Suddenly these people were real, and I wanted to go deeper.Īnd so I turned to Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton. And then I had one of those life-changing professors who introduced me to the flawed humanity in these historical figures that I had never considered before. I had this terrible misconception that the central figures in revolutionary America were stuffy old men arguing in stuffy old rooms. Growing up, United States history paled in comparison to the mystery of the ancient world or European monarchies and their salacious scandals. I was certainly one of them for many years. Here is a man who, though featured on our ten-dollar bill, many Americans know little about. But his personal life and political achievements are fascinating, impressive, and-until recently-underappreciated. With a 300,000 first printing, Penguin is banking on it.Editor’s Note: Can’t get enough of all things “Hamilton”? We have more books for you to explore if you’re having trouble getting tickets to the musical theater phenomenon.Īlexander Hamilton’s life is perhaps best known for its end: he was mortally wounded in a duel with political rival Aaron Burr. Agent, Melanie Jacksonįorecast: National Book Award winner Chernow's reputation and track record with a previous bestseller could make Alexander Hamilton as popular with readers as Benjamin Franklin and John Adams.

This is a fine work that captures Hamilton's life with judiciousness and verve. Yet it's hard not to cringe at some of Hamilton's hotheaded words and behavior, especially sacrificing the well-being of his family on the altar of misplaced honor. Chernow makes fresh contributions to Hamiltoniana: no one has discovered so much about Hamilton's illegitimate origins and harrowed youth few have been so taken by Hamilton's long-suffering, loving wife, Eliza.

Possessing the most powerful (though not the most profound) intelligence of his gifted contemporaries, Hamilton rose from Caribbean bastardy through military service in Washington's circle to historic importance at an early age and then, in a new era of partisan politics, gradually lost his political bearings. Chernow's achievement is to give us a biography commensurate with Hamilton's character, as well as the full, complex context of his unflaggingly active life. In fact, it's arguable that without Hamilton's political and financial strategic brilliance, the United States might not have survived beyond its early years.

Rockefeller, what other grandee of American finance was left for Chernow's overflowing pen than the one who puts the others in the shade? Alexander Hamilton (1755–1804) created public finance in the United States.

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