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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
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.
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
I have come to the conclusion that AH was a Bi-Polar Autistic Time Traveler! (And that is NOT meant as an insult...he shows both BP and A symptoms.) It was like he knew he wasn't going to make it past a certain age and had to get it all out there within a few years.
He showed amazing clarity on how to help America reach her independence and to keep afloat in the world then and now. Yes, he made some glaring mistakes (I mean, technically, he was human), but what he accomplished is definitely underrated.
It still amazes me that we hold some of our Founding Fathers in such high esteem for doing things as bad or worse than Hamilton did, but history has deemed AH as the scrouge of society.
He was America's Revolutionary scapegoat.
He showed amazing clarity on how to help America reach her independence and to keep afloat in the world then and now. Yes, he made some glaring mistakes (I mean, technically, he was human), but what he accomplished is definitely underrated.
It still amazes me that we hold some of our Founding Fathers in such high esteem for doing things as bad or worse than Hamilton did, but history has deemed AH as the scrouge of society.
He was America's Revolutionary scapegoat.
I’m not sure I’ve ever teared up at a biography before but this got me. The final moments of his life and reading his “Best of wives, Best of women” letter to Eliza is what got me. Alexander Hamilton was such a fascinating, complex, wildly intelligent and challenging person. Ron Chernow made this 36 hour audiobook compelling from start to finish.
A magnificent biography. The author just loves and admires both Alexander and Eliza Hamilton.
‘If they break this union, they will break my heart.’
I have officially entered the brave ranks of people who have completed this absolute tome, which is unmissable for any lover of political history or the musical Hamilton. The amount of insight about "America’s most influential and controversial man" that Ron Chernow has collected in 731 finely-printed pages is, frankly, astonishing.
It was clear that he had found his calling as a fearless, swashbuckling intellectual warrior who excelled in bare-knuckled controversy.
Alexander Hamilton is a thorough, interesting, heart-lifting, and heartbreaking exploration of the life of a man who was, until recently, the most commonly forgotten founding father of the United States. Obviously, now, this is not the case, but its adaptation into a blockbuster Broadway musical does not make it any less of a must-read for those interested in the subject. There are full backgrounds to be missed, and massive diversions to be believed, for those who just depend on Lin Manuel Miranda's excellent artistic work.
Not to be missed here are small, intriguing details, as well as the true complications of the American relationship with France, and, notably, the absolutely essential nature of Angelica Schuyler's husband, John Barker Church, in Hamilton's life. Also, all the respect to Chernow for not shying away from Hamilton's likely bisexuality.
Plus, a few general "yikes" moments who realize just how little has changed since in more than 200 years: ‘Prejudice and private interest will be antagonists too powerful for public spirit and public good.’ Hmm.
One thing is utterly consistent, though: Eliza Hamilton will bring you to tears again and again. Chernow handles her life, her strength, and her ubiquitousness with such attention, care, and respect. It is her showcased moments that run a steadying core through this mountain of a book.
She was buried where she had always longed to be: right beside her Hamilton in the Trinity Churchyard.
I take .5 off not because the book is sometimes dry, which is only appropriate considering just how prolific his subject was, but because of the very evident biased nature of the book, which makes it a bit difficult to determine if Aaron Burr was as villainous as he is portrayed in this book, or if it is the author's framing and selective emphasis of the facts. When you write a historical biography, it is perhaps wise to fully hold your reader's trust. Because of his frequent hero worship of Alexander Hamilton, I found this difficult.
Many of these slaveholding populists were celebrated by posterity as tribunes of the common people. Meanwhile, the self-made Hamilton, a fervent abolitionist and a staunch believer in meritocracy, was villainized in American history textbooks as an apologist of privilege and wealth.
That said, Chernow's emotionally evocative approach to this book is what made what could have been a dry-as-dust history an utterly compelling and engaging story throughout. This book is discouragingly long - and I strongly suggest that readers acquire the audiobook as an aid for this - but the length is necessary and, frankly, could have been much worse had Chernow not adeptly filed through the information and reigned it in.
