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oldcrow1111's review against another edition
5.0
I read this way back when, before I got into the musical. Rereading now, having memorized the musical, was even more enjoyable.
lrwebber's review
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
For how long a book it is, no part felt drawn out. Everyone is painted as human instead of legendary, very well done. Narration was well done.
dreaming_ace's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderfully written biography about an amazing but complex figure. Though to say this is only a biography would be false: It is a biography, a in depth history of the foundations of our country, and a history of the area around where I was born in Upstate NY. I learned a lot about government, and the foundations which have led to the strengths and weaknesses of this country. Chernow writes in such a way that I have often commented or laughed out loud (Confusing people on the Bus etc). Also because I love the music of the musical Hamilton this biography became a musical biography interspersed with the songs. Thank you Ron Chernow for this wonderful biography.
jasbookreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
slow-paced
5.0
Fantastic book, well worth every second
dda9's review against another edition
4.0
Chernow presents Hamilton's life in great detail, but the writing style is very engaging. He is also fairly even handed. He doesn't shrink from pointing out Hamilton's flaws or shy away from the torrid affair that caused such hardship for him and his family. But neither does he take delight in tearing down one of our founding fathers.
The reader is left with the impression of a titan of history--an American Napoleon, but in the realm of politics and economics. A man with incredible talents, work ethic, and ambition, a man with largely upstanding character, but with flaws perhaps equal to his genius.
My only complaint is that occasionally Chernow makes claims but doesn't provide any evidence for them. For example, he claims that Jefferson (he doesn't seem to be a fan) tried to seduce his neighbor's wife, but gives the reader no information about how we know this or what the evidence is. This is usually in cases of ancillary importance to Hamilton's story however, and such detail would have made an already sizable volume even heftier.
The reader is left with the impression of a titan of history--an American Napoleon, but in the realm of politics and economics. A man with incredible talents, work ethic, and ambition, a man with largely upstanding character, but with flaws perhaps equal to his genius.
My only complaint is that occasionally Chernow makes claims but doesn't provide any evidence for them. For example, he claims that Jefferson (he doesn't seem to be a fan) tried to seduce his neighbor's wife, but gives the reader no information about how we know this or what the evidence is. This is usually in cases of ancillary importance to Hamilton's story however, and such detail would have made an already sizable volume even heftier.
gadicohen93's review against another edition
4.0
This book was so much fun – in the way it uprooted quai-religious figures out of the history books and mutilated their Mt. Rushmore reputations, so that, in the end, I’ve come away believing that the Greatest Generation may not have been so great individually, but together were able to consolidate a great nation.
It feels like I started this book a lifetime ago. Chernow transported me to the jam-packed life of Alexander more than anybody else (though JJ Ellis, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and my APUSH teacher all come in close seconds.) The sweltering Caribbean hellhole of his deplorable upbringing; the forests and fields of his guerilla days as Washington’s aide-de-camp; the heady days he spent as finance secretary … this full portrait of Hamilton & environs was riveting. The writing ticked forward, expertly sewing together excerpts from letters and articles and stories passed down through the ages, as well as historical details and character sketches that came at just the right places.
I was astonished at how deeply Jefferson reviled Hamilton and at the efforts he took to tarnish Hamilton’s public character, so much so that I feel like Chernow may have painted old Thomas with a little too much chiaroscuro. (Most historians I've read do this, too, depicting TJ as a sly, hypocritical, fervent politician). Though to Chernow’s credit, no character escaped the heavy shading of his brush. Even Hamilton himself (whom Chernow lionizes), in the last half-decade of his life, went bonkers with bombastic, petty revenge fantasies and militaristic dreams of conquering empires a la France and Spain – not to mention his foolish “affair(s) of honor.”
GW came off as an unschooled bore with anger management problems, chaperoned by Hamilton throughout his entire presidency; Madison was a mousy introvert who turned his back on Hamilton as well as on the principles of the Constitution the moment his fellow Virginian TJ landed from France; Adams was a sensitive, petulant, ungrateful homebody; Monroe might’ve been actually evil.
It is my favorite thing about this era in history: the raucous divisions that emerged out of the cohesion of the Revolution, fueled by petty personal hatreds but also deeply representative of the fissures in American society itself. Greater-than-life characters are torn down but built up again, zits and all. But Hamilton might've been the most underrated one. Hamilton – the most partisan figure of all the Framers, a "bastard" and foreign "orphan" – was able to do so much, setting in place a financial system that's lasted through the ages, as well as deftly navigating the executive branch for Washington. He was a really inspiring man and Chernow does justice to his name.
It feels like I started this book a lifetime ago. Chernow transported me to the jam-packed life of Alexander more than anybody else (though JJ Ellis, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and my APUSH teacher all come in close seconds.) The sweltering Caribbean hellhole of his deplorable upbringing; the forests and fields of his guerilla days as Washington’s aide-de-camp; the heady days he spent as finance secretary … this full portrait of Hamilton & environs was riveting. The writing ticked forward, expertly sewing together excerpts from letters and articles and stories passed down through the ages, as well as historical details and character sketches that came at just the right places.
I was astonished at how deeply Jefferson reviled Hamilton and at the efforts he took to tarnish Hamilton’s public character, so much so that I feel like Chernow may have painted old Thomas with a little too much chiaroscuro. (Most historians I've read do this, too, depicting TJ as a sly, hypocritical, fervent politician). Though to Chernow’s credit, no character escaped the heavy shading of his brush. Even Hamilton himself (whom Chernow lionizes), in the last half-decade of his life, went bonkers with bombastic, petty revenge fantasies and militaristic dreams of conquering empires a la France and Spain – not to mention his foolish “affair(s) of honor.”
GW came off as an unschooled bore with anger management problems, chaperoned by Hamilton throughout his entire presidency; Madison was a mousy introvert who turned his back on Hamilton as well as on the principles of the Constitution the moment his fellow Virginian TJ landed from France; Adams was a sensitive, petulant, ungrateful homebody; Monroe might’ve been actually evil.
It is my favorite thing about this era in history: the raucous divisions that emerged out of the cohesion of the Revolution, fueled by petty personal hatreds but also deeply representative of the fissures in American society itself. Greater-than-life characters are torn down but built up again, zits and all. But Hamilton might've been the most underrated one. Hamilton – the most partisan figure of all the Framers, a "bastard" and foreign "orphan" – was able to do so much, setting in place a financial system that's lasted through the ages, as well as deftly navigating the executive branch for Washington. He was a really inspiring man and Chernow does justice to his name.
chapita4's review against another edition
5.0
"Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?" I (like many others) have been obsessed with the music of Hamilton and when a librarian recommended the book that inspired it all I didn't want to miss my shot. Given that our current political climate is divisive/explosive/full of conflict..(don't forget peeps..."History has it's eyes on you"), I thought I'd give it a read. I wish more history books were written as well as this is, although a lot is probably due to the amazing life of Alexander Hamilton. I haven't been able to stop talking about history, the things that Hamilton overcame in order to make it to America and the impact that just one person can have on the future of a country.