Alexander Hamilton

By: Ron Chernow

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

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 . . . A genuinely great book."—David McCullough

“A robust full-length portrait, in my view the best ever written, of the most brilliant, charismatic and dangerous founder of them all."—Joseph Ellis

Few figures in American history have been more hotly debated or more grossly misunderstood than Alexander Hamilton. Chernow’s biography gives Hamilton his due and sets the record straight, deftly illustrating that the political and economic greatness of today’s America is the result of Hamilton’s countless sacrifices to champion ideas that were often wildly disputed during his time. “To repudiate his legacy,” Chernow writes, “is, in many ways, to repudiate the modern world.”

Chernow here recounts Hamilton’s turbulent life: an illegitimate, largely self-taught orphan from the Caribbean, he came out of nowhere to take America by storm, rising to become George Washington’s aide-de-camp in the Continental Army, coauthoring The Federalist Papers, founding the Bank of New York, leading the Federalist Party, and becoming the first Treasury Secretary of the United States.

Historians have long told the story of America’s birth as the triumph of Jefferson’s democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. Chernow presents an entirely different man, whose legendary ambitions were motivated not merely by self-interest but by passionate patriotism and a stubborn will to build the foundations of American prosperity and power. His is a Hamilton far more human than we’ve encountered before—from his shame about his birth to his fiery aspirations, from his intimate relationships with childhood friends to his titanic feuds with Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Monroe, and Burr, and from his highly public affair with Maria Reynolds to his loving marriage to his loyal wife Eliza. And never before has there been a more vivid account of Hamilton’s famous and mysterious death in a duel with Aaron Burr in July of 1804.

Chernow’s biography is not just a portrait of Hamilton, but the story of America’s birth seen through its most central figure. At a critical time to look back to our roots, Alexander Hamilton will remind listeners of the purpose of our institutions and our heritage as Americans.

©2004 Ron Chernow (P)2004 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"...[N]obody has captured Hamilton better than Chernow...." (The New York Times Book Review)

"...[A] biography commensurate with Hamilton's character, as well as the full, complex context of his unflaggingly active life.... This is a fine work that captures Hamilton's life with judiciousness and verve." (Publishers Weekly)

"A splendid life of an enlightened reactionary and forgotten Founding Father. Literate and full of engaging historical asides. By far the best of the many lives of Hamilton now in print, and a model of the biographer’s art." (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

Outstanding

Explains the politics of the nascent United States in a fascinating engaging manner. Highly recommend.

good narrative

great read good narrative. only problem I had was that the chapters did not line up with the hard copy of the book.

Great book with one of my favorite narrators.

Hearing this story helps me feel like this country is truly my own. It's a work in progress and always has been.

No Hip Hop Here

With the huge success of the musical HAMILTON, one might be excused for thinking that Alexander Hamilton was an amazing 18th Century performer.
As Ron Chernow brilliantly tells his story, one realises that he WAS a great performer; full of energy and passion. But his performances were seen in his writing, courage, intellect, and wit. Chernow's extraordinary research is clearly obvious as he brings Hamilton, his contemporaries, and the times in which they lived, to life.

I have found Grover Gardner to be one of the best narrators on Audible, and he certainly delivers in this book. Chernow & Gardner make a great partnership.

Loved this book

Great book, well done, well read by Grover Gardner, and inspired the best play from any gauge used to rate a play, including mine.

secret genius

This is an extraordinary book on revolutionary times about the most obscure of the founding fathers. Extremely well told, it reveals many of the complexities of early American history that were left out of books like "His Excellency", "John Adams", "Founding brothers". Hamilton comes out as a marvellously complex character and a true genius. The personal stories are as lively as any told - the characters are fascinating, life-like and complex, the political landscape more vivid than in any other history of that time. The expositions on the Federalists Papers, the founding of the Treasury, slavery and States Rights are illustrated with vivid accounts of warring rivals and tales of betrayal that are every bit as intense as the scenes surrounding the Terry Schiavo case, but less terrifying because at least those debates are behind us, even though it sometimes took a duel to the death. All so relevant to many of today's central political issues.

What a life

I really enjoyed listening to this book, AH had an extraordinary life that came to a tragic, senseless end. From the time he was 21 through Washington's presidency he was at the center of power in the forming of our country. He played a key role. One thing that hit me in this book is how much of what happened in politics then is still happening now, to a certain degree it seems nothing has changed. Biographies aren't the most exciting listens but this was probably as good as it gets. I can't imagine what's in the 30 hour version, I felt like I got a good feel for AH's life and times in this version.

Fascinating story, wonderfully read

I listened to Chernow's book in preparation for seeing the stage production of "Hamilton" (which was wonderful, by the way). Alexander Hamilton had an amazing life, especially interesting as his career and family life arced upward. I learned so much about the man and the revolutionary era and the start of the American republic. Gardner brought it all to life and his reading was very clear, easy to follow and enjoyable. The book has a few points where the details of various financial transactions gets a little complicated to follow, but those points are also very illuminating about Hamilton's genius building the financial foundation of the United States. Highly recommended listening.

Great book

Learned a lot about the government and how it applies to today. Not much has changed.

A great education on early American history.

Very well written and enjoyable to listen to an amazing account of our Founding Fathers.