Alexander Hamilton

We are probably familiar with the hit musical Hamilton, but the historical biography on which it was based is equally compelling. Chernow really makes Alexander Hamilton come to life as a fully rounded, complex person, not just a cardboard cutout of a founding father.

His myriad clashes with Thomas Jefferson, his service under General Washington in the Revolutionary War, and his involvement in one of the first public sex scandals are all fascinating parts of this amazing tome. I've re-read it a number of times, I find it so gripping and tragic. 

Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton is certainly well-crafted, but Hamilton's story itself is what makes it so powerful. He's a shining example of why controlled and invited immigration is what makes America the land of opportunity all over the world. He was a poor Jamaican immigrant boy who lost his parents at an early age, came to America, and became the major architect of its new constitution and its new governmental bodies.

Chernow's account is thorough and riveting—it's a bestseller for good reason. But it's Hamilton who demonstrates the great value of providing equal opportunity for all our citizens… show more.

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… show more.

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… show more.