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Alexander Hamilton | 
 enlarge | Author: Ron Chernow
Publisher: Penguin Press
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
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Rating:  241 reviews
Sales Rank: 3475
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 832
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.9
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.1 x 2.1
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.4092
ASIN: B000UENRQU
Publication Date: April 26, 2004
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Amazon.com
Building on biographies by Richard Brookhiser and Willard Sterne Randall, Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton provides what may be the most comprehensive modern examination of the often overlooked Founding Father. From the start, Chernow argues that Hamilton's premature death at age 49 left his record to be reinterpreted and even re-written by his more long-lived enemies, among them: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Monroe. Hamilton's achievements as first Secretary of the Treasury, co-author of The Federalist Papers, and member of the Constitutional Convention were clouded after his death by strident claims that he was an arrogant, self-serving monarchist. Chernow delves into the almost 22,000 pages of letters, manuscripts, and articles that make up Hamilton's legacy to reveal a man with a sophisticated intellect, a romantic spirit, and a late-blooming religiosity. One fault of the book, is that Chernow is so convinced of Hamilton's excellence that his narrative sometimes becomes hagiographic. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Chernow's account of the infamous duel between Hamilton and Aaron Burr in 1804. He describes Hamilton's final hours as pious, while Burr, Jefferson, and Adams achieve an almost cartoonish villainy at the news of Hamilton's passing. A defender of the union against New England secession and an opponent of slavery, Hamilton has a special appeal to modern sensibilities. Chernow argues that in contrast to Jefferson and Washington's now outmoded agrarian idealism, Hamilton was "the prophet of the capitalist revolution" and the true forebear of modern America. In his Prologue, he writes: "In all probability, Alexander Hamilton is the foremost figure in American history who never attained the presidency, yet he probably had a much deeper and more lasting impact than many who did." With Alexander Hamilton, this impact can now be more widely appreciated. --Patrick O'Kelley
Product Description
From National Book Award winner Ron Chernow, a landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father who galvanized, inspired, scandalized, and shaped the newborn nation.
Ron Chernow, whom the New York Times called "as elegant an architect of monumental histories as we've seen in decades," now brings to startling life the man who was arguably the most important figure in American history, who never attained the presidency, but who had a far more lasting impact than many who did.
An illegitimate, largely self-taught orphan from the Caribbean, Hamilton rose with stunning speed to become George Washington's aide-de-camp, a member of the Constitutional Convention, coauthor of The Federalist Papers, leader of the Federalist party, and the country's first Treasury secretary. With masterful storytelling skills, Chernow presents the whole sweep of Hamilton's turbulent life: his exotic, brutal upbringing; his brilliant military, legal, and financial exploits; his titanic feuds with Jefferson, Madison, Adams, and Monroe; his illicit romances; and his famous death in a duel with Aaron Burr in July 1804.
For the first time, Chernow captures the personal life of this handsome, witty, and perennially controversial genius and explores his poignant relations with his wife Eliza, their eight children, and numberless friends. This engrossing narrative will dispel forever the stereotype of the Founding Fathers as wooden figures and show that, for all their greatness, they were fiery, passionate, often flawed human beings.
Alexander Hamilton was one of the seminal figures in our history. His richly dramatic saga, rendered in Chernow's vivid prose, is nothing less than a riveting account of America's founding, from the Revolutionary War to the rise of the first federal government.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 A must read August 27, 2008
Egg man (Massachussets)
I fond this book to be pleasantly refreshing in its scope and style. In almost every page is a new insight into the main characters life. A complete course in American History, and a must read among American History enthusiast.
An amazing book that I know I will read again someday! August 17, 2008
K. Lowe (Memphis, Indiana United States)
I absolutely loved this book. The research and detail was amazing, and I found it to be well balanced. It's not a short book by any means and is in no way a "quick read." It took me a few weeks to finish. The biggest obstacle for me was the language used in the 18th century that is no longer used today. I am an avid reader and a college graduate, but I found many words I had not seen before (such as "hegemony" and "shibboleth"). I ended up buying a small Merriam-Webster Dictionary that I kept handy while reading this book.
I have a much greater respect and understanding of Hamilton than I did before, despite his many flaws. Also, I am much more disappointed and not overly fond of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson after reading this biography. After I read "American Sphinx" by Joseph Ellis, I wasn't that enamored of Jefferson. Now I understand why in more detail.
You'll be amazed at Hamilton's abilities and accomplishments after reading this book.
Hamilton's Vision. August 12, 2008
Ted H. Hansen
This is a terrific biography of a fascinating founding father, largely overlooked in history books. The NYC vs VA perspective of Chernow is particularly insightful and refreshing. One of the best history books I have read.
