Alexander Hamilton in Retro Chapter Chicks

Jul 21, 2018 Brina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: biography, history, nonfiction

Alexander Hamilton. The musical has brought much publicity to this early founding father. I have never seen the musical before, but a few Goodreads friends whose reviews I trust recently read this biography. I had been following their discussions in the nonfiction book club, but still wasn't sure. I am in the Doris Kearns Goodwin historian camp and had never read Ron Chernow before. What finally pushed me to read this book is that a Chicago Cubs player posted that it took him eighteen months but Alexander Hamilton. The musical has brought much publicity to this early founding father. I have never seen the musical before, but a few Goodreads friends whose reviews I trust recently read this biography. I had been following their discussions in the nonfiction book club, but still wasn't sure. I am in the Doris Kearns Goodwin historian camp and had never read Ron Chernow before. What finally pushed me to read this book is that a Chicago Cubs player posted that it took him eighteen months but he finally finished. I was sold. With much being written about Hamilton his is what I took away from this award winning biography:

-Hamilton was the first rags to riches immigrant who embodied the American dream and achieved lofty goals, from being Washington's advisor to the first secretary of the treasury of the United States.
-Hamilton's vision for the future of the United States: his national bank, national debt and repayments, enhancing the British model of government on American soil, a model for an industrial society that would establish the United States as a key world player, the preservation of the Constitution for as long as possible and prevention of secession by any section of the country.
-Federalists vs Republicans and how divided the government was at the country's founding based on their views of agrarian vs industrial society, distrust of banks, supporting England vs France, the country being centered in the north or south and seeing presidents Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe in a completely different light than the one placed on a pedestal in school books.
-Hamilton and his wife Eliza as champions for the welfare of abused women and orphans and Eliza and her children preserving her husband's memory; as the oldest American widow during the 19th century she never remarried in fifty years.

Hamilton was a love story between him and Eliza and between him and America. It was deeply researched and had all the elements of a quality written history book that read like a story; I finished the last third in a day. I finally took the plunge and read a Chernow biography and am glad that I did, and I have a feeling that it won't be my last. This was such a compelling book about a compelling man and will most likely be in my top five nonfiction books for this year.

5 full stars ...more

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Jan 10, 2017 Flo rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned-kindle, history, politics, nonfiction, 4-star

I was unexpectedly affected by this book (spoiler: Hamilton dies), which I didn't expect to be. I definitely never thought that I would be reading an 800-page biography about some old dead guy, but here we are. Hamilton was pretty much a genius (but also an idiot when it came to common sense), Jefferson sucked, Washington was so very human, and basically everyone was a drama queen. I never knew there was that much petty drama and infighting going into the founding of the US. All of that kept me ...more

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Jan 15, 2024 Celia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: my-reading-fingerprint, ten-year-challenge, bios-memoirs, non-fiction, history, 2024-read, 2024-kindle-counted

Alexander Hamilton's image is on the US $10 Dollar Bill. He was very influential in the birth and growth of the United States.... a Founding Father.

Born in the West Indies (Saint Kitts and Nevis) in 1857, he died from a gunshot wound when he met Aaron Burr in a duel. In the July 11, 1804, duel in Weehawken, New Jersey, Burr shot Hamilton in the stomach. Hamilton was immediately transported to the home of William Bayard Jr. in Greenwich Village for medical attention but succumbed to his wounds th ...more

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