karl53 's review for:

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

5.0

---

Alexander Hamilton. I first heard about the show "Hamilton", a hip-hop musical based on a biography on NPR. I said, I have to learn more about this musical and I have to read the biography. I haven't really read too much about the founding fathers and the Revolutionary War era. To date, I've read historical non-fiction about the Civil War and the Progressive Era. Now, after reading Chernow's "Alexander Hamilton", I'll have to expand my reading to our nation's formation and early history. An excellent book. Dense, well researched and riveting. I never knew too much about Hamilton. Yes, he's on the ten dollar bill. And yes, he was assassinated by Aaron Burr. After reading this book, I feel that Treasury should keep him on the 10 and kick Jackson off the 20 for a woman. While a flawed character, Hamilton's legacy suffers from the fact that his detractors, Jefferson and Madison, out lived him and steadily denigrated his character and legacy to their own advantage. I have lost respect for Jefferson. I can see the that the seeds of the Civil War were sown in the War of independence, and the subsequent development of the nation (Three-Fifths Compromise) as well as the struggle between states rights, strict constructionism and a strong executive and central government. We deplore the current status of politics and governance, and say we have to back away from our current squalid state of affairs. But our current state of the body politic pales in comparison with the blood sport of politics in the late 18th and early 19th century. I dare say Herr Drumpf would pale in significance to the campaign skills of our founding fathers. Chernow's book is not only an excellent biography of Alexander Hamilton, but it explains a lot about how our country came into being. Read this book.