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littlelifewrecker's review against another edition
5.0
I like biographies, but I wasn’t sure what I was getting into with a chunkster of this magnitude. Chernow does a great job of drawing the reader in to every morsel of Hamilton’s story. Also Scott Brick is always a joy to listen to for the narration.
benwillie's review against another edition
4.0
I haven't read a biography in a while, but Ron Chernow makes it very easy to approach this one. I was obsessed with the Hamilton musical many years ago (I still remember every lyric...why won't my brain instead make space for things I try to remember?!) so this was a nice dose of empirical history to balance out the drama of the musical. I really enjoyed hearing more about such an influential and prolific Founding Father, and if you too have a hankering for history I recommend you give this...a shot ;)
nor_mula's review against another edition
I decided to try read this due to my fascination with the musical "Hamilton" (also the reason that sparked my interest in history and musicals). Soon after I read 26 pages, I got bored and just decided to drop it. I really do want to know his life, but it's hard to keep myself engaged into this informative book.
basepi's review against another edition
5.0
What a masterpiece. If history books in school were written with Chernow’s talent at bringing personality and humanity to non-fiction, I might have been a fan of history, instead of an unwilling participant.
I haven’t seen the musical. I knew embarrassingly little about Hamilton going into this book. It’s hard to describe just how affecting this book was to me. I found myself fuming at times, cheering at others. I think Chernow did a great job at showing the true character of Hamilton, faults and all. And that humanity that he portrays can’t help but make you cheer for him.
It is a very long book, especially for a slow reader like me. It took me more than 30 hours, and they were hours well-spent. It lagged in places, but that’s to be expected from an account so thorough.
Read it. 4.5 stars.
I haven’t seen the musical. I knew embarrassingly little about Hamilton going into this book. It’s hard to describe just how affecting this book was to me. I found myself fuming at times, cheering at others. I think Chernow did a great job at showing the true character of Hamilton, faults and all. And that humanity that he portrays can’t help but make you cheer for him.
It is a very long book, especially for a slow reader like me. It took me more than 30 hours, and they were hours well-spent. It lagged in places, but that’s to be expected from an account so thorough.
Read it. 4.5 stars.
ashleybreader's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
3.5
nestairov's review against another edition
4.0
all-encompassing tour de force of a very interesting figure in an even more interesting period.
loved how much emphasis there was on different founding fathers' pettiness and emotional quirks. part of these are brought to life in the musical but there is plenty left on the cutting room floor to find in the book.
gripes: chernow's rose-tinted glasses when it came to hamilton's extramarital affairs and general disposition towards women, and that parts of the book feel too finely grained and comprehensive when it came to minutae that didn't add much
loved how much emphasis there was on different founding fathers' pettiness and emotional quirks. part of these are brought to life in the musical but there is plenty left on the cutting room floor to find in the book.
gripes: chernow's rose-tinted glasses when it came to hamilton's extramarital affairs and general disposition towards women, and that parts of the book feel too finely grained and comprehensive when it came to minutae that didn't add much
tidoublegarrr's review against another edition
5.0
Having admittedly not read a biography as involved as this one before, I wanted Chernow's Alexander Hamilton for Christmas after becoming, of course, unabashedly obsessed with the musical and finding out that Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote it based off this book (after taking it on vacation for a "light read"). And no wonder he was inspired by it: Truth is stranger than fiction for Hamilton's extraordinary life, which was filled with drama from the beginning to the end; that he was probably a true genius and the unsung creator of many parts of our government and of the national banking system; that he was a gifted writer and orator; that his fatal flaw was being his own worst enemy. His list of achievements is staggering. The book does tend to glamorize him (and villainize Jefferson) but also like that it didn't gloss over either of their mistakes. Hamilton's relationship with Washington was nuanced and I enjoyed finding out more about how their political lives were intertwined and how they kept each other in check. I thought the book would be dry in parts but it wasn't. It also was somewhat therapeutic for me to read it after the tumultuous election and start to the year, to go back to what the Founders intended for the U.S. and the passion that drove them. One thing that Chernow makes repeatedly clear is that Hamilton always had the country's best interests at heart and worked tirelessly to contribute to the survival and success of the young nation. And yes, I did think of each of the songs from the musical when I got to those parts of the books. Miranda took a lot of lines directly from historical quotes, and you can tell how the set list comes from the chapter layout. It's also insightful to consider what he chose to highlight and leave out. Reading it added a lot of depth to the musical for me. Chernow deserves credit though for writing a moving and riveting biography which deftly balances Hamilton's personal and political life in all 731 pages.