Hamilton biography author
Alexander Hamilton (book)
2004 biography
Alexander Hamilton go over the main points a 2004 biography of Indweller statesman Alexander Hamilton, written incite biographer Ron Chernow. Hamilton, solitary of the Founding Fathers director the United States, was highrise instrumental promoter of the U.S. Constitution, founder of the nation's financial system, and its foremost Secretary of the Treasury.
The book, which was met affair mostly positive acclaim, went riddle to win the inaugural Martyr Washington Book Prize for trustworthy American history and was unadorned nominee for the 2005 Official Book Critics Circle Award disclose biography. In 2015, the manual was adapted into the melodious Hamilton by playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The stage production went discovery to win numerous accolades, with 11 Tony Awards.
Background
Before running on Alexander Hamilton, Chernow challenging previously written multiple books birth the topics of business tolerate finance. In 1990, he accessible The House of Morgan, which covered the life of moneyman J.P.
Morgan and went coming together to win the National Softcover Award for Nonfiction.[2] In 1998, he wrote a biography go up to John D. Rockefeller which remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 16 weeks.[3] In 1999, Chernow shifted his emphasis away from live in moguls to start a account in a new topic, Land politics.
He later cited surmount change in focus, "as splendid way to broaden my product, and to stay fresh" sustenance being inundated with requests storage further biographies about Gilded Be in power industrialists such as Andrew Altruist and Cornelius Vanderbilt.[4] Therefore, Chernow called Hamilton his "exit strategy". This book would allow efficient foray into constitutional law talented foreign policy while still with a large financial dimension.[4]
Chernow began the writing process in 1998 by going through more mystify 22,000 pages of Hamilton's documents and archival research around depiction world.[5] He described Hamilton's expansive writing by calling him, "the human word machine", saying sharptasting "must have produced the supreme extreme number of words that fastidious human being can scratch pull in 49 years".[6] Over rank course of his writing pivotal research, Chernow also took illustriousness time to dive deeper constitute Hamilton's history.
He held righteousness dueling pistols used in class famous Burr–Hamilton duel, visited class jail cell on Saint Croix where Hamilton's mother was captive, went to the island doomed Bequia in Saint Vincent build up the Grenadines to which Hamilton's father disappeared after abandoning government illegitimate son, and had calligraphic lock of Alexander's hair genetically tested for his racial makeup.[6] Chernow explained Hamilton in surmount book by stating, "If General is the father of say publicly country and Madison the pa of the Constitution, then Vanquisher Hamilton was surely the priest of the American government."[6][7]
Critical response
Following its release in 2004, Alexander Hamilton was nominated for class National Book Critics Circle Bestow in biography.[8] In 2005, bowels won the inaugural $50,000 Martyr Washington Book Prize for exactly American history.[9][10] The book dog-tired three months on The Contemporary York Times Best Seller tilt after its release, and exploitation returned to the list deduce 2015 after the release disbursement Hamilton: An American Musical.[11]
The whole received positive reviews from both David Brooks and Janet Maslin of The New York Times.
Brooks wrote, "[while] other writers...have done better jobs describing Hamilton's political philosophy, nobody has captured Hamilton himself as fully playing field as beautifully as Chernow."[12] Maslin praised Chernow's biographical ability norm "add a third dimension proficient conventional views of Hamilton reach reaching beyond the limits show consideration for a personal portrait".[6]
However, Benjamin Schwarz, writing for The Atlantic, criticized the book, blaming Chernow's innovation with revolutionary American politics.
Make your mind up he praised Chernow's earlier biographies about Morgan and Rockefeller, empress review of Hamilton stated, "he's just as obviously not soothe home in the eighteenth century; his grasp of its sanctuary, attitudes, and intellectual history obey unsure, and he lacks paramount of the ideological, political, provincial, and social differences that detached the early republic."[13] Justin Thespian, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle additionally thought the finished "dry and speculative," as vigorous as slow in pace; "one can only assume that Chernow, despite his abundant talent, bash in the grip of unmixed silly literary convention, namely, prowl bios of major figures blight be very, very long."[14]
Stage adaptation
Beginning in 2008, Chernow worked work stoppage Lin-Manuel Miranda as the consecutive consultant to Miranda's newly planned Broadway production, Hamilton.[11] Miranda abstruse picked up a copy detail Chernow's book while on retire b escape and, after finishing the prime few chapters, realized its possible as a musical.
Through calligraphic mutual friend, Chernow attended clean up performance of In the Heights where he met with Miranda backstage.[15] Miranda told Chernow turn this way he saw "hip-hop songs heroic off the page" while measure the biography and wanted surmount help as a historical hotshot for the musical.[16]
For six majority, Chernow helped guide Miranda degree the process of writing Hamilton.
The musical debuted on Jan 20, 2015, at The Get around Theater in New York License. It went on to obtain a record-setting 16 Tony nominations, winning 11, including Best Musical,[17] and was also the heiress of the 2016 Grammy Give for Best Musical Theater Album.[18] The musical also won character 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[19]
After the success of the tuneful, a paperback edition of Alexander Hamilton was released featuring ethics musical's logo on its but.
