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Scandalmonger (Harvest Book) Paperback – June 7, 2001

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William Safire (Author)
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4.2 out of 5 stars 51 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Series: Harvest Book
  • Paperback: 496 pages
  • Publisher: Harvest Books; 1 edition (June 7, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0156013231
  • ISBN-13: 978-0156013239
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #798,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsHistory Twistery Lies Truth Or Mysteries?
By taking a rest HALL OF FAME on February 4, 2000
Format: Hardcover
Twistery is the word used by the Author, William Safire, to qualify where he strayed from known facts. He provides a detailed explanation at the end so there is no confusion. It is impossible for me to judge, but I am confident that to the extent he twisted known history, it is a small part of this book. If he had stayed absolutely faithful to facts as they are known, but continued the novel-like style, as opposed to dry recitation of fact like many textbooks do, the book would be diminished just a bit.
The Players are not new, nor are the stories. Mr. Safire's gift is his ability to transform what can often be the tedious study of dates and facts, into a thrilling read. If he were to write textbooks, without literary license, the study of our Country's History would reach new levels of popularity.
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, James Monroe, Dr. Benjamin Rush, all old and familiar, but all new here. Duels, stolen letters, written admissions of guilt, peculation, and pecadillos, these bits are all true. The Alien and Sedition act, one of the most notorious pieces of legislation in our Country's History plays a prominent role. Add then murder, wrongful imprisonment, treason, and trials with "The Hanging Judge" Samuel Chase.
And to bring the story into the present, the analyses of certain persons DNA to at once settle 200-year-old questions/accusations. Or do they not?
It may sound strange to say that I don't want to give any of the book's stories away, for how can you give away what is historical fact? But with or without the twistery, the book makes old information fresh, and shows that our elected officials today, and the press that follow their every breath have changed oh so little.
Buy it, you'll love it!
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4.0 out of 5 starsGood Historical Fiction
By Amazon Customer on January 30, 2000
Format: Hardcover
This book continues to prove that Safire is: (1) smart; and (2) thorough. Through this book, Safire demonstrates that a scandal seeking function is not unique to the modern press, but was alive and well in the era immediately following the Revolutionary War. Almost everyone knows the historical legacy of Hamilton, Jefferson, Monroe, Adams and Madison, but this book reminds us that even our founding fathers were susceptible to the weaknesses for which we condemn our current leaders. The book was best when it focused on the lives of the principal characters and bogged down occasionally when imparting the political climate of the era. All in all, though, I learned alot by reading it.
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5.0 out of 5 starsFederal Period Politics Made Fascinating!
By Robert A. Jacques on June 22, 2000
Format: Hardcover
Wow! Want to get beneath the saccharine veneer most historians put on America's Federal Period? Want to see politics-as-usual so bad that you'll think today's politics-as-usual is positively altruism? Want to find out what life was like for newspaper editors in the days when truth was no defense against libel suits? Read Safire's Scandalmonger. Using their own letters and speeches, Safire gives us the Founding Fathers as we never saw them in our school rooms: the proud George Washington obsessed with his public image, the erratic and volatile John Adams, the dreamy and sensual Thomas Jefferson, the practical and flawed Alexander Hamilton, the crafty and self-assured Aaron Burr, the naive but loyal James Madison, and the coldly calculating, slightly reptilian James Monroe. And through it all walk two of the most remarkable, powerful newspapermen in American history, William Cobbett and James Callender, bitter enemies in politics but accidental allies in promoting freedom of the press. Adding to the book's educational and entertainment value, Safire reveals his sources and separates truth from fiction at the end of his novel. Novel? Well, maybe.
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4.0 out of 5 starsThe more things change the more they stay the same
By Doug Vaughn HALL OF FAME on May 9, 2000
Format: Hardcover
William Safire's novel Scandalmonger brings to life the clash between the press and politicians two centuries ago, and in doing so holds up a mirror to our own times. It is not likely to be a surprise to readers that the Founding Fathers were as subject to human failures as politicians in our own time or that the press, then as now, was more concerned with sales than with truth. What is fresh and novel about this book is the focus on James Callender, the "scandalmonger" whose writings break the stories that impact the political fortunes of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, and Maria Reynolds, who was central to both one of the scandals (having had affairs with both Hamilton and Burr) as well as becoming central to Callender's bleak life. What fascinated me was how unbelievable, yet demonstrably true, this story is. Relying heavily on letters, journals and published documents of the time, Safire recreates a story of clashing political ambitions, illicit sex, corruption in high places, coverup, deception and murder.
Callender, a refugee from press persecution in Scotland and down on his luck, is selected to break the story of Alexander Hamilton's supposed financial impropriaties at the Treasury Department. This becomes a fascinating story when the "facts" of the case intersect with Hamilton's secret sexual relationship with the wife of his supposed accomplice and he allows the sexual scandal to be used to coverup (and "explain") the financial one. To oversimplify the book's complex story lines, Callender goes from success with his Hamilton expose to being the subject of government pressure to silence him. The Sedition laws are passed.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsA good book for someone acquitted with early American History

A good book for someone acquitted with early American History. But, this story could be told just as well in two or three chapters, not 400+ images.

Published 12 months ago by George Seeley
5.0 out of 5 starsA Fascinating Period of History in the Hands of a Master Writer

The novel opens with the Alexander Hamilton-Maria Reynolds scandal and continues with a vivid and creative portrayal of the Federalist period during which the two-party system was... Read more

Published 15 months ago by Keith C.
5.0 out of 5 starsRevisiting history

We're revisiting American history and this book fits in with the Washington, Jefferson, and Hamilton books we are reading - also recommended the Rush Revere series.

Published 17 months ago by Shirley Niebanck
5.0 out of 5 starsso great I'm (almost) tempted to read it again now

This novel combines the best mix of salacious bits about our Founding Fathers and the hardscrabble origins of American journalism. Read more

Published on February 26, 2014 by wheedooo
4.0 out of 5 starsEntertaining and enlightening!

Early American political history is frought with scandal, intrigue, plots and schemes. From the moment Alexander Hamilton set himself in opposition to the Republican forefathers,... Read more

Published on August 9, 2013 by Suzanne Dobbins
5.0 out of 5 starsYou think our politics today are conflicted...

This was an eye-opener; our fore-fathers were NOT the bright and shiny icons we were taught to worship! Read more

Published on July 20, 2013 by P. Sinclair
5.0 out of 5 starsA Great Read

I enjoyed this book. This stuff wasn't taught in school but it's interesting to read that while times change, people don't. Read more

Published on January 30, 2013 by KRM
4.0 out of 5 starsNice Historical Novel from a Shrewd Political Observer

Real historical people mix with a few fictional characters in this novel about political intrigue in the first years of our nation. Read more

Published on October 26, 2012 by RealityWizard
5.0 out of 5 starsFantastic Book

My wife and I read this book and LOVED it. This purchase was a gift to a friend. The book provides insites into our history and the founding fathers of our nation. Read more

Published on September 24, 2012 by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsAn interesting look at a turbulent time

It is the 1790s, and the new United States is in the throes of a heated debate over the future of the nation. Read more

Published on August 10, 2012 by The Reviewer Formerly Known as Kurt Johnson

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