Incredible | Alexander Hamilton

History Best Fiction... Again | Alexander Hamilton | Ron Chernow

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	• Alexander Hamilton Ron Chernow Penguin (Non-Classics), 2005 - 832 pages average customer review:based on 288 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

This is a top notch biography.

GREAT book. I feel like I lived it. It will take me quite a while to fully digest. Perhaps it was the same for the colleagues or legislators that were presented with overwhelming arguments by Hamilton himself when building the foundation of what has become the American government and its constitution. You just sit with your mouth open for awhile.

Chernow has yet again (I equally loved "Titan" and "House of Morgan") written a thoroughly researched and gripping biography. Thank you.

Hamilton's energy, intellect and ambition seep through practically every page. As do his contradictions, impatience, sensitivities occasional hypocrisy. Like others I was put off by the length (and small point size) and weight of the book. I actually found it easier to read on Kindle. I can't say I found any slow parts and the drama leading up to and through the duel with Burr is captivating.

Some commentators think Chernow was too much of a fan of Hamilton's. I think to write a book of such depth you need to be truly interested if not obsessed with your subject. But where he compares Hamilton to Jefferson, Adams, Washington, Burr or others I think he brings enough evidence and directly quoted source material to back up his descriptions and accounts both good and bad. I think Chernow gives very rich descriptions of the main characters in Hamilton's life. His descriptions of his wife Eliza and her family are as fully rounded and deep as those of the Founding Fathers. Where Hamilton's actions were inexplicable, stupid, arrogant or misguided I believe the readers were equally treated to Hamilton's flaws.

Jefferson does come across rather badly. But maybe he should. The evidence of his "relationship" with Sally Hemmings raises deep questions about his moral compass. He was a callous slave owner whose lifestyle was completely subsidized by their work and suffering. Some may argue that "that was the times" but I think there's plenty of evidence that other leaders of the time were realizing how evil slavery was and doing something about it. Hamilton was one of them.

At the core I appreciated and learned so much about how the Revolution was fought. The aftermath of uncertainty that lead to the Constitutional Congress and the critical role the Federalist Papers played in explaining the government to the people along with Hamilton's leadership of the US Treasury to truly construct a durable government. Chernow's "real time" descriptions add to the drama. You feel the uncertainty of events and the perilousness of the times as they must have felt.

I always reflect on some of the great people on history on how they are able to do so much. Aside from not watching tv I think the biggest contributor is the neglect of their families. For all of Hamilton's professed love of family he really is an absentee father as were both Roosevelts and many others. I think it gets glossed over that in an earlier time fathers had a nice put option on family obligations. The duel with Burr was the ultimate selfish act which cannot be forgiven. As his son had already died by the same route why couldn't Hamilton have written something reflective to Burr in response to the challenge? He has a wife and seven children, the youngest was 2. It was pride ahead of family in my view. Chernow captures it well and puts you at the scene.

Well its a great book. I am intimated by the amount of source material which was obviously very thoroughly read. Like any great book it should lead a reader to seek out other books. I cannot wait for Chernow's biography on George Washington due in October!

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Incredible

Thank you, thank you Mr. Chernow, for paying this much-deserved tribute to one of the greatest, if flawed, Americans of all time. This sweeping 731-page retelling of Alexander Hamilton's life is educational and entertaining - the combination of in depth research and evocative prose delights both scholars and the casual reader. The author readily acknowledges Hamilton's personal flaws on the same pages where he clearly, and sometimes humorously, voices his obvious admiration for the man, creating a fuller, more balanced view of Hamilton's unbalanced life.

Although the enormous achievements of Alexander Hamilton may always be overshadowed by those of the more politically agile Jefferson, I hope more people come to understand the contributions made to the formation of the American government by the brilliant, fiery Hamilton, whose biggest political flaws may have been his steadfast dedication to reason and undiluted honesty.

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History Best Fiction... Again

Wow! This is one of the best books I have ever read. For anyone who loves a good novel, or even a reality show, the story of Alexander Hamilton and his times is a story with few if any equals. The author may be a bit enamored of his subject, but his positions are founded in most every case on historical documents.