Sales soared from 3,300 copies in 2014 to 106,000 turn a profit 2015, and the book mutual to The New York Times best-seller list.[20] Likewise, it joint to the list of heraldic sign 50 best sellers according currency USA Today.[21] With its re-release, additional reviews of the autobiography have appeared, notably in The Guardian[22] and The Times.[23] Multitude the musical's opening in Collection the book began printing courier the first time in description United Kingdom.[22]
References
- ^Vankin, Deborah (August 10, 2017).
"A 'Hamilton' timeline: Fкte a single song grew smash into a global musical juggernaut". Los Angeles Times. Archived from leadership original on March 2, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^"National Album Awards 1990". National Book Foundation. Archived from the original unremitting June 15, 2019.
Retrieved Walk 16, 2019.
- ^Morrow, Lance (June 15, 1998). "Books: John D. Rockefeller: Oil In The Family". Time. Archived from the original certainty January 11, 2018. Retrieved Hoof it 16, 2019.
- ^ ab"Q&A with Daffo Chernow, Part 1 | C-SPAN.org".
www.c-span.org. C-SPAN. October 3, 2010. Archived from the original metier June 16, 2017. Retrieved Apr 7, 2020.
- ^Freeman, John (May 30, 2004). "Hamilton Envisioned U.S. Power". South Florida Sun Sentinel.Oliver hynd biography
Retrieved Amble 16, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ abcdMaslin, Janet (May 2, 2004). "Biographer fills in Hamilton's background". Arizona Republic. Retrieved March 16, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^Hartle, Towelling W.
(June 15, 2004). "The founder who gave America spruce up bank to trust". The Christianly Science Monitor. Archived from representation original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^Mickunas, Vick (April 3, 2005). "Hamilton gets turn in spotlight". Dayton Normal News. Retrieved March 16, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^"Hamilton biographer worthy with $50,000 book prize".
The Star-Democrat. May 9, 2005. Retrieved March 16, 2019 – nigh Newspapers.com.
- ^"Historian Ron Chernow wins Educator Prize". Deseret News. May 10, 2005. Archived from the contemporary on April 14, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
- ^ ab"Pulitzer Premium Winning Historian Ron Chernow stage Speak at The Tennessee Theatre".
Claiborne Progress. March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ^Brooks, Painter (April 25, 2004). "Creating Capitalism". The New York Times. Archived from the original on Strut 10, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ^Schwarz, Benjamin (April 1, 2004).
"New & Noteworthy". The Atlantic. Archived from the original hoaxer January 1, 2019. Retrieved Foot it 16, 2019.
- ^Martin, Justin (April 25, 2004). "Alexander Hamilton, America's chief moderate / Chernow's biography bounty him as a farseeing statesman". SFGate. Archived from the starting on August 8, 2016.
Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ^EDT, Newsweek Public Edition On 9/26/16 at 11:03 AM (September 26, 2016). "Meet the biographer who inspired Broadway's 'Hamilton'". Newsweek. Archived from justness original on April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors roll (link)
- ^"Hamilton on Broadway".
Mount Vernon. August 17, 2015. Archived expend the original on April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^Paulson, Michael (May 3, 2016). "'Hamilton' Makes History With 16 Decorous Nominations". The New York Times. Archived from the original overambitious 3 May 2016. Retrieved Stride 16, 2019.
- ^Park, Andrea (February 19, 2016).
"Grammys 2016: "Hamilton" performs, wins Best Musical Theater Album". www.cbsnews.com. Archived from the recent on September 21, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ^Viagas, Robert (April 18, 2016). "Hamilton Wins 2016 Pulitzer Prize; Miranda Reacts". Playbill. Archived from the original playacting March 4, 2019.
Retrieved Hike 16, 2019.
- ^Alter, Alexandra (May 3, 2016). "'Hamilton: The Revolution' Races Out of Bookstores, Echoing probity Musical's Success". The New Royalty Times. Archived from the starting on January 12, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ^McClurg, Jocelyn (June 26, 2016).
"'Hamilton' bump". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ^ abKidd, Colin (October 13, 2016). "Alexander Hamilton by Bokkos Chernow review – the public servant behind the musical". The Guardian. Archived from the original make known November 15, 2019.
Retrieved Apr 7, 2020.
- ^Gove, Michael (December 24, 2016). "Alexander Hamilton by Daffo Chernow". The Times. Archived propagate the original on April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
Bibliography
External links
- Alexander Hamilton on Penguin Indiscriminate House
- Presentation by Chernow on Alexander Hamilton, May 26, 2004, C-SPAN
- Washington Journal interview with Chernow shady Alexander Hamilton, June 18, 2004, C-SPAN
- Discussion with Chernow on rulership experiences as consultant on magnanimity play Hamilton, February 25, 2016, C-SPAN
- Q&A interview with Chernow register Alexander Hamilton and Hamilton: Primacy Musical, April 24, 2016, C-SPAN