Alexander Hamilton is by no means easy to read, but it's worth it for the right reader. If you're at all interested in the subject matter, give it a try.
‘I am so tired. It is so long. I want to see Hamilton.’
P.S. Read those acknowledgements for a bit of levity after the heartbreaking final chapters. Chernow is quite witty and his comments about insects and his own gun-handling should earn at least a giggle.
I have officially entered the brave ranks of people who have completed this absolute tome, which is unmissable for any lover of political history or the musical Hamilton. The amount of insight about "America’s most influential and controversial man" that Ron Chernow has collected in 731 finely-printed pages is, frankly, astonishing.
It was clear that he had found his calling as a fearless, swashbuckling intellectual warrior who excelled in bare-knuckled controversy.
Alexander Hamilton is a thorough, interesting, heart-lifting, and heartbreaking exploration of the life of a man who was, until recently, the most commonly forgotten founding father of the United States. Obviously, now, this is not the case, but its adaptation into a blockbuster Broadway musical does not make it any less of a must-read for those interested in the subject. There are full backgrounds to be missed, and massive diversions to be believed, for those who just depend on Lin Manuel Miranda's excellent artistic work.
Not to be missed here are small, intriguing details, as well as the true complications of the American relationship with France, and, notably, the absolutely essential nature of Angelica Schuyler's husband, John Barker Church, in Hamilton's life. Also, all the respect to Chernow for not shying away from Hamilton's likely bisexuality.
Plus, a few general "yikes" moments who realize just how little has changed since in more than 200 years: ‘Prejudice and private interest will be antagonists too powerful for public spirit and public good.’ Hmm.
One thing is utterly consistent, though: Eliza Hamilton will bring you to tears again and again. Chernow handles her life, her strength, and her ubiquitousness with such attention, care, and respect. It is her showcased moments that run a steadying core through this mountain of a book.
She was buried where she had always longed to be: right beside her Hamilton in the Trinity Churchyard.
I take .5 off not because the book is sometimes dry, which is only appropriate considering just how prolific his subject was, but because of the very evident biased nature of the book, which makes it a bit difficult to determine if Aaron Burr was as villainous as he is portrayed in this book, or if it is the author's framing and selective emphasis of the facts. When you write a historical biography, it is perhaps wise to fully hold your reader's trust. Because of his frequent hero worship of Alexander Hamilton, I found this difficult.
Many of these slaveholding populists were celebrated by posterity as tribunes of the common people. Meanwhile, the self-made Hamilton, a fervent abolitionist and a staunch believer in meritocracy, was villainized in American history textbooks as an apologist of privilege and wealth.
That said, Chernow's emotionally evocative approach to this book is what made what could have been a dry-as-dust history an utterly compelling and engaging story throughout. This book is discouragingly long - and I strongly suggest that readers acquire the audiobook as an aid for this - but the length is necessary and, frankly, could have been much worse had Chernow not adeptly filed through the information and reigned it in.
Alexander Hamilton is by no means easy to read, but it's worth it for the right reader. If you're at all interested in the subject matter, give it a try.
‘I am so tired. It is so long. I want to see Hamilton.’
P.S. Read those acknowledgements for a bit of levity after the heartbreaking final chapters. Chernow is quite witty and his comments about insects and his own gun-handling should earn at least a giggle.
informative
slow-paced
It is a little daunting to start, and does move at a slower pace at times. How ever, it is incredibly well-researched, extremely informative, and PACKED with US history. It took a while to read, but it was nonetheless very fulfilling.
Absolutely fantastic read! If you've enjoyed the Hamilton music as it was recently released on Disney +, reading this book is a great way to enhance the experience. There are obviously historical changes Miranda made with his musical to both accommodate time and achieving an overall coherent theme, which is corrected and filled in with this book. Chernow is well known for covering broad ranges of American history incorporating seemingly disconnected details in a way that is more systematic and understandable for the reader than one would expect to be possible. His deep and broad ranging research is obvious, and it connects in a way that gives you an electric feeling of presence with the live experience of history as he describes finding items in personal letters and diaries he's reviewed.