Alexander Hamilton

This was fascinating, but also a bit of a slog - not because it was badly-written or boring or anything, just because it's 800+ pages (or 36+ hours, for the audiobook version). I definitely learned a ton about Alexander Hamilton and the Revolutionary era (and the transition from that to a functioning democracy), stuff I hadn't thought about since AP US History, probably. Would I have picked it up without the musical Hamilton? Probably not, but I'm glad I did. And I want a biography of Angelica Schuyler Church now, please. Audiobook is recommended - the reader is excellent and engaging, and seems to dislike Jefferson a lot, which is amusing.

(Grandfathered into my Year of No Men, because I started it before 1/1/16.)

(Bookriot Read Harder 2016 Challenge: #6 Read a biography (not memoir or autobiography) and #10 Read a book over 500 pages long)

This took me the better part of a month to read. It's exhaustive without being dry. This is my fifth founding father biography and I feel as though it explains the Federalist / Republican schism the best. Chernow also gives real depth to “minor” figures like Jay, Lafayette, Troup and all the other revolutionary heroes who can start to feel like little more than name drops in other biographies.

Hamilton is so fascinating and so flawed. Truly, no detail of his life was glossed over. And Washington is treated very fairly here as well. Chernow doesn't shy away from showcasing what a hot mess his second term was.

Absolutely worth reading. Come for celebration of Eliza Hamilton, stay for the Jefferson slander!

If you told me I'd be on the edge of my seat for a 36 hour audiobook about Alexander Hamilton I'd likely give you a bit of side eye. As a huge Hamilton (The Musical) fan, this helped fill in the gaps to further understand the context for things in the show. It also astonished me just how accurate the musical is overall. After seeing Hamilton demonized in various other stories, it was refreshing to see a person who accomplished so much, and just didn't stop.

If you told me I'd be on the edge of my seat for a 36 hour audiobook about Alexander Hamilton I'd likely give you a bit of side eye. As a huge Hamilton (The Musical) fan, this helped fill in the gaps to further understand the context for things in the show. It also astonished me just how accurate the musical is overall. After seeing Hamilton demonized in various other stories, it was refreshing to see a person who accomplished so much, and just didn't stop.

This book is endless; I felt every single one of the 818 pages. It somehow felt like reading two Stormlight books. But, damn if I don't know a ton about Alexander Hamilton now. What a dude. Also just that Lin-Manuel Miranda read this dusty ass book and decided to write a rap musical and it was in fact a masterpiece just blows me away.

Best Bestsellers bonus episode: http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-38-hamilton/

Is this getting a bonus star because of inspiring Hamilton the musical? YES PROBABLY my reviews are all subject to personal WHIMSY.

Anyway, I never would have picked this up if it weren't for Hamilton the musical. But Hamilton the musical wouldn't exist if it weren't for this book!

Chernow does a great job of fleshing out Hamilton as a smart, scrappy, irritating human being (with an A++++ wife, also a human being) as opposed to just, you know, the $10 bill guy.

Also he does a lot of careful work explaining code duello and why, at the time, it did not seem totally bonkers to just be duelin' all the time. But also, does not just casually let the founding fathers off the hook for slavery, which is something SOME biographers do.

I'd definitely recommend this to any fans of Hamilton the musical* to just kind of flesh out the musical and make you further appreciate all the work LMM did. It's an enjoyable, informative read and it's really only like, 700 pages because the last 100 is endnotes.

*if you are not a fan of Hamilton the musical, literally what are you doing

Book Review: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow – whether you are obsessed with the Hamilton Musical or not, this is an excellent biography of one of the essential founding fathers. Hamilton really is a fascinating character with so much internal drive and self induced failures and blind spots. It is a story of greatness with the reasons for humility built in.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/alexander-hamilton-ron-chernow/

So this was definitely not a thing I'd planned to do when I thought about what I'd read in 2016.

Of course, I also hadn't planned on falling head-over-heels for a hip-hop musical about the least-known founding father, so clearly my scouting for the year wasn't the best.

This book was, honestly, fantastic. You know how you are flipping channels, and you see PBS is showing Ken Burns' “The Civil War”, and you think, “Oh, yeah, that's supposed to be good. I can watch an episode, and maybe if I like it I'll look it up on Netflix later or something”, and then the next thing you know it's 4 hours later and you're trying to find a kleenix because you're crying about a confederate soldier, and you don't even know what's happening except you have to keep going because how can history ever be this compelling?? Yeah, it's that kind of good.

Chernow uses an immense number of primary sources, and spends pages and pages on things like the formation of the US banking system, and manages to make none of it seem dry or boring or lecturing. I would venture to guess that Chernow is a fan of Alexander Hamilton (because how could he not be?), but he doesn't shy away from exploring Hamilton's weaknesses (pride; impulsivity; inability to keep his mouth shut) while also showing what an incredible man he truly was.

This is fascinating history, and I'm thankful I took the plunge into this amazing beast of a biography. Highly recommended.