Book Log 2018 #20: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

Like many people, I found my way to this book via the musical. I don't typically read biographies, but do like this era of American history and was curious to see how one would get a musical out of it.

I didn't see the musical. But I did read an engrossing story about a life critical to the foundation of this country. It's very clear from the book that without Hamilton the US becomes a very different country, and perhaps not even stay one country for very long.

It was also a fascinating look into Hamilton's personal life, especially his time growing up in the Caribbean, which understandably gets almost no coverage in the musical.

While it often reads more like a novel, there are definite stretches where the density of the material will require work to get through.  Even so, it's very much worth working through if you have the time to dedicate to it. I tend to be a fairly quick reader and read every day, and this still took me over a month to complete. Plan accordingly.