499 Facts about Hamilton and the Rest of America's Founding Fathers

by Stephen Spignesi

You want a revolution? So did Alexander Hamilton and the Founding Fathers!

America has fallen in love again with Alexander Hamilton and the Founding Fathers. Here is a popping fresh collection of facts and forgotten trivia surrounding the American Revolution and our forefathers – from those you’d expect (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and Hamilton, of course) to those you may never have heard of, but you probably should have (who the heck was Rufus King?):

Alexander Hamilton was born on foreign soil and became an American hero - the founder of the U.S. Mint and the U.S. Coast Guard. The naval communication book he wrote was still being used by the US Navy and Coast Guard through the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Roger Sherman (of Connecticut) was one of only two Founding Fathers who signed the three bulwark documents of our republic: The Declaration of Independence, the Articles of the Confederation, and the Constitution. (Give props to this guy.)
By the time he was thirty, George Washington had had smallpox, pleurisy, dysentery, and malaria.

Readers will be left with a greater appreciation and deeper respect for these human beings who were just trying to accomplish the incredible: create the greatest nation in history.

Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Historical

Hardcover

Published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good! There are a lot of interesting facts about the founding fathers both known and somewhat unknown. You get to quick bio of there lives and it's written like they are really people and not putting them up on some pedestal. The only problem I have is the title. It makes it seem as if the book is mainly going to be about Hamilton when it's really about all the founding fathers. It's using the popularity to sell which bothers me a bit. But despite that it is still a great book if you want to know more about the founding fathers.

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh boy, never get a book based on the sensationalist titles! I love Hamilton so much and wanted to read more about him. But, this book is two pages about Hamilton and the rest about dozens and dozens of lesser known others. It is very much like a textbook. I was hoping for trivia or fun facts, but it is a straight-up listing of facts about people who signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, most of whom I had never heard of. I learned some things, but it took me an entire year to read (a page or two at a time) and it was just not that interesting. 2.5 stars

[H.R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, great facts, but I wish it included more people. And that my history classes covered even HALF of these people!

[kyra grace ☀️ · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I got this book I expected it to be about just Hamilton because on the cover in big print it said “499 Facts about Hamilton”. What I did not see is in smaller print it said “and the Rest of America’s Founding Fathers”. I think the book included about 32 people and I could tell you who about 11 of them are and recognize I few other names.
Hamilton has 8 pages which sounds like a lot but it’s not. Most of the stuff I already knew about him. In the part where it is “15 Things You Never Knew About Alexander Hamilton” one of them was about how he died in a duel between him and Burr at Weehawken, New Jersey. Interesting I never knew that after listening to Hamilton the musical fifty million times.
I decided to stop reading after I got to page 36 because it was getting boring since it’s just a bunch of random facts. I think if I had to do a project on the founding fathers for school then this book would be helpful but reading it just for fun is the opposite of fun.

[Annette · Rating 1 out of 5]

do not read this book, even if it is available for free in a Little Free Library and you really like the musical Hamilton. just, don't wait your time. seriously. I put it straight in recycling so no one else had to make the same mistake I did.

[David Campton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shamelessly capitalising on the popularity of the musical "Hamilton", this book is full of facts I never knew, but few of them are actually about Hamilton, and it is badly laid out, requiring you to look up the references to discover who is the source of quotations etc.

[Mandy Helfer · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were many interesting facts in this book but the editing definitely could have been better! (Sections repeated, incorrect words, etc.)

[Sheila Bracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lists of facts for each founding father along with biographical data such as birthdate and place of birth, death date along with place, age, and cause of death, careers, memorable quotes, founding documents signed, and other sources of information about the person is what this book is made of. The author reveals his sense of humor throughout, particularly when he talks about Gouveneur Morris having caused his own death and he says “To the gentlemen reading this: prepare your cringe reflex” prior to sharing the grim details that he finishes up with “Told ya.” What bothered me is the unnecessary repetition and the typos throughout the book. Generally paperback copies are cleaner than hard copies because editors have time to go back through, but that didn’t happen here. There were several in the Ben Franklin section alone such as, “Early to be and early to rise...” I expect better of a published work.

One section that had me wondering was Eldridge Gerry for whom gerrymandering is named. He was known as “the soldier’s friend” which made me wonder if his name that soldiers use when they don’t want to give their own. My grandfather, for example, introduced himself to my grandmother as Jerry when they met toward the end of WWII. She didn’t learn that his name was Maurice until they were engaged and she read a letter from his mother addressed to”My Son Maurice.” 3

[Corinna Hogan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
The information in this book was interesting, and I appreciated having a short overview of a bunch of the founding fathers (most of whom I’d never even heard of). It’s not a groundbreaking piece of work, but I got what I wanted out of it.

