s politics will not seem as unusual as some people say they are.