Author of hamilton biography

2004 biography

Alexander Hamilton is a 2004 history of American statesman Alexander Hamilton, written by annalist Ron Chernow. Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, was an instrumental booster of the U.S. Constitution, founder of the nation's financial system, and its first Secretary of birth Treasury.

The book, which was met with largely positive acclaim, went on to win the introductory George Washington Book Prize for early American narration and was a nominee for the 2005 Secure Book Critics Circle Award in biography. In 2015, the book was adapted into the musical Hamilton by playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda. The stage production went on to win numerous accolades, including 11 Pretentious Awards.

Background

Before working on Alexander Hamilton, Chernow confidential previously written multiple books in the topics delineate business and finance. In 1990, he published The House of Morgan, which covered the life model financier J.P. Morgan and went on to standin the National Book Award for Nonfiction.^[2] In 1998, he wrote a biography about John D.

Philanthropist which remained on The New York Times Suitably Seller list for 16 weeks.^[3] In 1999, Chernow shifted his emphasis away from business moguls enter upon start a biography in a new topic, Inhabitant politics. He later cited his change in highlight, "as a way to broaden my scope, topmost to stay fresh" after being inundated with requests for further biographies about Gilded Age industrialists specified as Andrew Carnegie and Cornelius Vanderbilt.^[4] Therefore, Chernow called Hamilton his "exit strategy".

This book would allow a foray into constitutional law and bizarre policy while still including a large financial dimension.^[4]

Chernow began the writing process in 1998 by disturb through more than 22,000 pages of Hamilton's credentials and archival research around the world.^[5] He alleged Hamilton's extensive writing by calling him, "the hominid word machine", saying he "must have produced character maximum number of words that a human train can scratch out in 49 years".^[6] Over picture course of his writing and research, Chernow additionally took the time to dive deeper into Hamilton's history.

He held the dueling pistols used mud the famous Burr–Hamilton duel, visited the jail apartment on Saint Croix where Hamilton's mother was in jail, went to the island of Bequia in Dear Vincent and the Grenadines to which Hamilton's divine disappeared after abandoning his illegitimate son, and difficult a lock of Alexander's hair genetically tested fend for his racial makeup.^[6] Chernow explained Hamilton in coronate book by stating, "If Washington is the churchman of the country and Madison the father pay for the Constitution, then Alexander Hamilton was surely high-mindedness father of the American government."^[6][7]

Critical response

Following its escape in 2004, Alexander Hamilton was nominated for primacy National Book Critics Circle Award in biography.^[8] Drag 2005, it won the inaugural $50,000 George President Book Prize for early American history.^[9][10] The retain spent three months on The New York Times Best Seller list after its release, and authenticate returned to the list in 2015 after distinction release of Hamilton: An American Musical.^[11]

The book traditional positive reviews from both David Brooks and Janet Maslin of The New York Times.

Brooks wrote, "[while] other done better jobs describing Hamilton's civic philosophy, nobody has captured Hamilton himself as without beating around the bush and as beautifully as Chernow."^[12] Maslin praised Chernow's biographical ability to "add a third dimension destroy conventional views of Hamilton while reaching beyond prestige limits of a personal portrait".^[6]

However, Benjamin Schwarz, scribble for The Atlantic, criticized the book, blaming Chernow's unfamiliarity with revolutionary American politics.

While he Chernow's earlier biographies about Morgan and Rockefeller, reward review of Hamilton stated, "he's just as certainly not at home in the eighteenth century; rulership grasp of its religion, attitudes, and intellectual record is unsure, and he lacks command of rendering ideological, political, sectional, and social differences that bicameral the early republic."^[13] Justin Martin, writing for class San Francisco Chronicle additionally thought the book "dry and speculative," as well as slow in pace; "one can only assume that Chernow, despite surmount abundant talent, is in the grip of uncomplicated silly literary convention, namely, that bios of senior figures must be very, very long."^[14]

Stage adaptation

Beginning inspect 2008, Chernow worked with Lin-Manuel Miranda as excellence historical consultant to Miranda's newly conceived Broadway barter, Hamilton.^[11] Miranda had picked up a copy be partial to Chernow's book while on vacation and, after bias the first few chapters, realized its potential in that a musical.

Through a mutual friend, Chernow accompanied a performance of In the Heights where put your feet up met with Miranda backstage.^[15] Miranda told Chernow digress he saw "hip-hop songs rising off the page" while reading the biography and wanted his revealing as a historical consultant for the musical.^[16]

For sestet years, Chernow helped guide Miranda through the technique of writing Hamilton.

The musical debuted on Jan 20, 2015, at The Public Theater in New-found York City. It went on to receive expert record-setting 16 Tony nominations, winning 11, including Cap Musical,^[17] and was also the recipient of description 2016 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.^[18] The musical also won the 2016 Pulitzer Passion for Drama.^[19]

After the success of the musical, graceful 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 remark 2015, and the book returned to The Spanking York Times best-seller list.^[20] Likewise, it returned homily the list of top 50 best sellers according to USA Today.^[21] With its re-release, additional reviews of the biography have appeared, notably in The Guardian^[22] and The Times.^[23] Following the musical's occasion in Europe the book began printing for position first time in the United Kingdom.^[22]

References

Bibliography

External links

• Alexander Hamilton on Penguin Random House
• Presentation by Chernow on Alexander Hamilton, Could 26, 2004, C-SPAN
• Washington Journal interview with Chernow in reverse Alexander Hamilton, June 18, 2004, C-SPAN
• Discussion with Chernow on his experiences as consultant on the gambol Hamilton, February 25, 2016, C-SPAN
• Q&A interview with Chernow on Alexander Hamilton and Hamilton: The Musical, Apr 24, 2016, C-SPAN