Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
sad
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Slavery, Death of parent, War
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Suicide
Too long - watched Hamilton musical which means I know the story already…
very well-written, but was kind of a difficult read for someone who doesn't love biographies.
For me this is definitely more close to a 3.5 book, if I'm not taking the fact that it inspired Hamilton the musical into account.
I liked the bit about his parents' stories, and the references to some of the first hand materials. It's the constant narrative voice that pops out in chapters after chapters, especially when it goes into Hamilton's psyche that bothers me while I'm reading it.
I don't mind having it once in a while but this is a little overdone in this book. I think it's probably more my taste in history books/biography of historical figures as well, but I found the repeated mentions and cross references of how Hamilton's mother, Rachel's life shaped his taste in women and later life choices a bit annoying. I'm sure there are some impact, but the repeated mentioning and rationalizing just sounds like the biographer is trying too hard at exploring his thoughts and rationalizing his behaviour with modern psychology that may or may not have solid proof.
Perhaps I just prefer to know what happened and would rather the authors to leave making sense of the reasoning to myself unless it's an auto biography.
I liked the bit about his parents' stories, and the references to some of the first hand materials. It's the constant narrative voice that pops out in chapters after chapters, especially when it goes into Hamilton's psyche that bothers me while I'm reading it.
I don't mind having it once in a while but this is a little overdone in this book. I think it's probably more my taste in history books/biography of historical figures as well, but I found the repeated mentions and cross references of how Hamilton's mother, Rachel's life shaped his taste in women and later life choices a bit annoying. I'm sure there are some impact, but the repeated mentioning and rationalizing just sounds like the biographer is trying too hard at exploring his thoughts and rationalizing his behaviour with modern psychology that may or may not have solid proof.
Perhaps I just prefer to know what happened and would rather the authors to leave making sense of the reasoning to myself unless it's an auto biography.
This is about as thorough, well researched, and informative as a biography can be. Especially enjoyable for fans of the broadway musical.
While not as musically charged as Miranda, you can certainly see where the inspiration of the Broadway comes from in Chernow's writing. While a thick tome to get through, this book will have you on the edge of your seat as you watch some of the best political actors in history take shots at each other.
Finished this on election night 2016. Would love to know what Hamilton would be saying right now.
Outstanding book. An unbelievably nuanced character study and analysis of our country's early history. I think what is most striking is the way in which Chernow assesses the turn from Hamilton's meteoric rise to his equally sudden downfall,
Outstanding book. An unbelievably nuanced character study and analysis of our country's early history. I think what is most striking is the way in which Chernow assesses the turn from Hamilton's meteoric rise to his equally sudden downfall,
In this style of biography the biographer -- in this case Ron Chernow -- becomes the partisan of their subject. Early US political drama and intrigue also feature heavily in this book. Anyone interested in early US political fights and the characters of the revolution would be entertained by this biography.
Chernow does not shy from detailing Hamilton's faults, but he contrasts them with even more unflattering portraits of the faults of others who come against him in matters of work, society and politics.
Jefferson and Burr bear most of the brunt of his ill regard in this biography. Jefferson is described as a cowardly, conniving idealist who is also a self-aggrandizing pragmatist willing to use others to do his dirty work. Burr is painted as a womanizing, conniving pragmatist who has no political scruples or ideals. Both also practice the sin of slave holding which is one of the original sins of the country and a primary foundation of the political divide in the early United States in this biography.
It's portrait of our first Treasury Secretary is deeply affecting, if a bit wordy and temporally unsteady moving back and forth in the timeline to paint it's picture of Alexander Hamilton the the America he lived in and helped create.
Chernow does not shy from detailing Hamilton's faults, but he contrasts them with even more unflattering portraits of the faults of others who come against him in matters of work, society and politics.
Jefferson and Burr bear most of the brunt of his ill regard in this biography. Jefferson is described as a cowardly, conniving idealist who is also a self-aggrandizing pragmatist willing to use others to do his dirty work. Burr is painted as a womanizing, conniving pragmatist who has no political scruples or ideals. Both also practice the sin of slave holding which is one of the original sins of the country and a primary foundation of the political divide in the early United States in this biography.
It's portrait of our first Treasury Secretary is deeply affecting, if a bit wordy and temporally unsteady moving back and forth in the timeline to paint it's picture of Alexander Hamilton the the America he lived in and helped create.
challenging
informative
slow-paced