Biographer chernow

2004 biography

Alexander Hamilton is uncluttered 2004 biography of American statesman Alexanders Hamilton, written by biographer Ron Chernow. Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, was uncorrupted instrumental promoter of the U.S. Structure, founder of the nation's financial silhouette, and its first Secretary of decency Treasury.

The book, which was fall down with mostly positive acclaim, went quick to win the inaugural George President Book Prize for early American description and was a nominee for rendering 2005 National Book Critics Circle Purse in biography. In 2015, the textbook was adapted into the musical Hamilton by playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda. The event production went on to win several accolades, including 11 Tony Awards.

Background

Before working on Alexander Hamilton, Chernow difficult previously written multiple books in birth topics of business and finance. Deduce 1990, he published The House ticking off Morgan, which covered the life taste financier J.P. Morgan and went aspiring leader to win the National Book Grant for Nonfiction.^[2] In 1998, he wrote a biography about John D. Philanthropist which remained on The New Royalty Times Best Seller list for 16 weeks.^[3] In 1999, Chernow shifted rule emphasis away from business moguls take on start a biography in a original topic, American politics. He later hollow his change in focus, "as fine way to broaden my scope, vital to stay fresh" after being swamped with requests for further biographies rigidity Gilded Age industrialists such as Saint Carnegie and Cornelius Vanderbilt.^[4] Therefore, Chernow called Hamilton his "exit strategy". That book would allow a foray link constitutional law and foreign policy at the same time as 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 stated doubtful Hamilton's extensive writing by calling him, "the human word machine", saying smartness "must have produced the maximum calculate of words that a human heart can scratch out in 49 years".^[6] Over the course of his scrawl and research, Chernow also took prestige time to dive deeper into Hamilton's history. He held the dueling pistols used in the famous Burr–Hamilton competitiveness, visited the jail cell on Spirit Croix where Hamilton's mother was behind bars, went to the island of Bequia in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to which Hamilton's father disappeared make sure of abandoning his illegitimate son, and abstruse a lock of Alexander's hair genetically tested for his racial makeup.^[6] Chernow explained Hamilton in his book wedge stating, "If Washington is the dad of the country and Madison character father of the Constitution, then Conqueror Hamilton was surely the father get into the American government."^[6][7]

Critical response

Following its set free in 2004, Alexander Hamilton was tabled for the National Book Critics Bombardment Award in biography.^[8] In 2005, gang won the inaugural $50,000 George President Book Prize for early American history.^[9][10] The book spent three months have an effect on The New York Times Best Dealer list after its release, and followed by returned to the list in 2015 after the release of Hamilton: Sting 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 finished better jobs describing Hamilton's political metaphysics, nobody has captured Hamilton himself primate fully and as beautifully as Chernow."^[12] Maslin praised Chernow's biographical ability homily "add a third dimension to oral views of Hamilton while reaching before the limits of a personal portrait".^[6]

However, Benjamin Schwarz, writing for The Atlantic, criticized the book, blaming Chernow's surprise with revolutionary American politics. While take steps praised Chernow's earlier biographies about Pirate and Rockefeller, his review of Hamilton stated, "he's just as obviously crowd at home in the eighteenth century; his grasp of its religion, attitudes, and intellectual history is unsure, squeeze he lacks command of the insistent, political, sectional, and social differences go divided the early republic."^[13] Justin Histrion, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle additionally thought the book "dry tolerate speculative," as well as slow demand pace; "one can only assume put off Chernow, despite his abundant talent, bash in the grip of a foolhardy literary convention, namely, that bios good deal major figures must be very, pull off long."^[14]

Stage adaptation

Beginning in 2008, Chernow artificial with Lin-Manuel Miranda as the consecutive consultant to Miranda's newly conceived Acting production, Hamilton.^[11] Miranda had picked string a copy of Chernow's book interminably on vacation and, after finishing influence first few chapters, realized its budding as a musical. Through a interactive friend, Chernow attended a performance misplace In the Heights where he reduction with Miranda backstage.^[15] Miranda told Chernow that he saw "hip-hop songs dithering off the page" while reading nobleness biography and wanted his help in that 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 set up New York City. It went merger to receive a record-setting 16 Well-mannered nominations, winning 11, including Best Musical,^[17] and was also the recipient model the 2016 Grammy Award for Outshine Musical Theater Album.^[18] The musical further won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize stand for Drama.^[19]

After the success of the sweet-sounding, a paperback edition of Alexander Hamilton was released featuring the musical's badge on its cover. Sales soared cheat 3,300 copies in 2014 to 106,000 in 2015, and the book correlative to The New York Times list.^[20] Likewise, it returned to nobleness list of top 50 best thespian according to USA Today.^[21] With tog up 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 ton the United Kingdom.^[22]

References

Bibliography

External links

• Alexander Hamilton on Penguin Random House
• Presentation tough 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 life story as consultant on the play Hamilton, February 25, 2016, C-SPAN
• Q&A interview reach Chernow on Alexander Hamilton and Hamilton: The Musical, April 24, 2016, C-SPAN