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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
Detailed but not overly so. The writer definitely had a Hamilton bias
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Fascinating book, especially in the light of the current political context. We think this is bad? You should read this and see how the founding fathers treated each other! I mean Hamilton was shot dead by the Vice-President of the the United States....They despised each other and wrote massive pamphlets declaring their disdain for one another. Hamilton would have hated twitter. Only 14o characters to express his feelings when he would write incredibly long articles to be published over the course of weeks! I am not sure the Donald can do much beyond stringing 2 tweets together.
Hamilton was a brilliant and amazing man. Imperfect for sure but he had a tremendous impact on the writing of the Constitution and the formation of the country. Takes a while to get through but worth it.
Hamilton was a brilliant and amazing man. Imperfect for sure but he had a tremendous impact on the writing of the Constitution and the formation of the country. Takes a while to get through but worth it.
informative
slow-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
i see the vision and i know more about our founding fathers now than i ever did but i was bored out of my damn mind i can’t lie
When I was in 7th grade, a classmate (a Hamilton musical devotee) told me that their favorite historical figure was Alexander Hamilton. Intellectual philistine that I was, I sarcastically dismissed him as just the first treasury secretary, who died in a duel—nobody important. After finishing Ron Chernow's exhaustive and masterful biography of the man, I think that I should offer said classmate an apology.
Ron Chernow has a gift for making the distant past vivid and immediate. His writing is both scholarly and at times lyrical, and throughout the book he communicates a deep understanding of Hamilton and his times. Beginning with his mysterious early years in the Caribbean, the book traces his explosive rise and slow descent in American society, and brings to light his greatest triumphs as well as both his political and personal failures. One particularly striking aspect of the book is how similar and alien Hamilton's world is from our own. A society polarized between Northern industrial and Southern agrarian interests, the early United States was a fractious and unstable country that many predicted would quickly succumb to civil war. That it survived into the modern era is a testament to the genius of its architects, foremost among them Hamilton himself, despite Hamilton’s philosophical difficulty in supporting a fundamentally unstable society.
The philosophy of Hamiltonianism is difficult to reconcile with modern political sensibilities—it refuses to fit nicely into the modern dichotomy of liberalism and conservatism. What Chernow communicates throughout the book is that, due to Hamilton's upbringing in the brutal sugar plantations of the West Indies, its cornerstone was a fundamental skepticism in the goodness of human nature. One of the quotes Chernow highlights at the beginning of the book is Hamilton's declaration that "men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals, for the most part governed by the impulse of passion." This belief led Hamilton to have a lifelong suspicion of direct democracy. While he abhorred British rule and was a fervent revolutionary, he was staunchly opposed to the populist Republicanism of Jefferson and favored power being held in the hands of the American elite. Despite these misgivings he, along with James Madison and others, engineered the Constitution and by extension America itself. His support for a strong central government, creation of the modern financial system, and abolitionist campaigning make him one of the most heroic figures of the revolutionary era.
At the same time, Chernow also highlights his numerous failings. His infidelity in the Reynolds affair, his support for Federalist authoritarianism during the Adams administration, and his faulty judgement in later years leave stains on his character. But no person is perfect, and I can agree with Chernow that Hamilton's manifold virtues outweigh his flaws.
But what truly made this book enjoyable was the glimpses it gave of the founders as real people. Gossip, love, friendship, sex, betrayal—at times the book felt more like a soap opera than history. Sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious, Chernow has a gift for showing that the Founders were real people, too.
While I read this book for APUSH, I'd recommend it to anyone interested in Hamilton or the period. It's a genuinely interesting and entertaining book, and hopefully someday I'll muster up the strength to try another one of Chernow's mammoth masterpieces. While some parts are a little dry, it's definitely worth the effort.
4.5/5 stars
Ron Chernow has a gift for making the distant past vivid and immediate. His writing is both scholarly and at times lyrical, and throughout the book he communicates a deep understanding of Hamilton and his times. Beginning with his mysterious early years in the Caribbean, the book traces his explosive rise and slow descent in American society, and brings to light his greatest triumphs as well as both his political and personal failures. One particularly striking aspect of the book is how similar and alien Hamilton's world is from our own. A society polarized between Northern industrial and Southern agrarian interests, the early United States was a fractious and unstable country that many predicted would quickly succumb to civil war. That it survived into the modern era is a testament to the genius of its architects, foremost among them Hamilton himself, despite Hamilton’s philosophical difficulty in supporting a fundamentally unstable society.
The philosophy of Hamiltonianism is difficult to reconcile with modern political sensibilities—it refuses to fit nicely into the modern dichotomy of liberalism and conservatism. What Chernow communicates throughout the book is that, due to Hamilton's upbringing in the brutal sugar plantations of the West Indies, its cornerstone was a fundamental skepticism in the goodness of human nature. One of the quotes Chernow highlights at the beginning of the book is Hamilton's declaration that "men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals, for the most part governed by the impulse of passion." This belief led Hamilton to have a lifelong suspicion of direct democracy. While he abhorred British rule and was a fervent revolutionary, he was staunchly opposed to the populist Republicanism of Jefferson and favored power being held in the hands of the American elite. Despite these misgivings he, along with James Madison and others, engineered the Constitution and by extension America itself. His support for a strong central government, creation of the modern financial system, and abolitionist campaigning make him one of the most heroic figures of the revolutionary era.
At the same time, Chernow also highlights his numerous failings. His infidelity in the Reynolds affair, his support for Federalist authoritarianism during the Adams administration, and his faulty judgement in later years leave stains on his character. But no person is perfect, and I can agree with Chernow that Hamilton's manifold virtues outweigh his flaws.
But what truly made this book enjoyable was the glimpses it gave of the founders as real people. Gossip, love, friendship, sex, betrayal—at times the book felt more like a soap opera than history. Sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious, Chernow has a gift for showing that the Founders were real people, too.
While I read this book for APUSH, I'd recommend it to anyone interested in Hamilton or the period. It's a genuinely interesting and entertaining book, and hopefully someday I'll muster up the strength to try another one of Chernow's mammoth masterpieces. While some parts are a little dry, it's definitely worth the effort.
4.5/5 stars
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Wow - really really long but so interesting! I had no idea about this man. An the story gives the good bad and ugly. How interesting our history hasn't changed much in terms of politics and stupid posturing that goes on....
Fabulous look at one of America’s greatest minds. I loved it. Yes it was full in areas but such is life
One of the best biographies ever written, fully researched and informative. A gripping and thrilling story of the great Founding Father.