Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Alexander Hamilton
Book Review: Fascinating book
Summary: 5 Stars
I found this book riveting. Ron Chernow has obviously done so much research. He shows Alexander Hamilton to be an absolutely fascinating character. He was a great orator and writer. He had to fight the image people had of him being a monarchist. Although a brilliant person, he let his ego rule and ended up dying at a very young age in the infamous duel. He rose from totally humble beginnings to become the first Secretary of the Treasury. This book is so rich in detail that you will know everything there is to know about Alexander Hamilton and his relationships with all the founding fathers. I highly recommend it.Book Review: Fascinating historical reading
Summary: 5 Stars
Anyone interested in U. S. history will enjoy reading this fascinating biography of Alexander Hamilton. don't miss it!Book Review: Full length, definitive biography of a great but flawed man
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a FULL length biography of Alexander Hamilton. It is over 700 pages. A friend of mine dismissed it, saying who cares about the full details of the guy's childhood. If you do not have my friend's attitude, if you want the very full story of a very important man, this is a very, very good book. Indeed, I think there is an old-fashioned, rich pleasure -- very contrary to our You Tube age-- in reading a long, slow book like this that really gives you all of the details.
Some have said that this book is hagiography. I did not find it to be so at all. I thought it gave a very full, and sympathetic, treatment of Hamilton, but it is definitely a portrait of him, warts and all. You see the young and incredibly intelligent aide to General Washington and the masterful first Secretary of the Treasury, who set the foundation for the security of the American financial system. You also see the self-destructive idiocy of the affair with Maria Reynolds, the arrogant damage of the quarrel with John Adams and the other extraordinary lapses in judgment of this brillant man.
Two aspects of Hamilton's life are given prominence by this book, which I think merit comment. First, his relationship with Washington was of central importance to his life, and was of incredible importance to the nation. Hamilton was so brillant as Secretary of the Treasury, and as author of the Federalist Papers, that he tends to fill the modern eye, more than the quieter and less dramatic Washington. But, as you see the whole relationship between the two, you see how much Hamilton needed Washington and gained from him. Not just in the sense of being promoted from nothing to great power by Washington's support, but in a character sense. Hamilton was brillant, but lacking in balanced judgment. Washington lacked any kind of showy intelligence, but had an extraordinarily sound sense of judgment. You really see this here, when the Washington Administration is contrasted -- where arch-enemies Jefferson and Hamilton can serve together in the Cabinet to the great benefit of the nation-- with the Adams Administration -- where even members of the same party can not get along.
Second, Chernow rescues Eliza Hamilton from an undeserved historical neglect. She was a grand women, in her own right, and Chernow both begins and ends the book with a very poignant and dramatic portrait of her.
A wonderful performance.
Book Review: Great Read
Summary: 4 Stars
Chernow did an excellent job in this composition. At the end you really get a feel for who Hamilton was. The author did a great job of connecting you to him so that you really got to know Hamilton, and by the end you were sad that the book was over.
A great historical biography, although Chernows vocabulary had me running to a Merriam Webster quite often. Not sure if Ron has a really broad vocabulary, or was just being pedantic.
That's the only criticism of the book. If you really want to know who Hamilton was, this is the book for you.
Very well written.
Book Review: Great book.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is wonderfully written, full of anecdotes, and inspiring to read. I highly recommend this book.