The Single Most Important Founding Father August 3, 2008
Luke V. Saucier, III (Louisiana)
And he wasn't even born here. This is the amazing story of an incredible intellect. Arriving on the shores of this country, and immediately putting his past behind him, this wunderkind went on to do some truly remarkable things. Here are the main things that truly amazed me about Hamilton:
Our constitution was not a done deal.
The Republicans, led by Jefferson preferred that powers be vested in states: foreign policy, currency and they viewed states' economies as agrarian based.
The Federalists, led by Hamilton believed in a strong central government which subordinated states. They believed in a manufacturing base to the economy. The federal government would determine foreign policy; create a single currency etc. to wit, the Constitution. In order to explain this document to the lay person, Hamilton, Madison and Jay undertook the writing of the Federalist Papers, probably 75% of which were written by Hamilton. The Federalist Papers were published in the newspapers of the day. They worked and the Constitution was ratified. If he had stopped there, Hamilton's contributions to the cause would have been some of the greatest, and I haven't even mentioned his valiant performance at George Washington's right hand during the Revolutionary War.
Hamilton read and studied voraciously and learned everything he could on the subjects of economics and international finance and with great foresight set about to create the American banking system and was appointed as first treasury secretary. This man, almost single-handedly, bequeathed to us the greatest financial/capitalist system the world has ever known.
These two things: defending the Constitution through the Federalist Papers, and the creation of this new financial system seem to me to be so vastly different, require such different skills, that it doesn't seem possible, and yet they come from the mind of one man. That was what blew me away.
We would not be the country we are today, if not for Hamilton.
In his telling of this tale, Chernow paints the revered Jefferson in a less than flattering light. Fearing direct confrontation Jefferson almost always acted through a proxy, most often Madison. He allowed Madison to do all his dirty work, and for years the two heaped bitter and vile criticism upon Hamilton, yet Hamilton never missed a beat. Hamilton won, and they lost, and we are all better off for it.
I won't say anymore except to say that this is one of the best, most complete books on the subject of our nation's founding, that I have read and I highly recommend it. Happy reading.
6 stars - I didn't want it to end July 15, 2008
K.S.Ziegler (Seattle)
From what I learned of American history as a schoolboy, Hamilton was certainly considered as one of the founding fathers, but he was relegated to the periphery among the founders; and he and the Federalists, according to this teaching, needed to be constantly restrained by the wisdom of Thomas Jefferson or else they would have reverted the country back to a monarchy. After reading this book, I still think there is truth to the need for Jefferson's restraint, but overall, I think that my education was prejudiced and myopic. As the author notes, because Jefferson, Madison and Adams all became President (along with another Virginian James Monroe) and they had many more years to write about events, their legacy gained the upper hand and history has probably skewed their importance relative to Hamilton.
This really outstanding book tips the balance of viewpoint in the other direction. Some have criticized the book because they maintain that it habitually depicts Jefferson, Madison, and Adams in the worst of ways, such as only showing the worst of what they wrote. They may have a point, but the author is showing what Hamilton was up against - sometimes unreasoning opposition; and he makes a very strong case that Hamilton more than any of the founders was responsible for setting up the American government as we know it today. Hamilton recognized, with a force that no one else could exert, that a strong union was the best hope to avoid all the evils and conflicts of Balkanization. No doubt that Jefferson and Madison provided a much needed counterbalance, especially since Hamilton did not recognize the importance of the Bill of Rights; and Washington also provided a needed check to his military proclivities. But Jefferson and Madison in their Virginian politics that favored a sectionalized state-empowered confederacy molded from a slave-based agrarian economy held views that have fallen by the wayside, whereas Hamilton set in motion the means whereby the United States could get a grip on itself and move into the modern age.
It is a fascinating story of a life that leads to a well-known tragic conclusion. It starts in one of most beautiful of places but also one of the worst scenes of human degradation - the sugar trade in the West Indies. The fact that Hamilton's relatives could never succeed in such a place was probably a credit to them, for it must have taken an extraordinary brutality to keep a majority population of slave labor at bay. Hamilton left the place at the first available opportunity, and took advantage of the time and his abilities to make a continuing success of himself during the Revolution and its aftermath. Beside being blessed with a brilliant mind (John Marshall said that beside him he felt like a candle to the midday sun) and being a relentless worker, he showed that he was a man of principle, and all through his life he hardly deviated from that sense of principle. His enemies did not want to separate his personal life from his private life, but there is every indication that he hardly ever wavered in that regard, despite the folly of the Maria Reynolds scandal. Despite all the investigations, no one was able to find a shred of evidence that showed that while he was Secretary of Treasury and setting up the banking system - or any other time for that matter - that he did anything untoward or for his own benefit. In fact, he had to quit his post because he became too deeply in debt to support his family. Yet, the slander followed him everywhere, and a lack of restraint on his part encouraged the attacks. In the end, the need to clear his name and a strong sense of honor - so important to his politics - had set him on an irrevocable course.
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