21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hamilton bests Randall in an uneven, fascinating biography, April 5, 2003
Willard Sterne Randall has given readers the first single-volume biography of Alexander Hamilton in many years. As a whole, the book hiccoughs along under uneven structuring and sequence, and the compressed, rushed pace of the last 100+ pages is disappointing. Randalls work might have been a magnificent 750+ page effort like H.W. Brands treatment of Benjamin Franklin, but like Hamilton himself, this biography is cut down in its prime. Still, it is a very accessible book with much to recommend it.
Randalls portrait of the foremost Federalist is at times stunning, leaping with the athletic energy and enthusiasm of Hamiltons early life until the end of the Revolutionary War then inexplicably fades over 100 or so hurried pages that cover some of the most interesting years of Hamiltons life, and Americas.
Nonetheless, this book is absolutely worth the read, if for no other reason than Randalls superb portrait of Hamilton from his birth, and apprenticeship in a West Indies counting house, to the seldom seen or examined man-of-action throughout the Revolutionary War. Moreover, it is a compassionate look at an American who, by most accounts, was as vain, self-serving and egotistic as he was brilliant, dynamic and circumspect. In any case, if a reader was ever unsure about how important a part Alexander Hamilton played in the birthing of America, or doubted his loyalty and determination, this biography shows how absolutely indispensable he was in giving form to the new republic, and that while the means used by Hamilton and others may have been the cause of many petty problems, the goal was the same: A fierce love and concern for the infant United States. Hamilton simply proved to be more visionary in some respects than most of his contemporaries. Of course, there were times when he was mistaken, too, and Hamilton seldom made small mistakes; he failed on a large, grand stage and in dramatic ways, whether it was his poor judgment of the character of others, his extramarital affairs, or simply his inability to compromise and get along with his peers.
Being a bastard child, Hamilton actually had no peers by Colonial standards, and that was only one demon preying on the mind of the Little Lion, as he was dubbed. Hamilton fought many demons, real and imagined, and Randall gives the reader insight into the early psychological development of Hamilton as a boy, abandoned by his father (throughout his life Hamilton would instinctively seek out surrogate father figures, including George Washington), then left an orphan by his mothers untimely death. Faced with poverty, then his apprenticeship in St. Croix where he honed his early financial acumen, Hamilton was at once deeply insecure but also willing to take risks; extremely sensitive to criticism, he channeled his energies into molding himself into the kind of person he wanted to be, or how he wanted to be perceived.
The reader of this biography may indeed find his or her view of Hamilton as a pretentious, preening coxcomb, changed. There is no doubt that his shortcomings were real, but so were his accomplishments, not only as a financial genius who helped stabilize and make solvent young America, but his contributions in shaping the Constitution cannot be overstated.
It is disappointing that Randall breezes through the last 10-15 years of Hamiltons life, mentioning almost in passing the development and impact of his contribution to The Federalist, and scarcely diving into his complex relationships with James Madison, Jefferson; his role in helping to stymie the presidency of John Adams, and, of course, the turbulent dynamics between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, festering for a decade, that led to the fateful interview between the two men in 1804. There is much more to Hamiltons story, and to help flesh out what Randall omits, one would benefit from reading McCulloughs recent biography of John Adams, and Ellis Founding Brothers.
To Randalls credit, he has rendered Hamiltons economic philosophy and development of the Treasury Department in a manner easy to understand and interesting to read. Its a pity the author did not for unknown reasonspursue other aspects and episodes of Hamiltons life with the same apparent enthusiasm and attention.
The greatest service rendered Hamilton and the readerin this biography, is an acute insight into a controversial, mercurial figure in American history who, in spite of his many human flaws, stands firmly cemented in a new light of understanding as one of the foremost Americans of the Revolutionary Generation. A worthwhile read, Randall may disappoint at turns, but Hamilton stands perhaps a little taller.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Original American Success Story, April 9, 2003
Willard Sterne Randall's biography of Alexander Hamilton joins the recent glut of books covering America's colonial period that have either focused on Hamilton or featured him prominently. Randall's highly readable account of Hamilton's life brings into sharp focus the man who was Thomas Jefferson's ideological counterpoint in the two competeing governing philosopys that emerged from the American Revolution. Ironically, while the aristocratic Jefferson became the champion of the "common man," it was the "commoner" Hamilton who came to favor a strong central government at the expense of individual (and state's) rights.
Hamilton's rise from the illegitimate son of a West Indies merchant to the very heights of power at a time when such avenues were normally reserved for nobility make him America's first great self-made man. Most of the other founding fathers were from either the aristocrat or merchantile classes. Hamilton, whose family's entire modest estate was confiscated at the time of his mother's death when he was a boy, was possessed of the unique ambition of an insecure man who spent his life trying to overcome his humble origins. As Randall demonstrates, Hamilton's close relationship with George Washington, who recognized his junior's incredible organizational and intellectual gifts, was of key importance to the latter's success.
The text of the book is quite sympathetic its subject, perhaps overly so at times. Though Randall does not ignore the less noble aspects of Hamilton's character, he strives whenever possible to show him in the best possible light. Thus Aaron Burr, who actually made his own important contributions to the nation, comes off mostly as a despicable villian. Burr will always be infamous for firing the bullet that ended Hamilton's life, but Hamilton was equally at fault for the feud that ended so tragically.
Oveall, Randall's book is an enjoyable and enlightening work that will most appeal to history buffs.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Alexander Hamilton, Interrupted, February 21, 2003
Randall's biography is eminently readable, but curiously organized. It starts well. Randall does a nice job of subtly suggesting how Hamilton's early life traumas, the death of his mother, abandonment by his alcoholic father, and impoverishment, drove his restless ambition and questing for surrogate fathers, such as Washington and Philip Schuyler. After this, about half the book is devoted to Hamilton's military career in the Revolutionary War, as propagandist, artillery officer, aide-de-camp of Washington, and hero of the battle of Yorktown. It is refreshing to see this side of Hamilton, the man of action; other biographers tend to portray him as a horny financial and legal wizard. This section of the book feels most complete. The rest of the book feels compressed and strangely truncated; only about a hundred pages are devoted to Hamilton's mammoth contributions to the constitutional debate and the development of the US Treasury, and a mere ten pages to the tumults, enigmas and disasters of the last ten years of Hamilton's life! It seems as if Randall had originally intended to write a 700-800 page biography, then had to scale back his conception due to boredom or publisher's deadlines.
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