The story of Hamilton's life is full of several object lessons. Three come immediately to mind. First, Hamilton exemplifies that there is no end to what you can accomplish in this country if your tirelessly work to improve yourself and tirelessly apply your talents. Second, no matter how talented and smart you are, it is always good to look in the mirror and check your humility. Third, and most salient to today's overly charged political dialectic, the story of Hamilton and his times show that our great country never, NEVER had a steady, uniformed view of how to apply the Constitution insofar as the execution of our government. We continue to argue today on the same issues they dealt with at our founding. In fact, Hamilton became a bitter political enemy of Madison with whom he coauthored the Federalist Papers. He and Jefferson also became bitter enemies politically, yet when Jefferson became president, he readily used the foundations of government established by Hamilton for which Jefferson vilified Hamilton.

As a novel, what does this story not have? Hamilton is a flawed man whose genius is matched only by his prodigious work ethic. His life has more elements than a good fiction writer could realistically include in a novel. An orphaned illegitimate son who from the West Indies who becomes General Washington's right hand man in the Revolution, is instrumental in gathering the Continental Congress, writes most of the Federalist Papers in support of the Constitution, becomes our first Treasurer where he is instrumental in establishing many of the underlying fundamentals of our political/economic foundation, cheats on his wife with whom he has 8 children, and meets an untimely demise at the hands of the Vice President. And there is much much more. As a nugget of an example, the just before he is to meet Burr on the "field of honor," Burr knocks on his door looking for a loan. Hamilton arranges a $10,000 loan for Burr who was completely broke. The chapter on the demise of Hamilton brought tears to my eyes.

It is always comforting to read stories from the founding of our country more for the realization that our internal conflicts today are tame by comparison to those at our founding, yet we successfully persist.

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Amazing!

This is far and away the best biography I have ever read. In my opinion it far surpasses even McCullough's work in John Adams and 1776. Chernow is a superb author whose clarity and erudition are evident throughout--a must read for any American history enthusiast.

Little Big Man

Chernow has done a masterful job with the life of one of America's least appreciated heros. Although he was never elected president, Hamilton's head certainly deserves to be enshrined on Mt. Rushmore. Hamilton's role in designing a functioning federal government is never given it's due weight in American History books or courses, perhaps because most of the decisions made regarding the design of the Constitution were made behind closed doors with participants sworn to secrecy. Chernow is nevertheless able to reconstruct what transpired by examining leaked information from opponents of a strong central government as well as from the final document's close proximity to Hamilton's earlier writings on defects of the Articles of Confederation.

Hamilton probably could never have been elected president, even without the shadows of the scandalous event that followed him almost to the grave. He was the image of the greasy grind kid in the front row that always had his hand in the air with the correct answer before anyone else. From his arrival in New York from the Caribbean in his teens, he was a precocious student and ardent advocate of freedom for America. In debate he could destroy opposing arguments. However, in personal disputes, this tendency to destroy competition limited his circle of admirers to those who understood the issues well and could forgive a little verbal overkill.

The ages have developed many heros from the decades of the struggle for independence and struggle at home to find a way to survive it. Jefferson, Madison, Franklin and Adams are all shown to have feet of clay. Jefferson in particular used all his resources to import the rule of mobocracy in Revolutionary France to America and came close to succeeding. This is the first book I would recommend for readers wanting to study the history of this important period in the development of America.

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Ron Chernow, the renowned author of Titan whom the New York Times has called "as elegant an architect of monumental histories as we?ve seen in decades," vividly re-creates the whole sweep of Alexander Hamilton?s turbulent life?his exotic, brutal upbringing; his titanic feuds with celebrated rivals; his pivotal role in defining the shape of the federal government and the American economy; his shocking illicit romances; his enlightened abolitionism; and his famous death in a duel with Aaron Burr in July 1804. Drawing upon extensive, unparalleled research? including nearly fifty previously undiscovered essays highlighting Hamilton?s fiery journalism as well as his revealing missives to colleagues and friends?this biography of the extraordinarily gifted founding father who galvanized, inspired, and scandalized the newborn nation is the work by which all others will be measured.

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