The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr

By: H. W. Brands

Narrated by: H. W. Brands

Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

From the two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, bestselling historian, and author of Our First Civil War—a fascinating portrait of one of the most compelling politicians in American history—a Revolutionary War hero, vice president of the United States, and the man who killed Alexander Hamilton.

But as H. W. Brands demonstrates in this biography, Burr was a man before his time—a proponent of equality between the sexes well over a century before women were able to vote in the US. Through Burr's extensive, witty correspondence with his daughter Theodosia, Brands traces the arc of a scandalous political career and the early years of American politics. The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr not only dramatizes through their words his eventful life, it also tells a touching story of a father's love for his exceptional daughter, which endured through public shame, bankruptcy, and exile, and outlasted even Theodosia's tragic disappearance at sea.

©2017 H. W. Brands (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"H. W. Brands brings to life Burr’s forgotten contributions as a Revolutionary War hero and politician, as well as the shame that shadowed him for the rest of his life after Hamilton’s death." —The New York Times

"Intense. . . . Short, accessible . . . tightly focused work. . . . In The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr, Mr. Brands goes beyond what is commonly known about Burr to show his more admirable side, which lay in his developing the mind and character of the treasure of his life, his daughter Theodosia." —The Washington Times

“Tightly crafted. . . . Aaron Burr is our Founding Father in the shadows. So often the gifted American who gut-shot Alexander Hamilton on a sheltered rocky ledge in Weehawken, N.J., is remembered as a nasty piece of work. . . . The flawed, fascinating pol has been the subject of many biographies. But in H.W. Brands’ beguiling 192-pager, The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr, the grandson of Calvinist preacher Jonathan Edwards steps off the page with customary aplomb—not as a cartoonish villain but as a cultured, considerate and caring father who was a Princeton graduate at 16, a hero of the Revolution at 20, New York state attorney general at 30 and U.S. senator at 35. . . .” —Austin American-Statesman

Great short summary about his rise, fall, and heartbreak

I learned a ton about a man who I thought I hated, and now I feel sorry for. Great book by an excellent historian.