Alexander Hamilton
by Ron Chernow
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ron ChernowEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2004-04-26
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 832
Publisher: Penguin Press
Book Reviews of Alexander Hamilton
Book Review: $10
Summary: 4 Stars
This is an interesting, well-written biography. It hit all the big points in Hamilton's life with enough detail that made me think I understood the hows and whys. Hamilton's relationship with Washington received a lot of coverage, which I thought was well done.
The author explained the details of Hamilton's financial schemes pretty well. There were a few paragraphs I had to go back and read again before I understood what was going on, but I think that's probably because the stuff is complex and not because the author didn't do a good job of explaining it. And the author certainly did a good job of explaining the reasons for the opposition to Hamilton's financial plans.
None of these long historical biographies are ever going to be truly objective. All of the authors make excuses for their subjects at some point and Chernow does this as well. I think the best I can hope for is an historian who at least points out the mistakes his subject made and why his contemporaries may have opposed him. I felt like I got that with this book. So if you're doing the circuit of founding fathers bios, this one is a great one to pick for Hamilton.
Incidentally, my wife was reading a bio of Jefferson at the same time I was reading this book. Her book was as pro-Jefferson as this one is pro-Hamilton. We couldn't talk about them without arguing about which one saved the country despite the other. So, for the sake of our marriage, we had to put the subject of 18th century banking and excise taxes on the shelf for awhile.
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