Customer Reviews

Cipher Code of Dishonor, Aaron Burr, an American Enigma: Trinity: The Burrs versus Alexander Hamilton and the United States of America

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Unbelievable. I was looking for a book to read to
pass the time during a vacation at my parent's place.
My dad (<--a history buff) said I (<--not so much a
history buff) would enjoy reading this book even if I
didn't have anything more than a basic high school
class understanding of the American Revolutionary War.
Wow, was I shocked at the interesting and intriguing
facts and perspectives the author revealed on the
loyalists, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, as well
as the land holdings of the Trinity Church. I could
NOT put this book down. I have never read nor heard
of such a juicy bit of information on the beginnings
of our Country and the Loyalists who tried to thwart
the efforts of the Rebels. Thank God for Alexander
Hamilton. If Aaron Burr was allowed to act on his
sneaky little ways, we wouldn't be where we are today
as citizens of the United States, but rather we would
be citizens of Great Britain.

Based on facts little known or revealed elsewhere
Clark, the author, advances a theory novel to American
History that Aaron Burr was a loyalist throughout his
life, even during the Revolutionary War, wherein he is
most commonly thought an American hero. Using
genealogy, land deeds and leases Clark finds
connections to the British hitherto ignored by
Historians. This book is not a rehash of current
accepted American history. His interpretation of
Aaron Burr's own coded letters in his published
Memoirs fall in neatly with this theory. He gives new
political meaning to the duel between Aaron Burr and
Alexander Hamilton beyond a trifling slight. He even
points the reader toward an interpretation of current
events with roots in the Loyalist American cause.
This book will make you think that history may still
be ripe for reinterpretation.

I read this book through in one sitting because it covered strikingly different ground from that in standard history books. Translating Burr's ciphered letters for the first time and relating them to events of the era, the author has uncovered Burr's collaboration with the British during the Revolution and his subsequent intentions to undermine the fledgling American democracy. Using original land deeds of the era as evidence, the author presents a powerful rationale for Burr's misdeeds. This is a thought provoking work to read and discuss with others who enjoy history and its rogue protagonists.

Based on facts little known or revealed elsewhere
Clark, the author, advances a theory novel to American
History that Aaron Burr was a loyalist throughout his
life, even during the Revolutionary War, wherein he is
most commonly thought an American hero. Using
genealogy, land deeds and leases Clark finds
connections to the British hitherto ignored by
Historians. This book is not a rehash of current
accepted American history. His interpretation of
Aaron Burr's own coded letters in his published
Memoirs fall in neatly with this theory. He gives new
political meaning to the duel between Aaron Burr and
Alexander Hamilton beyond a trifling slight. He even
points the reader toward an interpretation of current
events with roots in the Loyalist American cause.
This book will make you think that history may still
be ripe for reinterpretation.

Not being born in the United States, I found the history revealed in this book easy to absorb and understand. Yet once with a command of the story the intrigue and underhandedness of Aaron Burr makes for fascinating reading. This book makes usually dry history come alive with spy and assassination stories revealed in personal letters in code between Aaron Burr and his daughter in real time and after the fact. Gore and Brown need to move over and give room to this one.

This is nonfiction at its best. New, stimulating thought process brings the reader into another world of American History never seen or heard before. To think that for 250 years American History has overlooked what this author reveals in published letters of the man himself. Hollywood could not write a better spy movie script. This book brings the reader into the present by following his nose and deductive reasoning. Who would have thought old Aaron Burr could touch our lives today.

Though we share the same preparatory school (Phillips Exeter) and even the same faculty advisor (Dr Don "Blinky" Cole), and all too obviously the same lifelong study of Aaron Burr, by far the most enigmatic and misunderstood of America's Founders, it would not be possible for me to disagree more plangently with Clark's puerile analysis, infantile writing and wild proofs-by-assertion. We are all entitled to our own opinions but not our own facts. For reasons best known to himself, Dr Clark has produced a lengthy, dense and childishly-argued tome designed to prove the lifelong treachery of Vice President Aaron Burr. That he fails due to overreach, farfetched guesswork and a strong personal animus against Burr for reasons unexplained is as predictable as it is beside the point. Had he more carefully read his own bibliography, he could not possibly have formed the outlandish conclusions he did. In particular, Chernow's Alexander Hamilton, Gore's Burr and Kennedy's Jefferson, Hamilton & Burr, A Study of Character, all of which carefully illuminate the flaws and failings of the highly brilliant and individualistic Burr but also provide a balanced view of his unique talents and gifts as well. Notably, none leap to the vapid and slanderous conclusions as does Clark regarding Burr's purported but unproven treasons. Clark did have a fascinating book to write, based upon the very considerable genealogical, financial and property researches he made into Manhattan land ownership in the revolutionary period. Better written and more focused, and absent the futile if creative conclusions about Burr and his daughter, I believe many would find such a book of great value is studying the economics flowing beneath our revolution -- and the subtle and unsubtle interactions of America's first oligarchy. But, studying such interesting data while wading through an unceasing (and unsupported) tale of Aaron Burr's supposed venality is an exercise in frustration. Aaron Burr was a great and unique man -- and a "world class" ambitious one, the latter not being in and of itself a crime. An unalloyed revolutionary military hero, he absorbed the furious attacks of Jefferson, Harriet Beecher Stowe and others without reclama or whimpering self pity. More than any other man of his time, he strove to explore the "art of the possible" in a new and burgeoning country -- often overstepping but not in a sinster way. He was a champion of women, minorities (slaves) and his former military comrades when other founders had more pressing tasks at hand -- chiefly, the maintenance of a gentleman's lifestyle and an effort to create a well-remembered legacy whatever the facts. The more one studies Aaron Burr, the more one is impressed by the formidable gifts he gave to our young country. Bruce Valley[...]

HISTORY BUFFS ! This IS VERY different. This volume goes right into what Burr actually did then as a matter of practicality and business : work with the Crown. He sign leases with a landbank for the Crown along with known loyalists, infilated George Washington's army; set up Montgomery's troops in front of the English battalions killing Montgomery not incidentally either, he was the first officer to fall in our Revolution- probably because Burr set up a trap at Quebec. It would ludicrous to say that but the Canadian archives tell the same story. Author cannot be far wrong. Clark doesnt cover the same old ground with the treason trials & the duel with Hamilton, dont bore me, he actually submits some real research on an Aaron Burr we havent really seen before.

RE-ENACTORS! this Author is one of our own ! Yale graduate as well. GENEALOGISTS ! Book is loaded with personal histories and genealogical charts at the end.

Recommend it if you want to look at our history from a personal viewpoint, not from a lofty scholar's, but right here where it was written - in Burr's letters, actual lease documents, etc. have fun with it !

I bought this book based largely on other reviewers. If you are a someone who really gets into the minutia of family names connected to Burr and Hamilton, this book is for you. The author also makes the assumption (and says so in the introduction) that the reader understands the basic history of the events. The casual reader of history may not make it through this book, getting lost in the detailed connections of various relatives of Burr and Hamilton. There are fascinating revelations and speculations unearthed, making it a decent book.

In essence, Alan Clark's book is one big gossip column. The only difference between his work and those of other gossip mongers in our nation's periodicals is that the latter know how to write a coherent sentence, properly punctuated and generally void of misspellings. Of course, they must submit to the discipline of editors and they usually write for reputable publishers who demand that quotations be checked, that facts be accurate and that documentation be provided. Clark does not concern himself with any of these things. His book is a self-published, printed-on-demand product, a growing part of the "listen to me" industry that also includes personal websites known as blogs.