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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
Super readable, especially for those who love the musical (and can stomach a long historical book). Very fun how Chernow brings in different historical contexts, and goes into detail about other key players’ lives. The very detailed section about Hamilton’s financial plan was a slog, though. My second time reading this and it was even better than I remember on the whole.
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
challenging
informative
medium-paced
This biography is exhaustive and exhausting and exuberant. Hamilton, who died at 49, is consistently referred to the best of his or any age in American history and I wholeheartedly agree. Our biographer Ron Chernow, does honor to his memory by painstakingly retelling Hamilton’s story moment by moment, letter by letter, speech by speech. And yes, it was long long long, but anything shorter or less expressive and verbose for a man like Hamilton would have been lackluster.
I think the greatest gift of this biography is the perspective on America’s tumultuous birth. Everything happening today: deadlock, war, violence, injustice, even politicizing epidemics has happened before and humans were just as clueless and greedy then. This doesn’t give me much hope, but it does give me a little bit of context, and helps me understand that nothing is permanent.
Additionally, another reason I love biographies and non-fiction in general, is that I am left feeling thankful to have been able to peek behind the curtain and read the mail of one of the greatest men ever born. How amazing is it that I get to participate in the legacy of Alexander Hamilton just by reading it?
I think the greatest gift of this biography is the perspective on America’s tumultuous birth. Everything happening today: deadlock, war, violence, injustice, even politicizing epidemics has happened before and humans were just as clueless and greedy then. This doesn’t give me much hope, but it does give me a little bit of context, and helps me understand that nothing is permanent.
Additionally, another reason I love biographies and non-fiction in general, is that I am left feeling thankful to have been able to peek behind the curtain and read the mail of one of the greatest men ever born. How amazing is it that I get to participate in the legacy of Alexander Hamilton just by reading it?
challenging
informative
slow-paced
CAWPILE score: 5.86
I’ve been meaning to read this one for years: I got it ever since I got into the musical back in 2016. I started reading it sometime around then but stopped around the 100-page mark because of how dense it was. Listening to it on audiobook this time around definitely made it a better experience. There is so much information; Ron Chernow knows how to dig for it, apparently. The writing itself was pretty dry, and with the biography being as long as it was, it was hard to keep track of absolutely everything.
I did like comparing it to what I remember of the musical, though — it was interesting to see what Lin Manuel Miranda decided to keep and what he did not include. There was a lot more to Hamilton’s life than I ever knew.
I think one of the biggest takeaways I have from this book was how late in life Eliza made it: she died at the age of 97, and was one of the only living people of the American revolution during that time.
I’ve been meaning to read this one for years: I got it ever since I got into the musical back in 2016. I started reading it sometime around then but stopped around the 100-page mark because of how dense it was. Listening to it on audiobook this time around definitely made it a better experience. There is so much information; Ron Chernow knows how to dig for it, apparently. The writing itself was pretty dry, and with the biography being as long as it was, it was hard to keep track of absolutely everything.
I did like comparing it to what I remember of the musical, though — it was interesting to see what Lin Manuel Miranda decided to keep and what he did not include. There was a lot more to Hamilton’s life than I ever knew.
I think one of the biggest takeaways I have from this book was how late in life Eliza made it: she died at the age of 97, and was one of the only living people of the American revolution during that time.
Albeit very long, it is impecable writing and the narration extremely enjoyable.
I found myself closing my eyes and getting lost in visualizing each sentence.
Chernow is truly a master in chosing the details added without making it boring.
What a man Hamilton was, what a story.
I found myself closing my eyes and getting lost in visualizing each sentence.
Chernow is truly a master in chosing the details added without making it boring.
What a man Hamilton was, what a story.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
sad
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
Easily the best biography I have ever read. I am a history buff but knew very little about all of what Hamilton had done. Chernow has honestly made all the people in this book come to life like no other author I have read. I will be checking out his other works and hope that they are told in the manner, but I am afraid all other historical biographies will feel like text books compared to this one.
Outstanding read for everyone, not just history fans!
Outstanding read for everyone, not just history fans!