Alexander Hamilton

By Ron Chernow,

Book cover of Alexander Hamilton

Book description

The #1 New York Times bestseller, and the inspiration for the hit Broadway musical Hamilton!

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow presents a landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father who galvanized, inspired, scandalized, and shaped the newborn nation.

"Grand-scale biography at its best-thorough, insightful, consistently fair, and superbly written…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

3 authors picked Alexander Hamilton as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I learned that he was the only of America’s Founding Father to not come from a well-to-do family.

The book makes him into such a three-dimensional, yet exceptional portrait of a man, Even down to his extramarital affair, the first sex scandal in America. I felt like I could have a beer with this guy by the time the book was over. It breathes life into the exciting time that was colonial America before, during and immediately after the war for independence. It makes the events seem less like a bygone era, and more like a bunch of dudes threatening…

No American has done more for New York and America than Alexander Hamilton. No person is more exciting either.

I love New York and I love its history. Alexander Hamilton set a great precedent for me to set goals to achieve more than I was achieving, whilst also keeping me humble as I could never achieve as much as he did in his short life.  

This book was written almost 20 years ago but became much better known a decade later when Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the musical Hamilton based on this book.

This musical instantly became a global hit. But even more people watched it in 2020 when – because of COVID – it was being streamed online.

This book tells a story of emergence of the American system of government (a major innovation at that point) through the lens of the biography of one of its founding fathers, its first finance minister, and the most important author of the Federalist Papers Alexander Hamilton.

The…

Want books like Alexander Hamilton?

Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Alexander Hamilton.

Browse books like Alexander Hamilton

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in statesmen, politics, and Alexander Hamilton?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about statesmen, politics, and Alexander Hamilton.

Statesmen Explore 38 books about statesmen
Politics Explore 703 books about politics
Alexander Hamilton Explore 11 books about Alexander Hamilton