 | |
| Author | Ron Chernow |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Alexander Hamilton |
| Genre | Non-fiction;biography |
| Publisher | Penguin Press |
Publication date | April 26, 2004[1] |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print, digital, audio |
| Pages | 818 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 978-1-59420-009-0 |
| 973.4092 | |
| LC Class | E302.6.H2 2004 |
Alexander Hamilton is a 2004 biography of American statesmanAlexander Hamilton, written by biographerRon Chernow. Hamilton, one of theFounding Fathers of the United States, was an instrumental promoter of theU.S. Constitution, founder of the nation's financial system, and its firstSecretary of the Treasury.
The book, which was met with mostly positive acclaim, went on to win the inauguralGeorge Washington Book Prize for early American history and was a nominee for the 2005National Book Critics Circle Award in biography. In 2015, the book was adapted into the musicalHamilton by playwrightLin-Manuel Miranda. The stage production went on to win numerous accolades, including 11Tony Awards.
Before working onAlexander Hamilton, Chernow had previously written multiple books in the topics of business and finance. In 1990, he publishedThe House of Morgan, which covered the life of financierJ.P. Morgan and went on to win theNational Book Award for Nonfiction.[2] In 1998, he wrotea biography aboutJohn D. Rockefeller which remained onThe New York Times Best Seller list for 16 weeks.[3] 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 aboutGilded Age industrialists such asAndrew Carnegie andCornelius Vanderbilt.[4] 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.[4]
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.[5] 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".[6] 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 famousBurr–Hamilton duel, visited the jail cell onSaint Croix where Hamilton's mother was imprisoned, went to the island ofBequia inSaint Vincent and the Grenadines 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.[6] Chernow explained Hamilton in his book by stating, "IfWashington is the father of the country andMadison the father of the Constitution, then Alexander Hamilton was surely the father of the American government."[6][7]
Following its release in 2004,Alexander Hamilton was nominated for theNational Book Critics Circle Award in biography.[8] In 2005, it won the inaugural $50,000 George Washington Book Prize for early American history.[9][10] The book spent three months onThe New York Times Best Seller list after its release, and then returned to the list in 2015 after the release ofHamilton: An American Musical.[11]
The book received positive reviews from bothDavid Brooks andJanet Maslin ofThe New York Times. Brooks wrote, "[while] other writers...have done better jobs describing Hamilton's political philosophy, nobody has captured Hamilton himself as fully and as beautifully as Chernow."[12] 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".[6]
However,Benjamin Schwarz, writing forThe Atlantic, criticized the book, blaming Chernow's unfamiliarity with revolutionary American politics. While he praised Chernow's earlier biographies about Morgan and Rockefeller, his review ofHamilton 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."[13] Justin Martin, writing for theSan Francisco Chronicle 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."[14]
Beginning in 2008, Chernow worked withLin-Manuel Miranda as the historical consultant to Miranda's newly conceived Broadway production,Hamilton.[11] 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 ofIn the Heights where he met with Miranda backstage.[15] Miranda told Chernow that he saw "hip-hop songs rising off the page" while reading the biography and wanted his help as a historical consultant for the musical.[16]
For six years, Chernow helped guide Miranda through the process of writingHamilton. The musical debuted on January 20, 2015, atThe Public Theater inNew York City. It went on to receive a record-setting 16Tony nominations, winning 11, includingBest Musical,[17] and was also the recipient of the 2016Grammy Award forBest Musical Theater Album.[18] The musical also won the 2016Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[19]
After the success of the musical, a paperback edition ofAlexander 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 toThe New York Times best-seller list.[20] Likewise, it returned to the list of top 50 best sellers according toUSA Today.[21] With its re-release, additional reviews of the biography have appeared, notably inThe Guardian[22] andThe Times.[23] Following the musical's opening in Europe the book began printing for the first time in the United Kingdom.[22]
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