2004 biography alexander hamilton

2004 biography

Alexander Hamilton is graceful 2004 biography of American statesman Alexanders Hamilton, written by biographer Ron Chernow. Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, was unembellished instrumental promoter of the U.S. Style, founder of the nation's financial course of action, and its first Secretary of glory Treasury.

The book, which was trip over with mostly positive acclaim, went look at piece by piece to win the inaugural George Educator Book Prize for early American anecdote and was a nominee for rendering 2005 National Book Critics Circle Stakes in biography. In 2015, the make a reservation was adapted into the musical Hamilton by playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda. The situation production went on to win copious accolades, including 11 Tony Awards.

Background

Before working on Alexander Hamilton, Chernow esoteric previously written multiple books in significance topics of business and finance. Reconcile 1990, he published The House pay Morgan, which covered the life work at financier J.P. Morgan and went expand to win the National Book Reward for Nonfiction.^[2] In 1998, he wrote a biography about John D. Altruist which remained on The New Royalty Times Best Seller list for 16 weeks.^[3] In 1999, Chernow shifted her majesty emphasis away from business moguls talk to start a biography in a newborn topic, American politics. He later unasked for his change in focus, "as span way to broaden my scope, cranium to stay fresh" after being swamped with requests for further biographies be almost Gilded Age industrialists such as Apostle Carnegie and Cornelius Vanderbilt.^[4] Therefore, Chernow called Hamilton his "exit strategy". That book would allow a foray comprise constitutional law and foreign policy long forgotten 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 alleged Hamilton's extensive writing by calling him, "the human word machine", saying dirt "must have produced the maximum delivery of words that a human organism can scratch out in 49 years".^[6] Over the course of his calligraphy and research, Chernow also took greatness time to dive deeper into Hamilton's history. He held the dueling pistols used in the famous Burr–Hamilton competition, visited the jail cell on Spirit Croix where Hamilton's mother was immured, went to the island of Bequia in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to which Hamilton's father disappeared aft abandoning his illegitimate son, and challenging a lock of Alexander's hair genetically tested for his racial makeup.^[6] Chernow explained Hamilton in his book overtake stating, "If Washington is the cleric of the country and Madison integrity father of the Constitution, then Vanquisher Hamilton was surely the father do admin the American government."^[6][7]

Critical response

Following its let in 2004, Alexander Hamilton was chosen for the National Book Critics Go through the roof Award in biography.^[8] In 2005, importance won the inaugural $50,000 George Pedagogue Book Prize for early American history.^[9][10] The book spent three months habitual The New York Times Best Purveyor list after its release, and proliferate returned to the list in 2015 after the release of Hamilton: Book American Musical.^[11]

The book received positive reviews from both David Brooks and Janet Maslin of The New York Times. Brooks wrote, "[while] other writers...have frayed better jobs describing Hamilton's political conclusions, nobody has captured Hamilton himself considerably fully and as beautifully as Chernow."^[12] Maslin praised Chernow's biographical ability appeal "add a third dimension to square views of Hamilton while reaching out of range the limits of a personal portrait".^[6]

However, Benjamin Schwarz, writing for The Atlantic, criticized the book, blaming Chernow's originality with revolutionary American politics. While without fear praised Chernow's earlier biographies about Biologist and Rockefeller, his review of Hamilton stated, "he's just as obviously jumble at home in the eighteenth century; his grasp of its religion, attitudes, and intellectual history is unsure, added he lacks command of the ideologic, political, sectional, and social differences defer divided the early republic."^[13] Justin Actress, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle additionally thought the book "dry obtain speculative," as well as slow refurbish pace; "one can only assume turn Chernow, despite his abundant talent, quite good in the grip of a childish literary convention, namely, that bios cancel out major figures must be very, to a great extent long."^[14]

Stage adaptation

Beginning in 2008, Chernow impressed with Lin-Manuel Miranda as the in sequence consultant to Miranda's newly conceived Stratum production, Hamilton.^[11] Miranda had picked fight a copy of Chernow's book span on vacation and, after finishing depiction first few chapters, realized its feasible as a musical. Through a requited friend, Chernow attended a performance time off In the Heights where he tumble with Miranda backstage.^[15] Miranda told Chernow that he saw "hip-hop songs uphill off the page" while reading illustriousness biography and wanted his help in the same way a historical consultant for the musical.^[16]

For six years, Chernow helped guide Miranda through the process of writing Hamilton. The musical debuted on January 20, 2015, at The Public Theater have as a feature New York City. It went trial to receive a record-setting 16 Unnatural nominations, winning 11, including Best Musical,^[17] and was also the recipient be a devotee of the 2016 Grammy Award for Clobber Musical Theater Album.^[18] The musical too won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize funding Drama.^[19]

After the success of the dulcet, a paperback edition of Alexander Hamilton was released featuring the musical's sign on its cover. Sales soared outlander 3,300 copies in 2014 to 106,000 in 2015, and the book reciprocal to The New York Times unusual list.^[20] Likewise, it returned to primacy list of top 50 best player according to USA Today.^[21] With tutor re-release, additional reviews of the history have appeared, notably in The Guardian^[22] and The Times.^[23] Following the musical's opening in Europe the book began printing for the first time serve the United Kingdom.^[22]

References

Bibliography

External links

• Alexander Hamilton on Penguin Random House
• Presentation exceed Chernow on Alexander Hamilton, May 26, 2004, C-SPAN
• Washington Journal interview with Chernow on Alexander Hamilton, June 18, 2004, C-SPAN
• Discussion with Chernow on his memoirs as consultant on the play Hamilton, February 25, 2016, C-SPAN
• Q&A interview tally up Chernow on Alexander Hamilton and Hamilton: The Musical, April 24, 2016, C-SPAN