Alexander Hamilton
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Buy Now for £19.99
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Narrated by:
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Scott Brick
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By:
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Ron Chernow
About this listen
Bloomsbury presents Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, read by Scott Brick.
You've seen the show, you've sung the songs, now read the full story of America's most misunderstood founding father.
'I was swept up by the story. I thought it 'out-Dickens' Dickens in the unlikeliness of this man's rise from his humble beginnings in Nevis in the Caribbean, to changing, helping shape our young nation. And it's uniquely an immigrant story and it's uniquely a story about writers... It's an amazing biography' LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA
Alexander Hamilton was an illegitimate self-taught orphan from the Caribbean who overcame all the odds to become George Washington's aide-de-camp and the first Treasury Secretary of the United States.
Few figures in American history are more controversial than Alexander Hamilton. In this masterful work, Chernow shows how the political and economic power of America today is the result of Hamilton's willingness to champion ideas that were often wildly disputed during his time. He charts his titanic feuds with Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Monroe and Burr; his highly public affair with Maria Reynolds; his loving marriage to his loyal wife Eliza; and the notorious duel with Aaron Burr that led to his death in July 1804.
Critic reviews
"A mammoth work of research that charted the course of Hamilton's dazzling career." (Guardian)
"An elegantly written, richly detailed account of Hamilton's tempestuous life." (The Times)
Really good
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There is a but however. Depite his key historical role & the masses of written material available to the biographer, Hamilton as a person in his own persoal life doesnt really shine through to my mind. Clearly, he was dearly loved by most of his contemporaries and by his own family. But when he is shot in the famous duel with Aaron Burr, it seems like an historical fact, not the retelling of a tragic personal ending. Perhaps it is the flowery, formal 18th C. style of letters & documents, so copiously quoted from, that makes the events seem a little unreal. Nevertheless, this is a great biography of a great man. And one from which we can learn so much.
US Political History
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Like so many, I picked this up because I was intrigued by the character behind the musical.
I usually enjoy history about a thousand years before this period, and very much on the eastern side of the Atlantic, but this tour de force, though long, was exquisite.
It had all the elements of an adventure story with political intrigue. Phenomenal book, phenomenally read.
Is there a 6th star?
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It was a big help when i then watched said musical because as a brit i learnt nothing about american history in school
the book is well written very thorough and approaches the subject as if the reader is new to the topic, a big plus for me
the narrators voice is pleasant which also helps
i will be looking out for other Ron Chernow books in future
a brit wanting to learn
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excellent
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