Alexander Hamilton

De: Ron Chernow

Narrado por: Scott Brick

The inspiration for the hit Broadway musical Hamilton!

In the first full-length biography of Alexander Hamilton in decades, National Book Award winner Ron Chernow tells the riveting story of a man who overcame all odds to shape, inspire, and scandalize the newborn America. According to historian Joseph Ellis, Alexander Hamilton is “a robust full-length portrait, in my view the best ever written, of the most brilliant, charismatic and dangerous founder of them all.”

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 readers of the purpose of our institutions and our heritage as Americans.

©2004 Ron Chernow; (P)2004 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"...[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)

"A robust full-length portrait, in my view the best ever written, of the most brilliant, charismatic and dangerous founder of them all." Joseph J. Ellis, author of Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

"A brilliant historian has done it again! The thoroughness and integrity of Ron Chernow’s research shines forth on every page of his Alexander Hamilton. He has created a vivid and compelling portrait of a remarkable man and at the same time he has made a monumental contribution to our understanding of the beginnings of the American Republic.” Robert A. Caro, author of The Power Broker and The Years of Lyndon Johnson

"Alexander Hamilton was one of the most brilliant men of his brilliant time, and one of the most fascinating figures in all of American history. His rocketing life-story is utterly amazing. His importance to the founding of the new nation, and thus to the whole course of American history, can hardly be overstated. And so Ron Chernow's new Hamilton could not be more welcome. This is grand-scale biography at its best thorough, insightful, consistently fair, and superbly written. It clears away more than a few shop-worn misconceptions about Hamilton, gives credit where credit is due, and is both clear-eyed and understanding about its very human subject. Its numerous portraits of the complex, often conflicting cast of characters are deft and telling. The whole life and times are here in a genuinely great book." David McCullough, author of John Adams

Better than the Musical

In truth, I prefer more rapping, but for straight facts and story telling about a life forgotten, this book is epic in both its depth and breadth. Narration is a bit robotic, but the content delivers. A+

Tour de force.

Excellently written, articulate, objective,thorough to a fault; this vast work brings life to a truly remarkable man and an extraordinary period of time. Scott Brick's narration is perfect for the piece.

alexander hamilton

The best. Better than the McCullough books. Great narrator.

complex man

This is a lengthy "read" but very worth the amazing American history that it spands. AH was a complex man and the writer certainly doesn't attempt to cover his wrong-headed actions. Thomas Jefferson certainly holds a different place in my mind as one of the founding fathers. His slave owning was well know but his arrogance about that practice and his slander of AH as a royalist were a revelation to me. It is so well written and so well read that I couldn't wait to here the next chapter.
I think that Scott Brick has an Audible fan club. All of his books are read with easy clarity.

Wonderful!

To be honest, I have never had much respect for Alexander Hamilton. I sympathize with the anti-federalist Jefferson camp. I read this book to educate my ignorant bias. I did. I am still an anti-federalist but I have new respect for Hamilton. He is the true example of the american dream. He came from humble beginnings and worked his butt off.