Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A landmark work of history explores how a group of greatly gifted but deeply flawed individuals—Hamilton, Burr, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Adams, and Madison—confronted the overwhelming challenges before them to set the course for our nation.
“A splendid book—humane, learned, written with flair and radiant with a calm intelligence and wit.” —The New York Times Book Review
The United States was more a fragile hope than a reality in 1790. During the decade that followed, the Founding Fathers—re-examined here as Founding Brothers—combined the ideals of the Declaration of Independence with the content of the Constitution to create the practical workings of our government. Through an analysis of six fascinating episodes—Hamilton and Burr’s deadly duel, Washington’s precedent-setting Farewell Address, Adams’ administration and political partnership with his wife, the debate about where to place the capital, Franklin’s attempt to force Congress to confront the issue of slavery and Madison’s attempts to block him, and Jefferson and Adams’ famous correspondence—Founding Brothers brings to life the vital issues and personalities from the most important decade in our nation’s history.
“A splendid book—humane, learned, written with flair and radiant with a calm intelligence and wit.” —The New York Times Book Review
The United States was more a fragile hope than a reality in 1790. During the decade that followed, the Founding Fathers—re-examined here as Founding Brothers—combined the ideals of the Declaration of Independence with the content of the Constitution to create the practical workings of our government. Through an analysis of six fascinating episodes—Hamilton and Burr’s deadly duel, Washington’s precedent-setting Farewell Address, Adams’ administration and political partnership with his wife, the debate about where to place the capital, Franklin’s attempt to force Congress to confront the issue of slavery and Madison’s attempts to block him, and Jefferson and Adams’ famous correspondence—Founding Brothers brings to life the vital issues and personalities from the most important decade in our nation’s history.
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Community Reviews
I really like the author’s narrative style! I read this book for a class that had us read The Quartet by the same author. That being said, Founding Brothers didn’t wow me as much as TQ. This is because there is a lot of repeated information between TQ and FB, so if you’re looking for a casual historical narrative to read, I would choose one or the other, not both. Even then I would recommend TQ over FB unless you’re looking for narratives on the Burr-Hamilton duel, immediate post-Revolution US, Benjamin Franklin, and/or John Jay (in that case, read FB). I also noticed in this book that the author does tend to repeat certain phrases to a point that I get distracted by calling that out mentally. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this book! I learned new AND interesting things about events I’ve yawned over in grade school. The author is great at portraying the “Founding Fathers” as humans, and I especially love his little roasts for James Madison! I think it’s a good option for US history educators looking for a class reading that will both educate and entertain.
Through out the book I ended up with questions. They were not answered. I figure this could be considered good or bad depending how you look at it.
The bad comes from finishing a book and walking away from it with questions.
The good, I could possibly be motivated to read more and find the answers to my questions. The problem there is I doubt how ambitious I would actually be.
The bad comes from finishing a book and walking away from it with questions.
The good, I could possibly be motivated to read more and find the answers to my questions. The problem there is I doubt how ambitious I would actually be.
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