My biggest gripe is that it was edited and proofread TERRIBLY. I suspect that this book was released as quickly as possible to jump on the Hamilton hype back when it came out because there’s no other explanation. They just weren’t careful. This book is made up of a lot of bullet points, and sometimes whole points would be repeated right next to each other. Or one point would be a direct quote, then the next point would be a paraphrase of that exact quote. There were just too many silly mistakes. And this author has a LOT of books published, so I just don’t think he has time between publications to give any of them a detailed proofread (but that’s speculation, since this is the only book of his that I’ve read).

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I appreciate the great starting points it gave me to learn more about lots of different people and topics. Even though it was surely just a hastily released cash grab, it had good information and I’m glad I read it.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fact books are not usually my thing. I'm here for the stories. Information doesn't usually stick for me unless I have some context, but this one is pretty good. Formatting it like a click-bait list is an interesting choice, because it compels the reader to continue while mitigating the amount of detail the book can go into at any point.

But I want to talk about what I have learned, the hard won-wisdom I have earned. Which is both a plethora and not much.

As with any book about this time period other than The People's History, I found this book too gentle on the founders. Specifically, there's a wonderful quote from Madison about the evils of slavery, but, like, he didn't even free his slaves in his will, so how much weight can we really give that piece of his writing? Which is the natural problem with any fact book.

However, for the most part, this book is very interesting and well arranged. I'd recommend it to curious readers who enjoy trivia.

[Kathe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm still working my way through this book and it will be a while before I finish it. It doesn't feel like you're reading a book. Another reviewer mentioned click-bait, and that is what it feels like. Not much about Alexande Hamilton, sadly, so in a sense it's false advertising, based on the way the cover text is formatted. Besides the numerous facts about the founding fathers, what is actually interesting is the "interview" the author has with everyone he covers. I'm certainly not a historian, so I don't know whether the quoted answers he uses to his questions are in the right context, but for me those sections are interesting.
If you're looking for material related to the Broadway show, then skip this book and by the soundtrack or watch the movie version that's about to be released in theaters. For much more material about Hamilton himself, I'd recommend reading the various biographies available, especially the one that was used as the source material for the play.

[Emily B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the reviews that mentioned my issues with this book: poor editing and a clumsy attempt to cash in on Hamilton's popularity. That being said, I still got a lot out of reading this book. Some of my favorite facts:

When Hamilton says, "Imma get a scholarship to King's College!" in "My Shot", he's talking about Columbia University. The name changed in 1784. While he was there, he founded a literature and debate club called the Philolexian Society.

Eliza's famous orphanage is called Graham Windham. It's still functioning, and sometimes the Hamilton cast performs there!

James Madison used to be on a $5,000 bill.

James Monroe called his daughter, "My Little Monkey". It would be hard to imagine Monroe in the Hamilton cast, since "Dear Little Monkey" doesn't have the same ring to it as "Dear Theodosia".

[Ronnie Aichroth]

This book was interesting but the title is misleading. There are many facts about the founding fathers but Alexander Hamilton’s chapter only spans about six pages. I enjoyed many of the facts contained throughout the book but it is obvious that the book was published quickly and named to appeal to fans of the musical Hamilton. If you are interested in early American history or the founding fathers than this would be a great book for you. If you are looking for a book about Alexander Hamilton I would try another book.

Overall, the book was informative and I enjoyed the author’s voice and writing style. The facts were interesting but I feel the title is a bit misleading.

[Anna (abookobsessed) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and extremely entertaining to read. Loved it!

[Lacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting—makes them feel more real. Could do without the fake interviews and sometimes the author makes his political leanings a little too obvious.

[Jason O'Hagan · Rating 2 out of 5]

not necessarily a bad book just incredibly boring and has a very misleading title

[The History Mom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written to introduce teen readers to our nation’s Founding Fathers. While a bit irreverent and funny, the book does a good job at presenting historical facts in a way that will keep teens’ attention. I learned many factoids about the Founding Fathers, including Hamilton, and about the nation’s founding documents. There were a couple of typos that hopefully have been fixed in subsequent editions of the book. This would be a great book to hand to your teen before they take US History in the fall.

[Danny Willett · Rating 2 out of 5]

My quarrels with this book are the same as every other’s. There are too many typos to not ignore, and the cover designed by Brian Peterson is an obvious attempt to cash in on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton success.

The facts in this book were interesting (which is why I gave it a 2 stars and not 1), but Stephen Spignesi obviously picked and chose what facts to put in based upon his own political party. It’s a book about facts. Not a book about facts that help drive the authors viewpoint. Overall a very disappointing book. I couldn’t even finish it because of Stephens biases, and the typos. Shame.

[Keri · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking for a book with a ton of facts about Alexander Hamilton, this book will disappoint. If you are looking for facts about many founding fathers, you might enjoy this book. I learned a lot of little fun pieces of information without having to pick up multiple books, but there are many errors that an editor should have noticed. The book felt like it was put out quickly in order to increase its sales due to the Hamilton craze. I mean, it got me....