''Alexander Hamilton'' is a 2004 biography of American statesman Alexander Hamilton, written by historian and biographer

Ron Chernow Ronald Chernow (; born March 3, 1949) is an American writer, journalist and biographer. He has written bestselling historical non-fiction biographies. He won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the 2011 American History Book Prize for h ...

. Hamilton, one of the

Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the war for independence from Great Britai ...

, was an instrumental promoter of the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nationa ...

, founder of the nation's financial system, and its first

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

. The book, which was met with mostly positive acclaim, went on to win the inaugural

George Washington Book Prize The George Washington Book Prize was instituted in 2005 and is awarded annually to the best book on the founding era of the United States; especially ones that have the potential to advance broad public understanding of American history. It is admi ...

for early American history and was a nominee for the 2005

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals '' Hamilton'' (2015) and ''In the Heights'' (2005), and the soundtracks for the Disney animat ...

. The stage production went on to win numerous accolades, including 11

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

Background

Before working on ''Alexander Hamilton'', Chernow had previously written multiple books in the topics of business and finance. In 1990, he published '' The House of Morgan'', which covered the life of financier J.P. Morgan and went on to win the

National Book Award for Nonfiction The National Book Award for Nonfiction is one of five U.S. annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by U.S. citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers". The panelists ...

. In 1998, he wrote a biography about

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

which remained on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list for 16 weeks. In 1999, Chernow shifted his emphasis away from business moguls to start a biography in a new topic, American politics. He later cited his change in focus, "as a way to broaden my scope, and to stay fresh" after being inundated with requests for further biographies about

Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and We ...

industrialists such as

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...

and

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

. Therefore, Chernow called Hamilton his "exit strategy". This book would allow a foray into constitutional law and foreign policy while still including a large financial dimension. Chernow began the writing process in 1998 by going through more than 22,000 pages of Hamilton's papers and archival research around the world. He described Hamilton's extensive writing by calling him, "the human word machine", saying he "must have produced the maximum number of words that a human being can scratch out in 49 years". Over the course of his writing and research, Chernow also took the time to dive deeper into Hamilton's history. He held the dueling pistols used in the famous

Burr–Hamilton duel The Burr–Hamilton duel took place in Weehawken, New Jersey, between Aaron Burr, the Vice President of the United States, and Alexander Hamilton, the first and former Secretary of the Treasury, on the morning of July 11, 1804. The duel was th ...

, visited the jail cell on

Saint Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

where Hamilton's mother was imprisoned, went to the island of

Bequia Bequia ( or ) is the second-largest island in the Grenadines at . It is part of the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is approximately from the nation's capital, Kingstown, on the main island, Saint Vincent. Bequia means "island o ...

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea ...

to which Hamilton's father disappeared after abandoning his illegitimate son, and had a lock of Alexander's hair genetically tested for his racial makeup. Chernow explained Hamilton in his book by stating, "If

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

is the father of the country and

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

the father of the Constitution, then Alexander Hamilton was surely the father of the American government."

Critical response

Following its release in 2004, ''Alexander Hamilton'' was nominated for the

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English". In 2005, it won the inaugural $50,000 George Washington Book Prize for early American history. The book spent three months on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list after its release, and then returned to the list in 2015 after the release of '' Hamilton: An American Musical''. The book received positive reviews from both David Brooks and

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Brooks wrote, "

hile Hile ( ne, हिले) is a hill town located in the Eastern Part of Nepal, 13 km north of the regional center of Dhankuta Bazar. At an elevation of 1948 meters, it is the main route to other hilly districts like Bhojpur and Sankhuwasabh ...

other writers...have done better jobs describing Hamilton's political philosophy, nobody has captured Hamilton himself as fully and as beautifully as Chernow." Maslin praised Chernow's biographical ability to "add a third dimension to conventional views of Hamilton while reaching beyond the limits of a personal portrait". However,

Benjamin Schwarz Benjamin Schwarz (born 10 July 1986) is a German footballer who most recently played for Preußen Münster, as a left back. Career Born in Munich, Schwarz began his career 1991 with SV Ludwigsvorstadt and played here four years before signed fo ...

, writing for ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', criticized the book, blaming Chernow's unfamiliarity with revolutionary American politics. While he praised Chernow's earlier biographies about Morgan and Rockefeller, his review of ''Hamilton'' stated, "he's just as obviously not at home in the eighteenth century; his grasp of its religion, attitudes, and intellectual history is unsure, and he lacks command of the ideological, political, sectional, and social differences that divided the early republic." Justin Martin, writing for the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...

'' additionally thought the book "dry and speculative," as well as slow in pace; "one can only assume that Chernow, despite his abundant talent, is in the grip of a silly literary convention, namely, that bios of major figures must be very, very long."

Stage adaptation

Beginning in 2008, Chernow worked with

as the historical consultant to Miranda's newly conceived Broadway production, '' Hamilton''. Miranda had picked up a copy of Chernow's book while on vacation and, after finishing the first few chapters, realized its potential as a musical. Through a mutual friend, Chernow attended a performance of ''

In the Heights ''In the Heights'' is a musical with concept, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story is set over the course of three days, involving characters in the largely Dominican American neighborhood of ...

'' where he met with Miranda backstage. Miranda told Chernow that he saw "hip-hop songs rising off the page" while reading the biography, and wanted his help as an historical consultant for the musical. For six years, Chernow helped guide Miranda through the process of writing '' Hamilton''. The musical debuted on January 20, 2015, at

The Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American L ...

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. It went on to receive a record-setting 16

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...

nominations, winning 11, including Best Musical, and was also the recipient of the 2016

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for Best Musical Theater Album. The musical also won the 2016

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were ...

. After the success of the musical, a paperback edition of ''Alexander Hamilton'' was released featuring the musical's logo on its cover. Sales soared from 3,300 copies in 2014 to 106,000 in 2015, and the book returned to ''The New York Times'' best-seller list. Likewise, it returned to the list of top 50 best sellers according to ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...

''. With its re-release, additional reviews of the biography have appeared, notably in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

''. Following the musical's opening in Europe the book began printing for the first time in the United Kingdom.

References

Bibliography

External links

''Alexander Hamilton'' on Penguin Random House
{{Hamilton (musical) 2004 non-fiction books Books by Ron Chernow Cultural depictions of Alexander Hamilton Penguin Books books