Founding Partisans by H.W. Brands

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Founding Partisans:

Always Team Hamilton.

Quick synopsis:

A look at just how much partisan politics affected the early U.S.

Fact for Non-History People:

Hamilton crammed his legal studies into 6 months and then passed the NY bar.

Fact for History Nerds:

In the first election without Washington, Adams beat Jefferson by only three votes, 71 to 68.

My Take on Founding Partisans:

A particular pet peeve of my lately is when people say, “This country has never been more divided!” Do you have any idea how badly Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton hated each other? Hamilton ended up dead over politics! You still don’t believe the political divisions were bad in the U.S. before? Then let me point you at H.W. Brands’ Founding Partisans. Never has a title been so apt.

Let me just get to the point. This book is fantastic. H.W. Brands is the type of author who makes anything interesting. He is one of the few authors whose books are automatic buys for me regardless of the subject. This one, in particular, might be his best yet. Brands weaves in an extraordinary number of primary quotes. The book reads like a novel of the Founding Fathers being jerks to each other. It makes the narrative accessible to any reader who wants to know who hated who in the early U.S. It will never not be funny to me how badly John Adams hated Benjamin Franklin. How could someone hate Benny? Come read and find out.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Doubleday Books.)

Verdict:

A great read for anyone. Buy it here!

If You Liked This Try:

• Nathaniel Philbrick, Bunker Hill and Valiant Ambition
• Ron Chernow, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton
• Stacy Schiff, The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams