I read Chernow’s biography of Hamilton last year because, well, I can’t see the musical. Also, I majored in History as an undergrad and my favorite era is the American Revolution. Hamilton, the biogrpaphy, was excellent. It was the first major biography that read despite a good friend recommending Chernow a few years ago. I enjoyed Hamilton enough that I added Grant to my queue as soon as it was added to my library and after eight months of waiting, I got my turn. […]
The ten-dollar Founding Father without a father
My first CBR 10 Bingo entry: Not my wheelhouse! I don’t read much history and I don’t read many biographies; an historical biography might be an actual first for me. I confess, I was swept away by the Hamilton Mania triggered by Lin-Manual Miranda’s fabulous musical about the founding father who grew up an orphan, immigrated to America, fought in the American Revolution, started the First Bank of the United States, and died as a result of a gunshot wound administered by Aaron Burr. Let’s […]
Lies, amnesia, missing persons and the revolutionary war
3.5 stars Shortly after the death of her father, Miss Cecilia Harcourt gets a letter informing her that her brother, Thomas Harcourt has been injured during battle i the American colonies. Her odious cousin keeps coming around hinting strongly at how beneficial it would be for Cecilia to marry him, so instead she buries the family silver in the garden and sets off over the Atlantic to find her brother and nurse him back to health. Unfortunately, no one seems to be willing to speak […]
He’s pretty great if you forget about the whole “owning humans” thing.
James Madison and James Monroe are interchangeable in mind. Both were important Founding Fathers, their names are fairly similar, they served consecutive dual terms as president, they both hailed from Virginia, were both proteges of Thomas Jefferson and turned against George Washington and the Federalists. Both served as Secretaries of State. Madison and Monroe were even close friends for 25 years (before temporarily severing ties with one another). There are numerous differences between the two men, but the one that stands out for me is […]