Alexander Hamilton: A Brief Biography, now on Kindle (Hamilton 45)

Added to the original blog post

Alexander Hamilton: A Brief Biography and Alexander Hamilton: A Friend to America, volumes 1 and 2, which include all my Hamilton blogs posts, are now available as full-color printed books:

  • Available on Barnes & Noble for $14 + $30 + $25 = $69.00 (printed by Ingram, here, here, and here).
  • Available on Amazon for $15 + $54.95 + $42 = $111.95 (printed by CreateSpace here, here, and here – it’s on slightly heavier paper, but otherwise identical with the Ingram version).

And now back to the original post

I’ve just uploaded a new edition of Alexander Hamilton: A Brief Biography, which I first released as a Kindle book in 2012.

How brief is it? At 18,000 words, halfway between the length of Hamilton’s “Reynolds Pamphlet” and his first Report on Public Credit. I’ve kept the casual tone of the two-hour talk on which this book is based: it’s an easy read.

What’s in it for you?

  1. It’s shorter than Chernow’s Hamilton by about 90%. I’ve narrowed the focus to the important events of Hamilton’s life and the ideas that drove him.
  2. Through extensive quotes from Hamilton’s writings, you can see for yourself the way his mind works.
  3. Dozens of images from Hamilton’s life and times are included.
  4. A timeline sets Hamilton’s life in the context of events in the United States and Europe.
  5. Descriptions and multiple photos of the four sculptures of Hamilton in Manhattan are in a separate chapter at the end.
  6. I’ve included links at the relevant sections to my Hamilton posts. The blog posts also cover many more topics than this brief biography does. Want to dive into Hamilton’s love life before Eliza, his participation in the Newburgh Conspiracy, the storming of Redoubt 10? The links make it easy.

If you’re a fan of Hamilton: An American Musical, this biography will give you more reasons to love the man and the musical. If you’re a history geek, it will give you another avenue to explore regarding Hamilton and the other Founding Fathers. All this for $4.00!

Here’s the table of contents.

Preliminaries: Copyright, License, Description, Updates, About the Author
Chapter 1: Introduction: History Geek Meets Fangirl
Chapter 2: Hamilton’s Early Life, 1757-1786
Chapter 3: The Constitutional Convention and the Federalist Papers, 1787-1788
Chapter 4: Secretary of the Treasury, 1789-1795
Chapter 5: Later Life, 1795-1804
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Chapter 7: Sculptures of Hamilton in Manhattan
Appendix 1: Timeline of Events in Hamilton’s Life, in the United States, and Abroad, 1755-1804
Appendix 2: The All-Encompassing Table of Contents

I’m a big fan of subheads, but I’m always annoyed when a Kindle book starts with a table of contents that goes on forever – so the three-level table of contents for Alexander Hamilton: A Brief Biography is in an appendix at the end of the book. There if you want it, out of your way if you don’t.

Beginning of the full-length table of contents for Alexander Hamilton: A Brief Biography.
Beginning of the full-length table of contents for Alexander Hamilton: A Brief Biography.

More

  • I’ve started adding comments based on these blog posts to the Genius.com pages on the Hamilton Musical: a fantastic resource. Follow me @DianneDurante.
  • The usual disclaimer: This is the forty-fifth in a series of posts on Hamilton: An American Musical My intro to this series is here. Other posts are available via the tag cloud at lower right. If you’ve read this far and enjoyed it, why not sign up to hear about future installments? Follow me on Twitter @NYCsculpture, friend the Forgotten Delights page on Facebook, or ask to be added to my mailing list (email DuranteDianne@gmail.com), which will get you a weekly email with some bonus comments. Bottom line: these are unofficial musings, and you do not need them to enjoy the musical or the soundtrack.
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